Google Pixel Watch models to get fresh design and longer battery life via Wear OS 6
Together with the new Material 3 Expressive design of Android 16, Google has just also announced Wear OS 6, the next major operating system update for the Pixel Watch 6 and other selected smartwatches from third-party providers. Wear OS 6 is due to be released later this year and will improve both performance and battery life.
Google specifically states that the update to Wear OS 6 will extend battery life by "up to" 10%. The revised design is based on Material 3 Expressive with brighter colours, more playful shapes and significantly redesigned animations. The user interface has been further optimized for the Pixel Watch 3's round display in many places, ranging from app selection, PIN input to incoming notifications.
A completely new element is the buttons that are aligned more closely to the edge of the screen so that the available space is used more effectively. This also makes it easier to touch the button for clearing all notifications. As Google demonstrates in the trailer embedded below, colors can be synchronized between Android 16 and Wear OS 6 to match the look of Pixel smartphones and Pixel Watch.
Another new feature is that Google's AI assistant Gemini will also be available on Google Wear OS in future and will support Google Assistant. Gemini will also be released for older Wear OS versions so that users do not necessarily have to switch to the new operating system version to use this feature.
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