Wear OS 5 is coming to older Pixel Watches starting now.
Wear OS 5 arrived in July when Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra. At the time, we knew it was coming to some older smartwatches such as the Galaxy Watch 6.
However, when Google announced the Pixel Watch 3 during the Made by Google hardware event in August, it wasn't clear when the older Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 would join the latest Google smartwatch in adopting Wear OS 5.
Thanks to a blog post from Google, we now know that the older Pixel Watches will receive the update starting today (September 24) as part of the company's September 2024 security update. That said, anyone rocking a Pixel Watch or Watch 2 may not get the update immediately. Google is rolling out the update and availability depends on your carrier and the device.
Wear OS 5 introduces a number of efficiency improvements, including reducing battery drain caused by long-term workout tracking. It also is a boon for runners by providing more detailed exercise data and metrics. Wear OS 5 also introduces the next iteration of the Watch Face Format, which unfortunately might block older Watch faces that don't fit the WFF.
Google plans to rollout the update "over the next week in phases." When it's available for your device, you'll get a notification on your watch.
According to Google's blog post, the update brings "new features, numerous bug fixes, and performance updates. The blog post added that app updates via the Playstore will be available to "obtain the grid-vew launcher, improved Camera controls and the Pixel Recorder functionality."
Many of these can be installed after the Wear OS finishes by going to the Play Store opening "Manage apps" and installing what the updates you want.
