Wear OS 6 is here, but your Pixel watch isn't getting it first

Android Authority

6 days ago

TL;DR The Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic are the first smartwatches to ship with stable Wear OS 6.
Samsung's new wearables run One UI 8 Watch based on Google's latest platform.
It's unclear if all Wear OS 6 features, like dynamic color theming, are included on Samsung's version.
Samsung has one-upped Google by being the first to roll out the stable version of Wear OS 6. The newly launched Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic are the first smartwatches to come with the latest version of Google's wearable platform right out of the box.
While Google recently launched the first developer preview of Wear OS 6, the final version has yet to arrive on Pixel Watches. Google previously said this would happen in the 'coming months,' but we still don't have a clear answer for when Pixel Watch owners will get the new stable software. Meanwhile, Samsung is skipping the wait with its new Galaxy Watch 8 lineup, which runs One UI 8 Watch based on Wear OS 6.
What exactly this means in terms of features is still a bit of a mystery. In the developer preview of Wear OS 6, we saw a slew of design upgrades thanks to the new Material 3 Expressive language. Wear OS 6 is full of curved buttons, fluid animations, bigger Quick Settings icons, and a dynamic theming system that matches your watch's interface to your chosen watch face. However, it's unclear how much of this is present in Samsung's One UI 8 Watch.
That said, one feature confirmed to be part of One UI 8 Watch is the revamped Tiles UI. Instead of the usual circular or square layouts, Samsung now uses rounded rectangle tiles, something we also spotted in the Wear OS 6 preview.
One UI 8 Watch also comes with a Featured Apps folder for quicker access to your most-used apps and multi-info tiles that let you stack widgets.
Samsung tends to customize Wear OS with its One UI Watch layer, so some of Google's changes may be absent or tweaked to fit Samsung's style. There's no confirmation yet if dynamic theming or Google's preset color palettes (like Peony, Jade, and Indigo) are available on these new Galaxy Watches.
Google is also developing useful features for Wear OS 6, such as Water Lock mode and a better always-on display experience. We hope to hear more about these as Samsung's new watches start reaching users or when Google shares additional rollout details for the software.
We'll have more answers for you when we have the new smartwatches in for review.