Wear OS has gotten so much wrong, but it’s still my favorite for one reason

Wear OS watches have long lagged behind Apple Watches and Samsung’s Tizen-based watches, with even the best Android smartwatches such as the Fossil Gen 5 being best described as “quirky” or “hobbled” by the software. I’ve been a Wear OS user since the early Android Wear days – I still miss the fat band on my original Moto 360 – but even I can’t ignore how much smoother stuff there is on my Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.

Last week, Android Developers created a blog post that we’ve seen again and again: there’s another big update on the horizon for Wear OS and it’s all about making things smoother and easier for users. And I would love to see if they really managed to do it this time around, because I beat my Galaxy Watch Active in one heartbeat and for one reason only: notifications are the number one reason why I have a smartwatch, and no one does wrist notifications better than WearOS.

There’s a lot too much love on my Watch Active, but any notification that needs its own page to the left of the watch fight – and then needed at least one extra touch to respond to it – is annoying, especially if you come from a multi-hour meeting to more than a dozen notifications. Quick response and action items on these notifications are also a travesty next to Wear OS – I mean, seriously, even responding to daily reminders takes a sweep to that page, a tap to expand and then tap Done.

Smartwatches have tried to present themselves as little miracle accessories: do whatever you need and do it all without looking like a Ben 10 toy or having the battery life of a potato. They track your workouts and how many steps you have taken today, they will help you stay connected while letting you keep your phone in your purse while you try to get a job, and they will do it all with a laugh!

Problem is, no smart watch can nail any category perfectly: Galaxy Watches have a zipper interface and better design, but notifications are painful and you can not use elk Google services on it, that’s a shame, because shopping Google Keep on a Galaxy Watch shopping would make a breeze. Wear OS sees nail notifications and have a better selection of app, but most apps are underpowered and fitness accuracy is not always the best. Fitbit reviews fit and feel of nails (most of the time), but Fitbit smartwatches do not have a large app selection and handle notifications almost as poorly as Samsung.

Apple Watches are accurate, responsive and stylish, but you can not use one in its entirety without an iPhone, so they are a bit point for most people who will read my ration on this website. Apple Watches also have really small watch faces compared to Samsung and Wear OS, so again, none is perfect.

But what Wear OS nails are notifications, which are by far the most important category for me. I need my wrist to suck me out of my head space and snap when I’m throwing away an article, and more importantly, I need to be able to quickly review the message, get around and then get back to work without losing an hour go into my apps.

All notifications are neatly stacked in one drop-down list, it’s easy to swipe a notification away or tap to expand, and both Quick Response and Voice dictation are better on Wear OS than Galaxy. It’s also easier to roll past a mountain of notifications and delete them all when I’m overwhelmed by unreliable notifications to which I’m already responding to my laptop.

Some of the most iconic watches of recent decades have been Wear OS based, from the OG Moto 360 to the original Huawei Watch, and there are dozens of Wear OS watches today, though none stand out in a good way another imitator of Apple Watch in the Oppo Watch.

And while it’s easy to spot from manufacturers who keep watches on older hardware – and anyone who buys a Wear OS watch with less than 1GB of RAM just sets themselves up for frustration – even with the most powerful hardware, Wear OS has address various hangups needed.

The biggest two are the noticeable lag when you open apps, and app discovery. The first one will hopefully be fixed with the Fall update, as it is one of the first improvements mentioned in the post, but app discovery is something that is actually less now than it was five years ago . Searching apps through the Play Store on your wrist is like pulling teeth, and browsing their phone does little to show your apps above the top rangers and trendsetters.

Of course, it’s a bit of a vicious circle here. There are not many new Wear OS apps to be found, as there has not been much incentive to design apps for a stagnant Wear OS, and without a good selection of apps, Wear OS loses its advantage over Galaxy Watches and Fitbit watches. Android developers say they are bringing improvements to Wear OS to help developers design better apps, but we’ll see when we get there. It would be nice if Google started with their own apps though. YouTube Music desperately needs a Wear OS app now Google Play Music kicks off next month.

In the meantime, though, I stand here with my Galaxy Watch Active feeling a bit like Charlie Brown, trying to hype myself into believing that Google will not pull the strings and leave me flat on my back. Wear OS watches are largely relegated to the bargain bin as too expensive a gruesome designer; they’re a joke, but they could be good and really good if Google could just get its action together.

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