Latest news with #PixelWatch
Android Authority
a day ago
- Android Authority
Samsung's One UI 8 Watch update is so good, I might give up on the Pixel Watch
Ryan Haines / Android Authority One UI 8 beta is already rolling out to Galaxy Watches, and I'm equally annoyed by and in awe of it. The reason is that I was a Galaxy Watch 4 user back in 2021, but I migrated to Google's wearable when the first Pixel Watch launched. My decision was mostly guided by my desire to stay within Fitbit's ecosystem, which had many years of my personal activity and health data. Since then, I've had the first, second, and third Pixel Watch, and I thought that this year, I'd upgrade to the Pixel Watch 4. Except that One UI 8 has so many nice features that it's making me second-guess this decision. Would you switch from the Pixel Watch to the Galaxy Watch? 0 votes Yes, already did that. NaN % I'm actually considering it now. NaN % Not now, but if there's enough to tempt me away. NaN % No, I'm sticking with the Pixel Watch. NaN % I really want One UI 8's hand gestures Damien Wilde / Android Authority Back in the Android Wear days, Google had rolled out support for hand gestures on its watch OS. At the time, I found the feature a bit gimmicky, but I slowly grew fond of it. For me, it was the one-handedness of it that made such a significant impact. Instead of having to wait until both of my hands were free to be able to interact with my watch and check or dismiss a notification, for example, I could simply flick my wrist. Scrolling up and down was also possible. It's been years since Google removed that handy (ha!) feature, and I still catch myself flicking my wrist and trying to interact with my Pixel Watch. Most times, it's even easier for me to get my phone out of my pocket to do something only because I can use my phone with one hand, whereas watch interactions lock both of my hands together. I still miss Android Wear's hand-flick gesture. It was a convenient way to navigate my watch with one hand. Samsung has been offering hand gestures on its Galaxy Watches for years now, but One UI 8 takes this to the next level. The double-pinch gesture has been taken to the next level with custom actions on the watch face, music controller, as well as alarm, calendar, and reminder notifications. That appeals to me so much. It'd allow me to do exactly what I want in each situation, like pause or skip music, dismiss or snooze alarms, and act on notifications. I'm sure Samsung will keep on improving these gestures and adding more customization to them. I'd love it if I could pause tracking my hike or swim, for example, with a double pinch, then resume it with another. I'd love it even more if the double-pinch gesture was open to third-party devs to allow us to control each app however we want. But even in their current state, hand gestures on Galaxy Watches seem so practical to me in everyday use, and for that alone, I'm so tempted to ditch my Pixel Watch and move over. Combining two apps in one tile is a big space and time saver Ryan Haines / Android Authority A smartwatch should save me time and be more practical to use and access than my phone. At least, that's what I think. Yet, most of the time, doing something on my Pixel Watch requires more swipes and taps than getting my phone out, so I end up avoiding using it. One of those time wasters are tiles. On paper, it's a good idea to take out the most essential part of an app and create a widget-like tile out of it that remains accessible from the watch's main home screen. In reality, though, once there's more than four or five tiles, they become less efficient than opening the actual app. Swiping aimlessly through 10 tiles, for example, is a huge time waster for me. The more tiles I have, the less I use them. I don't want to swipe multiple times to get to the one I want. With One UI 8, Samsung is improving the concept of tiles by letting us create them from scratch. The best part is that you can mix and match two small tiles from two different apps into one big tile, thus reducing the time it takes to swipe across them. I love it! It would allow me to use more tiles on fewer screens and with fewer swipes, all while keeping the most essential information or icons that I care about. For example, instead of having five favorite contacts, I could have my husband and my mom; and instead of having actions to quick-start six sports tracking activities, I could only keep swimming, walking, and hiking, i.e. the ones I care about the most. That's more than enough for me, and it would let me use tiles more often and more efficiently. Now Bar or Live Updates would be a game-changer on a watch Rita El Khoury / Android Authority Google already has an At A Glance complication, but I never use it because it takes up too much space away from my main watch face without providing enough value most of the time. I would much rather have this info surfaced right when I need it, which is the exact concept of Samsung's Now Bar. It first started on the Galaxy S25 series and now the Now Bar is coming to Galaxy Watches. With it, Samsung will have a way to surface timely info on your wrist, without cannibalizing your watch's main display all day long. The bar is even customizable between a simple icon or a small horizontal bar, expandable, and should with time gain even more capabilities, especially with the arrival of Android 16's proper support for live updates. Timely and context-aware live updates on a smartwatch make so much sense. Why did we wait this long to have them? I imagine seeing the progress of my Uber or food delivery right there on my watch's face, without having to unlock or swipe or tap or do anything. In everyday life, it'd also be super handy to see elapsed time on timers or the progression of my subway journey and next stop. That's the kind of convenient and functional updates a smartwatch is made for, but sadly, until now, almost all of these haven't been seamless and have required some form of interaction with the watch. Now Bar should fix that main sore point. All of this to say that Samsung is doing a kick-ass job with One UI 8 for watches, and that I'm seriously considering ditching my Pixel Watch 4 dreams and joining the Galaxy Watch camp. The only hiccup is Fitbit — I have a Galaxy Ring and I'm not a fan of Samsung Health. Besides that, though, Samsung is hitting every right note and adding all the practical features that I dream of having on Wear OS 6 to make my smartwatch smarter, more useful, and more convenient in my everyday life. I have a tough decision to make in the next couple of months.
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
This is the one upgrade that will get me to switch my Pixel Watch 3 for a Pixel Watch 4
I've always had very mixed feelings about smartwatches, but finally caved and picked up the Google Pixel Watch 3 last year. While my feelings haven't completely turned around, I have managed to fill a few niches with the wearable — but there's one thing I'd like to change. If you remember the original Pixel Watch, which was released back in 2021, you'll be aware that it came with a wireless charging-like system similar to the Apple Watch 10 and Galaxy Watch 7. By the time the Pixel Watch 2 came around, though, that feature was gone. And having used the replacement charging system and logged the problems it seems to have, I wish the Pixel Watch 4 would bring back something similar to the old arrangement — even though I know it's not going to happen should the Pixel 4 show up as expected later this year alongside the Pixel 10 smartphone series. Rather than having a wireless charging system, both the Pixel Watch 2 and Watch 3 draw their power from a 4-pin connector. It's the same charging system as recent Fitbit watches, like the Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 — to the point where the chargers are (just about) compatible with each other. But while Fitbit watches are now functionally dead, the charging connection is still very much alive. The problem is, it doesn't work nearly as well on my Pixel Watch 3 as it did on my Fitbit Versa 4. I never actually had an issue with getting power into that watch, but the Pixel Watch 3 doesn't seem to want to play by the same rules. I've lost count of the number of times I've put my watch down to charge, and it just sat there not taking in power. I've done everything from making sure the pins are perfectly aligned, that the connectors are all clean, and there will still be times when the watch essentially goes, "hmm, nah." I never had that issue with the Versa 4, and that wearable was considerably cheaper — not to mention less advanced. Aside from the fact the charging pins liked scratching the back of the watch, it always recharged when I needed it to. I don't know why that's the case, but it's incredibly frustrating — and I'd love to be able to slap my watch onto a charging puck haphazardly with the confidence that it won't just sit there doing nothing. Plus, it would be nice to use my the reverse wireless charging on my Pixel 9 Pro to juice up my watch. When you look at the reasons why Google scrapped wireless charging for Pixel Watch 2 and 3, the reasons make sense. The main benefits are that pin charging offers faster charging speeds, which is helpful when you need to recharge your watch every day. This charging system also produces significantly less heat. In fact the heat problem was so bad that Google had to put out an update to nerf the charging speed to keep the temperature down to the point where a 100% recharge took almost 2 hours to finish — which is not good. I had wondered whether thickness was another factor, since it always seems to be with smartphones, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Pixel Watch and its successors are all 12.3mm thick; in fact, they all look pretty similar, though admittedly, the original Pixel Watch is a lot rounder at the bottom compared to its younger siblings. That said, removing the charging coils from the wearable could have made space for other things. The Pixel Watch 2 has sensors for EDA, skin temperature, irregular heart beat rhythm and an improved multi-point heart rate sensor. Not to mention, it offers a larger battery than its predecessor. It was never officially confirmed that these features required the charging coil space, but I'd bet money Google definitely put the extra real estate to good use once the charging pins were decided on. As problematic as the Pixel Watch's wireless charging was, I'd still like to see some kind of puck-charging system come back on Pixel Watch 4 — or on some future model if it's too late to do anything about this year's offering. Google will need to work out the kinks, and improve wireless charging speeds without turning the wearable into a miniature burn risk in the process. Or, you know, at least make the 4-pin charging more consistent than it currently is. It really should not be hit-and-miss the way it has been for me, because like any charger, it should just be able to work. Hopefully, that isn't just a pipe dream.
Android Authority
3 days ago
- Android Authority
Updating my Pixel Watch was a nightmare until I did these tricks
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority Most people reading this know that Google Pixel phones are some of the best you can get if you prioritize fast, reliable software updates. Most of the time, you'll get a notification on your phone within a few days after an update goes live. And, if you don't want to wait, it's very easy to pop into the Settings app to see if you're on the latest version. If not, a quick tap of the Check for updates button will get you there. Strangely, this system does not apply to Google's line of smartwatches in the Pixel Watch family. On all three Pixel Watch models, it can be a week or longer before your watch will automatically update to the latest version. Additionally, there is no obvious way in Wear OS settings to check for an update or force an update. I have found this to be incredibly frustrating with my Pixel Watch 3. It sucks knowing that there are updates available, but my watch simply refuses to bring the update on board. I went searching for a way to rectify this, and initially came up empty. Google's official instructions simply tell you to go to Settings > System > System updates on your watch, but the assumption is that your watch will then automatically check for an update and start downloading it, if found. However, that has never worked for me. Thankfully, I found the real way to update a Pixel Watch. How to really update a Google Pixel Watch Rita El Khoury / Android Authority There are two tricks to updating your Pixel Watch. Neither is super obvious, although the first makes sense when you think about it. First, you need to disable Bluetooth. This seems counterintuitive because that will sever the connection to your phone. However, doing so also forces the watch to connect to Wi-Fi instead, which is what you want for an update (especially a large one). Bluetooth updates will take a very long time to transfer from your phone to your watch, so severing that connection speeds up the process greatly. So, the first steps go like this: Disable Bluetooth on your Pixel Watch by going to Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth . Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and toggle the Bluetooth service into the 'Off' position. . Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and toggle the Bluetooth service into the 'Off' position. Tap the check mark to acknowledge that turning off Bluetooth disconnects your watch from the phone and can use up more battery power. Next, ensure Wi-Fi is activated by going to Settings > Connectivity > Wi-Fi. Make sure the Wi-Fi service toggle is 'On' and that you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. With those steps done, your watch is ready to get the update. This is where things get convoluted. As mentioned before, there is no Check for updates button on Pixel watches. There is, however, a way to replicate that action. Follow the steps below: On your watch, go to Settings > System > System updates . On this page, you should see an image similar to the one above, with your Android version number and the date of your current security patch. If you are certain there is a newer update than the one you have, repeatedly tap the watch icon on this page. No one knows how many times you need to tap it. It could take anywhere from three to 15 seconds of repeatedly tapping the icon. Eventually, your watch will start to update. Once the update starts, just let it do its thing. Follow any instructions that pop up, which could include putting the watch on a charger (it needs to have over 50% battery before it will do any updates). Once it's done, you'll be on the latest version! If this method doesn't work for you, that could mean one of two things. First, it might be that you are actually on the latest update. You can always check Google's Pixel Watch security bulletin page to see the date of the most recent release. If you see a newer update on the bulletin page but still can't update to it, the likely problem is LTE. If your Pixel Watch is an LTE model, it usually gets updates later than the Wi-Fi-only models. It could be a few days to a week later. If that's the case, you'll just need to follow the steps above every few days until they work. Obviously, Google could make this all way easier for everyone and just add a Check for updates button to Wear OS. Until then, though, this is the fool-proof method I've used to keep my Pixel Watch on the latest software!
Phone Arena
25-06-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Pixel Watch 2 gets a lovely discount on Amazon, making it a great pick for fans on a budget
A limited-time deal has dropped the 512GB Pixel 7 Pro to a new all-time low, making it a top pick for Pixel users on a budget. But if you already have a speedy Pixel and are looking for a Pixel Watch instead, well, this is the perfect deal for you. Right now, a third-party seller on Amazon is offering a sweet $61 discount on the Pixel Watch 2, bringing the Wi-Fi-only model down to just under $190. Act fast, though, as only a few units are left, which means the offer may expire soon. $61 off (24%) The Wi‑Fi only version of the Google Pixel Watch 2 is now $61 off on Amazon—bringing the price to just under $190. It's packed with features and sports a sleek design, making it an unbeatable deal at the moment. Act fast! This offer is not available in your area. Don't worry! Although the markdown doesn't come directly from Amazon, the retailer is still handling the shipping. Plus, you'll have 30 days to request a refund if there's anything wrong with your smartwatch. In other words, the only thing you should be concerned about is missing out on this deal, as the Pixel Watch is still a great buy, especially at its current to its stylish, dome-like look, the smartwatch goes well with everything, including an expensive suit. And since it's a premium wearable, it comes with all the health-tracking features you expect to find on a smartwatch of this caliber. It even comes with a skin temperature sensor. And with it running on Wear OS, you'll have access to loads of apps via the Google Play Store. Battery life is good as well, with the watch offering all-day use without the need for top-ups. However, you'll likely have to charge it every night, which is normal for this type of smartwatch. On the flip side, the timepiece reaches 50% in only 30 minutes. All in all, the Pixel Watch 2 is great value for money. So, act fast and get one for less with this deal today! Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Tom's Guide
19-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Google Exclusive: How the Pixel Watch 3 got a life-saving feature the Apple Watch can't match
Onboard safety features are a huge selling point of modern wearable devices. These days, the best smartwatches can automatically contact emergency responders and/or loved ones if you take a nasty fall or are involved in an accident, regardless of whether you're wearing the latest/greatest Garmin, the best Apple Watch, or the best smartwatch for Android. While fall, crash and incident detection are all but par for the course on high-end, full-feature smartwatches, a new, more advanced safety feature surfaced last summer that's currently only available on the Google Pixel Watch 3. That's right, not even the Apple Watch Ultra 2 or Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra offers anything like Google's Loss of Pulse Detection tool. Like fall detection, Loss of Pulse Detection is designed to help users out during an emergency — in this case, a medical one, when there may otherwise be no one around. Better yet, setting up Loss of Pulse Detection takes less than 2 minutes, which is not a lot of time considering it could be a literal lifesaver. To find out more about Loss of Pulse Detection, including insights into the development, testing and FDA approval process, I had an exclusive interview with Edward Shi, the product manager on the Google Safety Team who spearheaded the project. Our 30-minute conversation covered a lot, but it's Google's creative approach to testing the new safety feature — something that's crucial for avoiding false positives — that most fascinated me. For one, Shi and his team had to figure out how to simulate a loss of pulse in a living subject, for testing purposes, of course, which is no easy feat. His team also worked with stunt actors to understand how a user may fall when a loss of pulse is experienced. Beyond that, our conversation touched on whether older Pixel Watch devices could get Loss of Pulse Detection in the future, how long until the competition replicates the feature and what the Google Safety Team is up to next. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Edward Shi: I'm a product manager here on our Android and Pixel Safety Team. Our team works on safety products with a goal of giving users peace of mind in their day-to-day lives. These products include, in the past, features such as car crash detection and fall detection. For Loss of Pulse, specifically, I'm one of the main product managers on the project, working across the teams, with our clinicians, our engineers, etc., to bring Loss of Pulse Detection to the Pixel Watch 3. It uses sensors on the Pixel Watch to detect a potential loss of pulse and prompt a call to emergency services with either the user's smartwatch or their connected phone. Shi: It's really for any Pixel Watch 3 user who meets our eligibility criteria. It uses sensors on the Pixel Watch to detect a potential loss of pulse and prompt a call to emergency services with either the user's smartwatch or their connected phone, who can then intervene and potentially provide life-saving care. A loss of pulse is a time-sensitive emergency, and it can be caused due to a variety of different factors, such as a cardiac arrest, a respiratory or circulatory failure, poisoning, etc. Many of these events are unwitnessed today. So around 50% of cardiac arrests, in particular, are unwitnessed, meaning that no one's around to help. Shi: The two main sensors are the PPG sensor as well as accelerometer. We use PPG to detect pulselessness, as well as the accelerometer to look at motion in particular. So if a loss of pulse occurs, what we anticipate is that the user is unconscious, so there shouldn't be excessive motion. So those two sensors combined help form the foundation of the algorithm. The algorithm is trying to balance both detecting that emergency, so in this case, a loss of pulse, while minimizing accidental triggers. Shi: There are a lot of similarities in the sense that all are emergency detection features. Essentially, these are for potential life-threatening emergencies in which a user may not be able to call for help themselves. In those events, we would need to be able to detect that emergency and then help connect [the user] with emergency services. Much of the design and the principles remain the same. The algorithm is trying to balance both detecting that emergency, so in this case, a loss of pulse, while minimizing accidental triggers. That's a really key part of all three of the features. We don't want to overly worry and bother the user with accidental triggers. Also, in particular, we don't want to burden [emergency] partners with accidental triggers in the case where a user doesn't need help. Shi: Once a loss of pulse [or] a car crash [or] a fall is detected, the experience is designed to try to quickly connect the user over to emergency services. If, for whatever reason, the user doesn't actually need help, the user experience is [also] designed so that they can easily cancel any call. We actually worked with stunt actors to induce pulselessness and simulate a fall within a reasonable timeframe to see if it was still able to detect a loss of pulse in those scenarios. Shi: I don't know if I could precisely say exactly how long, but definitely over a year and a half, but it can really vary. One particular [safety] feature isn't necessarily the same as the others. They may look similar on the surface, like a fall or a car crash or a loss of pulse, but each of them has its own unique challenges in validating both the algorithm and developing the user experience. And of course, with laws, we had to go through working with our regulatory partners and regulatory bodies in different regions [for Loss of Pulse Detection]. So there are different complexities for each of them, so the timeline can definitely vary. Shi: It's a bit of both. So, it's definitely algorithmically tested. We also collect hundreds of thousands of real-world user data and run our algorithm over that data to take a look at how often it could be triggered. Internally, we have "dog foods." And then we ran clinical studies. All of that is run to measure how often we're seeing accidental triggers in particular. In addition to honing the algorithm or user experience design, we run user research studies to look and walk [users through the] 'flow,' both during onboarding, as well as when an actual loss of pulse is detected. [We're] seeing that users understand what's happening and are able to cancel out of that flow if they don't need help. So, it's both algorithmic as well as user research. Basically, using a pneumatic tourniquet to cut off blood flow in an arm, [we were able] to simulate temporary pulselessness. Shi: It is pretty difficult, and it took a lot of creativity from our research scientists, in particular. Basically, using a pneumatic tourniquet to cut off blood flow in an arm, [we were able] to simulate temporary pulselessness. We were able to do that and then put our watches on the user at the same time to ensure that our algorithm was detecting that [loss of] pulse when it occurred. We actually worked with stunt actors to induce pulselessness and simulate a fall within a reasonable timeframe to see if it was still able to detect a loss of pulse in those scenarios. Shi: We're very fortunate at Google to have great team members who are familiar with the process and are regulatory experts. Receiving U.S. FDA clearance does go through a rigorous process to ensure quality and understandability of the products that are coming through. So really, it's taking a look at the U.S. FDA established regulatory frameworks and regulations, knowing what we have to conduct in terms of necessary performance testing, what we have to show to prove that the feature is doing what it [says], and in particular, that it's understandable to users who choose to use the product. Shi: The biggest thing that we inform users about, essentially during onboarding, is that it's only meant to detect an immediate loss of pulse. So it's not meant to diagnose or treat any medical conditions, and it's not meant to be a feature that gives you a pre-warning of any health condition. That's a really important distinction that we do try to make as clear as possible within the product itself, so that you don't change any health regimens, etc, and you don't change anything that you've heard from medical professionals. As always, go to your healthcare professional to discuss all of your well-being, etc., and what's best for you. Shi: It's something we can't go into detail about at the moment. We have to look at both the hardware that's available on the older Pixel Watches and see if it's possible. Also, we have to ensure that there is hardware equivalency on each of the different devices. So we have to make sure on the older Pixel devices, if we were to do [Loss of Pulse Detection], that it still performs as expected within the guidelines that we set. We would like to make [the feature] available as widely as we possibly can, so that's what we're going to try to do. Shi: Our top priority when we released this feature was to make sure that it maintains its quality and is able to do what it says it does within the guiding principles that we have. What we anticipate is that as new Pixel Watches are released, it's available on all different Pixel Watches. Of course, it's going to be a hardware-by-hardware validation. We would like to make it available as widely as we possibly can, so that's what we're going to try to do. Shi: I think this is definitely speculation and subjective, but I think in the tech world, people are always looking at other competitors and trying to close the gap or match different features. So I wouldn't be surprised if that's something that people did. In some ways, I think for our team, that this would be a good thing — with safety in particular — if other competitors started trying to copy features. I think as long as everyone maintains high quality, of course, then it's not necessarily a bad thing. But yes, I think it's fair to assume that people are looking at it and they attempt to copy it. Shi: We're always looking at helping users get connected with help if they aren't able to themselves. We know emergencies, hopefully, are a bit of a rare event in users' daily lives, but there could be other scenarios where users may feel unsafe. So, one of our existing features is a Safety Check. When users are going out for a run or going out for a hike and they want that extra peace of mind, they can start a Safety Check, and we can check in with them, and then if they don't respond, we can automatically share their location and reason and context with their emergency contacts. That's an existing feature, and also things that we're thinking about on the safety side. We're looking across the spectrum from emergencies to daily use cases of how we can help, how we can deliver a little bit more peace of mind in your daily life.
