What you need to know
- The OnePlus Watch is being updated soon with several fixes and enhancements.
- The update will bring enhanced notification support and better system stability.
- OnePlus also plans to bring Always-On Display and a remote camera function.
The OnePlus Watch has not been received too well, and a lot of that has to do with the software experience. Many reviewers have even suggested that you'd be better off with any of the best Wear OS watches. Fortunately, OnePlus has apparently heard the criticisms and is rolling out an update soon that should hopefully help with the smartwatch's software woes.
Hopefully, the update should improve notification support on the watch, which is something that many users have complained about. Notifications would either not sync properly, or many apps weren't supported, so that should improve with the update, although it's not clear to what extent. OnePlus states that notification app icons would only be supported for "the most frequently used apps."
The update should also bring improved system stability and fixes several bugs. The full changelog includes the following improvements, which should arrive "in the coming days" for watch owners in the U.S. and Canada:
- Improved GPS performance
- Improved accuracy of activity tracking (walking and running)
- Optimized heart rate monitoring algorithm
- Enabled notification app icons for the most frequently used apps
- Improved raise-to-wake function
- Optimized notification syncing algorithm
- Fixed some known bugs
- Improved system stability
OnePlus also outlined its plans for future updates, including Always-On Display, something that the company famously left out of the OnePlus Watch. The watch is still expected to get support for the 110+ workout modes that were publicized at launch, as well as a remote camera function for the best Android phones:
- Add Always-on Display feature
- Add remote camera control of Android smartphones (Android phones running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above) from OnePlus Watch
- Add 12-hour time format
- Add 4 languages: German, Italian, Spanish, and Polish
- Enable all 110+ workout modes
- Enable AI watch face
It's not clear when these features will arrive on the OnePlus Watch, but hopefully, they'll come sooner rather than later. If you go to the OnePlus website, the additional workout modes will apparently arrive in a May update, meaning we don't have to wait long. Meanwhile, owners of the OnePlus Watch can leave their feedback and suggestions in the OnePlus forum thread.
It's getting better.
As OnePlus' first smartwatch, the OnePlus Watch manages to get some things right. It offers good-looking hardware, decent fitness tracking, and amazing battery life. Some software kinks need to be ironed out, but thankfully, OnePlus is already preparing to roll out the first software update, which should improve the experience.
