Notebookcheck Logo

Google confirms that it will finally be more accommodating to left-handed people with Wear OS change

An official solution for left-handed people who wear Wear OS smartwatches could arrive soon. (Image source: NotebookCheck)
An official solution for left-handed people who wear Wear OS smartwatches could arrive soon. (Image source: NotebookCheck)
Google has agreed to include options for left-handed people to wear Wear OS smartwatches on their right wrist. The issue, which people have logged for years in Google's Issue Tracker, may only be available 'on future devices' though, for some reason.

Wear OS 3 may remain elusive for the most part, but Google has now teased the vanilla version of its smartwatch OS. Apparently, the company will be introducing some practical changes too, including a mode for those who are left-handed. To date, Google has failed to implement Apple's options for left-handed people, with Google assuming that people wear smartwatches on their right wrist.

An app called Lefty resolves this to an extent, albeit only by inverting the Wear OS UI. A recent Google Issue Tracker update suggests that this feature could soon become part of Wear OS. Unfortunately, Google has included the following clarification to the feature's inclusion in Wear OS:

Our development team has implemented the feature you have requested and will be available on future new devices.

Presumably, Google would adopt this at an OS level, rather than making it device-specific. Perhaps, the new feature will debut with the long-rumoured Pixel Watch, likely the first smartwatch to launch with Wear OS 3. We would hope that an official solution would re-orientate button positions on Wear OS smartwatches as well, such as the Fossil Gen 6. The Lefty app cannot do this though, nor change a digital crown's scrolling direction.

Source(s)

static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 01 > Google confirms that it will finally be more accommodating to left-handed people with Wear OS change
Alex Alderson, 2022-01-13 (Update: 2022-01-13)