Fossil Gen 6 update marks the return of Google Assistant

What you need to know

• Fossil is rolling out an update for its companion app and its Gen 6 Wear OS 3 watches to bring back Google Assistant.
• The companion app (Skagen app, too) will update to v5.1.6, adding a new "Default assistant" menu option in My Preferences.
• Users must update their Gen 6 Wear OS 3 Fossil watch before it can work when paired with their Android phone.

It may have felt like a millennium for Fossil smartwatch owners, but the company is finally returning a missing feature. Fossil announced the return of Google Assistant for its devices in a short tweet this morning.

The company states Google's AI helper will roll out via an automatic update to all Wear OS 3 Gen 6 smartwatches Fossil has under its belt. Some people on Reddit were a little cautious with this update, wondering if it contains their long-awaited Assistant, and it indeed does.

There are two updates users will find today: one for their Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch and another for the Fossil companion app. Fossil states that "the automatic update will roll out to all devices paired with phones running the latest version of Android." For the Fossil companion app, users should update to v5.1.6 via the Google Play Store.

In the short patch notes, not only does this version return Google Assistant, but unnamed "critical bug fixes" have also worked their way into the update.

We've already grabbed the update on our Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition, and the update also popped up on our Skagen Falster Gen 6.

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After updating the Fossil Smartwatches app, users will find a new "Default assistant" menu option when heading into My Preferences. This will allow you to customize which AI helper should respond to your call (or button press). So long as you've updated your Gen 6 Fossil watch, the app will allow you to select Google Assistant (if it's not already) to begin using it.

Further, it appears as though the Skagen Smartwatches app has also started receiving a new update to bring Google Assistant availability back to that variant, too.

Since updating, Android Central's Derrek Lee has noticed that the Assistant is much improved from its previous iteration and feels just as snappy on the Fossil Gen 6 as it is on Galaxy smartwatches. And in addition to the main course for this update, we've also noticed that the watches are now on the May 2023 security patch.

It's great that Fossil is finally returning a useful tool such as Google Assistant to its Wear OS 3 devices. This version of the Android wearable's software has been notorious for missing out on a key feature like this for many users, such as those who own a Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5.

 This is a grievance with many Wear OS 3 smartwatches outside of the Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series. Hopefully, this marks the beginning of a welcome turnaround for users as we wait for Wear OS 4 to launch later this year.

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