What you need to know
- Fossil Group has pushed the Wear OS 3 update to the Skagen Falster Gen 6.
- The update strips away Google Assistant, while some users point out fewer available watch faces.
- Users must factory reset their watch and set up using the Skagen Smartwatches app.
Fossil Gen 6 owners have been sitting pretty with the Wear OS 3 update for a little while now. However, after months of feeling left out of the fun, Skagen smartwatch owners are finally receiving the update on their devices.
Users on Reddit pointed out the new update, which seems to be rolling out widely on Thursday. We've also managed to update a couple of our Skagen Falster Gen 6 units.
its_happening_everybody_stay_calm_stay_fcking_calm from r/WearOS
Upon receiving the notification for the update, users will be met with instructions on how to update the watch. The notification warns users that they must factory reset their smartwatches, meaning they'll lose all their data and have to set everything up from scratch.
Furthermore, Skagen Falster Gen 6 owners must download the new Skagen Smartwatches app to set up and pair their devices. It's practically identical to the Fossil Smartwatches app, which is used for the Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition and other Fossil smartwatches.
Installing Wear OS 3 is optional, but you should be aware that Google Assistant is no longer present as it does not support Wear OS 3 devices powered by Snapdragon chipsets, although Fossil maintains that it's working with Google on bringing it back as soon as possible. Instead, users are prompted to set up Alexa as an alternative.
Wear OS 3 on the Skagen Falster Gen 6 is more or less the "stock" experience, similar to the Pixel Watch but without the Pixel-exclusive goodies. However, the Fossil Wellness app is still present, as is iOS compatibility (although Google Wallet is not supported for iOS devices). The update also includes the December patch, which rolled out to Fossil smartwatches last month and brought a number of improvements.
Users on Reddit have pointed out that there appear to be much fewer watch faces available for the device, with only eight options present. That's compared to the 12 available for the Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition.
If you don't receive the update notification, you can update the watch by navigating to Settings > System > About > System updates. If the watch doesn't immediately pull up the update, you can continue tapping the update page for a few seconds until the update prompt appears, a trick that tends to work on many Wear OS watches.
The Skagen Falster Gen 6 is one of the best-looking Wear OS smartwatches, and it gets even better now that Wear OS 3 is here. You also get some useful health and wellness features, iOS compatibility, and super-fast charging.
