Wear OS 5.1 represents a new class of slow, substantial Pixel Watch updates

Google's Wear OS 5.1 community post only scratches the surface of the new features it brings to Pixel Watches. But since I'm still waiting one week later for my Pixel Watch 3 LTE to receive the update, I'm pivoting from my planned hands-on to focus on one small but important note that you probably missed: Google is switching to quarterly Wear OS updates, and it's probably for the best.

We knew that Wear OS 5.1 would add backend improvements like a credentials manager API and a watch-speaker option for apps so they can read out fitness instructions or sound an alarm without earbuds. And Loss of Pulse is coming soon, but that's somewhat unrelated to 5.1.

The community post changelog is fairly short, with an improved step count algorithm in specific cases like pushing a shopping cart, stroller, or wheelchair; easier menstrual health logging in Fitbit; and auto-bedtime mode on Pixel Watch 2 (though not the original Watch yet). You also get a few key high and moderate security patches.

Beyond these, 9to5Google has logged other changes spotted by Pixel Watch 3 owners, like a developer option to "Force Global AOD" on apps, a new accent color for the UI, and a new Modes menu consolidating DND, Bedtime, and Theater in one place.

In other words, it's a subtly significant set of updates, which may explain why we've been stuck on the November update for so long. And Google wants us to get used to waiting: the community post states that "our next planned update will target June 2025, and quarterly thereafter" (emphasis mine).

Pixel Watch updates have gotten bigger over time

Google had to roll back Wear OS 5 on older Pixel Watches in September — taking about six weeks to fix it — and hasn't released a new patch since November 2024. Even then, the company was starting to shift its update strategy with the Pixel Watch, announcing that the next update wouldn't arrive until four months later, in March 2025.

It's a noticeable change from the last couple of years, and this new quarterly pivot seems to suggest that Google has decided monthly updates aren't necessary anymore.

Since the first Pixel Watch launched in October 2022, Google has updated Pixel Watches to match the monthly Pixel updates. So, I checked all 24 Pixel Watch update community posts from November 2022 onward to see how many made significant feature changes.

Google made small Fitbit app changes in November 2022 and bug fixes in December. In 2023, nine out of the 12 monthly updates only had security fixes and/or bug fixes (mostly security). Outside of Wear OS 4 in October 2023, only one update (March 2023) added significant new features. Essentially, not much changed between versions.

In 2024, five out of the ten updates focused solely on security. Google was a little more ambitious with new Google Maps and Fitbit features in March 2024, improved haptics and auto-brightness in April 2024, and better crash/ fall detection and on-wrist detection in June 2024. However, most of these coincided with broader Pixel feature drops. Both September and November 2024 focused on Wear OS 5, but November was a last-gen do-over with no new Watch 3 features.

With this new quarterly schedule, we can expect new feature drops in June, September, and December 2025. I can't say for certain why Google has chosen this option, but I'm fairly confident that this could be a good thing for Pixel Watch owners — if Google handles them well.

I prefer substantial, well-tested changes to perfunctory updates

It's a bit unfortunate that Pixel Watch owners accustomed to monthly security patches will now have to wait three months between hotfixes. However, the Wear OS security bulletins and Pixel Watch security bulletins only ever have a couple of issues to resolve per month, compared to the dozens per month you see on Android phones. Some months, there aren't any significant fixes at all, and very few are ever "critical."

The point is that I don't necessarily see an urgent need for monthly patches simply for the sake of aligning their updates with Pixel phones. Instead of focusing on making stable, consistent changes every month, it seems more productive to me if they make four substantial changes per year.

We now know that Wear OS 6 should arrive in September 2025 after the Pixel Watch 4 launch. Allegedly, Gemini will replace Google Assistant as the default assistant, which is a fairly significant change. So I'd rather Google's team have three months to prepare for this update than waste time on trivial updates in the interim.

I also think Google should consider offering beta Wear OS testing on the Pixel Watch, as Samsung does with One UI Watch, as a way to root out issues ahead of time. Having preset quarterly updates will give its engineers more buffer time to catch them and avoid another frustrating rollback, too.

Basically, I'm looking for the silver lining in what many Pixel Watch owners might consider bad news. Whether the next June 2025 update is called "Wear OS 5.2" or not, it should be more substantial than the typical, perfunctory updates we used to get. And I assume my monthly Pixel phone patches will catch the bulk of any security vulnerabilities.

But if Google can't live up to its quarterly schedule or still releases buggy updates, then that'll certainly be a bad sign. We'll see what the rest of 2025 brings for Pixel Watch owners!