Google’s new Wear OS 3 is here: Everything you need to know
India Today
Google’s latest Wear OS 3 update will be available for compatible smartwatches soon. Check out the new features and if your smartwatch is compatible for the upgrade.
Wear OS 3.0 is the latest edition of the smartwatch OS by Google. It is one of the biggest updates ever to the platform and is expected to be available later this year.
Wear OS which was formerly known as Android Wear has not been known to be the most user-friendly platform in the past. But now things seem to be changing. Google and Samsung are collaborating for a new Wear OS. Google's acquisition of Fitbit has enabled it to further improve on the software front.
Given how different the new version will be from the existing Wear OS experience, most current smartwatches, including all watches powered by the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip and earlier, will not be receiving the update. Only watches powered by the Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC and above are likely to be upgradeable to the new OS.
Snapdragon Wear 4100 was the most significant chip upgrade Qualcomm had offered for wearables in many years. Hence, this difference in performance is probably one of the main reasons why the earlier smartwatches are being left behind by Wear OS 3.
Technically Wear OS 3 is already available although only on 1 smartwatch. After working with Google on the platform, Samsung has been the exclusive launch partner for Wear OS 3 with the Galaxy Watch 4. The smartwatch has been available since August 2021.
Google has now announced that the update would come to select Wear OS watches from Mobvi and Fossil running the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100.
The current smartwatches that will support the Wear OS 3 update include: