Google expects certain smartwatches to get Wear OS 3 upgrade in mid-2022

Google believes partner companies will be able to make a Wear OS 3 upgrade available from mid-next year. Some smartwatches from Mobvoi and Fossil will be able to install the upgrade anyway. Google is making Wear OS 3 in partnership with Samsung.

The upgrade to Wear OS 3 is according to Google opt in. Existing smartwatches will not only receive the improvements of Wear OS 3 with that upgrade, but the upgrade will also affect the user experience in “limited cases”. For example, users need to reset their device to factory settings “because of the magnitude of the adjustments.”

Google promises to provide more information about this upgrade in the near future. Existing smartwatches are expected to get that upgrade from mid-next year. In any case, Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 3 GPS, Pro 3 Cellular/LTE and E3 smart watches will receive the upgrade. New smartwatches that Fossil Group will unveil this year will also receive the upgrade. Other devices are not being announced at this time.

Smartwatches that do not move to Wear OS 3 will still receive new “app experiences” and security updates for up to two years, according to Google. Wear OS 3 will be the merged operating system of Tizen and Wear OS that was unveiled in May. This operating system should be released this fall. With the new interface, for example, it becomes possible to switch apps with a double press of a button. In addition to the companies mentioned, Fitbit will also use Wear OS 3.