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Fossil is bringing Amazon Alexa to all its Gen 6 smartwatches
- Fossil is bringing Amazon Alexa support to all its Gen 6 smartwatches.
- The SKAGEN Falster Gen 6 launched with an Alexa tile preloaded, but the app isn’t available yet.
- The feature is expected to be active in the first half of this year.
Wear OS 3 isn’t the only thing Fossil fans have to look forward to. Fossil Group will also bring Amazon Alexa to its Gen 6 smartwatches. This is the first time Alexa will be available to Wear OS users and, needless to say, it’s a welcome addition. For users with an affinity for Alexa over other assistants, it may even put Fossil Group ahead of the pack.
One caveat worth noting is that Wear OS 2 doesn’t currently allow users to select their default voice assistant. Most likely, a long-press of the home button will still activate Google Assistant. That means, to access Alexa, you’ll likely need to take the long way by waking your device, scrolling over to the Alexa tab, and tapping it.
Fossil and Amazon Alexa working together
Currently, one Fossil Group device — the newly launched SKAGEN Falster Gen 6 — has an Amazon Alexa tile preloaded at purchase. Once Amazon launches the new Wear OS Alexa app, users will be able to use the feature without needing a full software update. Other Gen 6 devices, including Fossil and Michael Kors’ offerings, will be able to download Alexa for their watches, too.
Learn more: SKAGEN Falster Gen 6 review
Frankly, we’re all a little burnt out talking about how the wait for Wear OS 3 has left a number of devices in limbo. With that in mind, users may approach another “coming soon” attraction with trepidation. However, the preloaded presence of the Alexa tile gives us some assurance. When Fossil spoke with Android Authority, it couldn’t give us a hard date for the assistant’s debut, but it did say it would launch in the first half of 2022.
With plenty of new devices launching this year, the competition among Wear OS devices remains hot. For now, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 leads the pack as the only device currently running the latest Wear OS. Fossil bringing Amazon Alexa to users’ wrists may be a simple way for the company to make up ground while Samsung still only offers Bixby. This, of course, begs the question we’ve all been asking: When will Google Assistant finally make its way to the Galaxy Watch 4?