What you need to know
- When Wear OS 3 was announced, Google expected updates to happen in the second half of 2022.
- Fossil recently launched its first smartwatch, Wear OS 3, Gen 6 Wellness Edition.
- The company says it expects to roll out the update to other 6th generation smartwatches on October 17th.
- The update will require a factory reset and the smartwatch will be paired with the upgraded companion app from Fossil.
With Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 series and the new Pixel Watch taking up a lot of conversation about Wear OS 3, the question remained when the current Wear OS 2 watches would receive the update. Fossil is now ready to give us what we want, as the company commits to updating its smartwatches very thus.
According to Fossil, Wear OS 3 is expected to go live on October 17, the same day the company launches its new Gen 6 Wellness Edition smartwatch. Eligible smartwatches will include their 6th generation watches under Fossil Group brands. That means Fossil Gen 6, Michael Kors Gen 6 and Skagen Falster Gen 6.
As previously announced, the update is only coming to Snapdragon 4100+ smartwatches, leaving devices like the Fossil Gen 5 out of luck.
As for what we can expect, Fossil says its user interface is very similar to that of the Pixel Watch, which is very much the same as the stock Wear OS 3 experience. Fossil won’t go the Samsung way with heavy customization a la One UI Watch, which makes sense, But we’ll get Fossil’s good stuff. This includes custom battery modes, iOS compatibility, and a wellness app for health and fitness tracking.
Fossil points out the lack of Google Assistant, something we saw at Montblanc Summit 3. This is apparently due to the software not being ready for Qualcomm-powered smartwatches and likely due to the update Google Assistant received for the Galaxy Watch and, recently, Pixel watch. We’ve reached out to Google about this omission and when we expect the Google Assistant to arrive on other Wear OS 3 watches, but we haven’t received a response in time for publication.
However, Fossil says that users looking for a smart assistant can take advantage of the Alexa app, which it launched for their smartwatches earlier this year.
Fossil’s smartwatch app, which was previously a companion app to its hybrid watch line, has also been reworked to support Wear OS 3. This was the easiest approach to take since companies are now responsible for creating the companion apps for them, and Fossil says they should be made available to their users. Full experience in setting up and customizing their smartwatch.
The company reiterates what Google said earlier about upgrading to Wear OS 3: You’ll have to factory reset the device. Although if you have switched smartphones paired with your watch before, this is nothing new. According to Fossil, it will ask users to update, but it won’t be required.
Upgrading to Wear OS 3 also means access to some exclusive platform apps. Google Home, Google Weather, and the new Google Maps experience are among the apps and updates exclusive to Wear OS 3. Fossil says it generally adheres to at least Two years of updates, so hopefully, this isn’t the last OS update that current models see, given the promise of Google’s Pixel Watch update.
Although, frankly, we’re glad we finally got the update on us.
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Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition
If you’re in the market for a new smartwatch, the Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition comes with a sleek design and focuses on health and wellness. It’s able to automatically track workouts and run the latest Wear OS 3 software, so you get the latest Google experience.
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