Google’s latest Pixel Watch update is kind of a mess

By Bryan M. Wolfe Published September 26, 2024

Someone wearing the Google Pixel Watch 2 with a yellow/green fabric band. — Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Google has released the Wear OS 5 update for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2. However, some users have experienced issues with the update. Luckily, there could be an easy fix.

According to Reddit and Google’s support forums, the issue arises right after Wear OS 5 is installed on the watch. From there, some users see a blank display with a Bluetooth disconnected icon on the bottom. To resolve the issue, Android Police and The Verge recommend that users perform a fast boot reset. According to Google, you hold down the crown on your watch for 3 seconds, then scroll down and tap Restart.

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If the previous solution doesn’t fix the issue with your watch, you can attempt a hard reset. To do this, press and hold the watch crown and the side button simultaneously for about 20 seconds. After doing this, you should see the Google logo appear on the screen. Are you still having problems? TechRadar recommends performing a reset from FastBoot, which is somewhat complicated.

If you haven’t upgraded your Pixel Watch or Pixel Watch 2 to the Wear OS 5 update, waiting until Google pushes out a fix might be wise. Assuming this is a significant issue affecting many Pixel users, we can expect a fix to arrive sooner rather than later.

Someone wearing the Google Pixel Watch 3, showing the app drawer. — Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Wear OS 5, which comes preinstalled on the recently released Pixel Watch 3, includes several feature updates and fixes. As we previously noted, one of the most significant changes is the grid-based app launcher, which visually resembles launchers from other Wear OS manufacturers. You can choose between this grid-based launcher or the list-based app launcher available on previous Wear OS versions.

The Wear OS update includes Watch Face enhancements, including flavors, goal progress, and complication types. Weather conditions and a heart rate system data source have also been added. Finally, Wear OS 5 offers more detailed running metrics. This includes ground contact time, stride length, vertical oscillation, and vertical ratio metrics.

Overall, Wear OS 5 is a solid update — though it’ll be much better once these bugs are ironed out. Here’s to hoping that happens soon.

Former Mobile and A/V Freelancer

Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.

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