5 Wear OS annoyances Google can no longer ignore

Wear OS has come a long way in the last few years. It went from being on the brink of being irrelevant to running on the best Android smartwatches from Google, Samsung, and others. Yet, Google’s smartwatch OS falters in some key areas, ruining the overall experience. As a longtime Wear OS user, I’ve encountered several frustrating issues that I hope the company addresses in Wear OS 6.

5

Custom vibration pattern for each app

Because Wear OS should be all about customization

The notification panel is one of Android’s key strengths, allowing you to conduct many basic actions from it. You can manage notifications on a per-app basis, muting distractions and keeping only the essential alerts. Wear OS will mirror your phone’s notification settings, only vibrating for alerts from apps for which you enabled notifications.

However, the issue is that Wear OS does not offer a way to customize the notification pattern. For example, on my Google Pixel Watch 2, the vibration pattern is the same for new WhatsApp messages and emails, making it hard to tell them apart. Similarly, it buzzes only once when my wife messages me on Telegram. This forces me to check my wrist for every incoming notification, irrespective of its importance.

Google should offer the ability to set a custom vibration pattern for each app. This will allow me to tell them apart from how my watch buzzes. If it’s an important notification, I can check my watch straightaway. Otherwise, I can continue doing my work.

I disabled notifications from less important apps on my Pixel Watch. However, not every Slack or WhatsApp message is urgent or deserves immediate attention. Custom vibration alerts would make it easier to tell which notifications matter at a glance.

Samsung comes close to offering something similar with its One UI Watch skin on Galaxy Watches. You can customize the vibration length and intensity for incoming calls and notifications. It would be great if Google took inspiration from this feature for the next Wear OS release and introduced per-app notification customization.

4

Inconsistent health data tracking across watches

Set a high and consistent baseline

The fitness tracking experience varies between Wear OS watches. Like Android, the beauty of Wear OS is that you get watches in different shapes and sizes to suit your needs. However, that does not mean the health data tracking experience across them should be inconsistent.

In my experience comparing the Galaxy Watch 6 and Pixel Watch 2, I found the latter’s heart rate tracking and step count to be more accurate. A 5% to 7% difference in the recorded stats is understandable due to the various factors involved, but the gap was always more than that. The situation is worse when you compare sleep tracking and calories burned across Wear OS watches of different brands.

The health tracking experience across Wear OS watches shouldn’t differ so drastically. Such inconsistencies make it hard to trust the data for meaningful, long-term health analysis.

3

No way to transfer health data across watches

Stick to the same Wear OS watch brand if you value your health data

If you use a Galaxy Watch Ultra and switch to the Google Pixel Watch 3, you must bid adieu to your health data. Likewise, if you move from a Pixel Watch to a OnePlus Watch, you can’t carry over your health data. Despite all Android smartwatches running Wear OS, there’s no way to migrate your health data between wearables of different brands. This is a major limitation. If you care about your health data, you are locked into using a smartwatch from one brand.

With Health Connect, Google lets you sync your health data across different apps. However, it cannot move your data from Samsung Health to Fitbit or OnePlus’ OHealth app. Given that one of the key features of a smartwatch is health tracking, it makes no sense that you cannot transfer them between wearables running the same platform. With Wear OS 6, Google should introduce a new unified framework or app enabling the migration of health apps across Wear OS watches from different brands.

Ideally, Google Fit should be the central hub for all your health data from various apps. However, Google seems to be phasing it out, shifting its focus toward the Fitbit app as a replacement, but only for Fitbits and Pixel Watches.

2

Slow update cycle for non-Pixel and Galaxy watches

Don’t support Wear OS fragmentation

Google is making the same mistake with Wear OS that it made with Android, leading to its fragmentation issues. Thanks to preferential treatment, Galaxy Watches are the first to debut each year with a major new Wear OS release, followed closely by a new Pixel Watch model. As for other Wear OS watches, there’s no clarity on when they will receive the upgrade.

For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 launched in July 2024 with Wear OS 5. This was followed by the Pixel Watch 3’s debut in August 2024. Seven months have passed since then, yet Wear OS 5 remains exclusive to Samsung and Google watches, with wearables from no other brands receiving the update. OnePlus recently clarified it will push the OnePlus Watch 2’s Wear OS 5 update 2 in Q3 2025, almost a year after the OS’ public build dropped.

Such delays damage the credibility of the Wear OS ecosystem, much like the early Android era, when timely updates were limited to Google’s devices. Given that Google is still paying the price for this mistake, it’s surprising to see it repeat the same scenario with Wear OS.

With Wear OS 6, the company should make underlying changes to standardize and speed up the rollout of OS updates for non-Samsung and Pixel watches. Otherwise, it will encounter the same issues it faced with Android fragmentation.

1

Basic features should work across all Android phones

Stop limiting features in the name of ecosystem lock-in

Wear OS watches should compete with each other through better hardware and superior features, not by artificially restricting certain functionalities to devices from the same brand. For example, if you pair the Galaxy Watch with a non-Samsung phone, you lose advanced health tracking features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring, irregular heart rate detection, and camera controls. You also lose basic features like Do Not Disturb syncing between the phone and watch.

Samsung is not the only culprit. Google is equally at fault. The Pixel Watch only syncs Bedtime mode with your phone when paired with a Pixel device. You also miss out on camera control and alarm sync. These are fundamental smartwatch features that should work seamlessly, regardless of the phone the wearable is paired with.

I can understand Google limiting Pixel Watch’s AI features to Pixel devices. However, not being able to control your Android phone’s camera from a Wear OS watch because it’s from a different brand makes little sense.

Wear OS updates need to get bigger and better

Wear OS isn’t as refined as Apple’s watchOS, but it’s catching up. Much like the early days of Android, Google should prioritize delivering major yearly updates to Wear OS to tackle its shortcomings and introduce meaningful new features. However, that hasn’t been the case. Wear OS 4, 5, and 5.1 have mainly focused on under-the-hood improvements, with only minor feature additions.

This is not the right approach. While Wear OS has improved significantly in recent years, it still lags behind watchOS in delivering a comparable user experience. Here’s hoping Google makes amends with Wear OS 6 later this year, addressing the above limitations and adding several major new features.