Wear OS 6 wishlist: What I want to see and what we know so far

Wear OS has come a long way since its great revival in 2021, now commanding a fleet of excellent Android smartwatches. While we’re currently on the fifth nominal version of the wearable OS, Wear OS 6 is seemingly a few ticks of the clock away. As we wind up to that eventuality, here’s everything we know about Wear OS 6 and a list of features we hope it includes.

Wear OS 6: Features we want to see

Google and Samsung have added plenty of new features to Wear OS since they joined forces, but it could still do with several nips and tucks. This is my Wear OS 6 wishlist.

Smoother, higher quality update rollouts

Wear OS has a long history of update problems, whether manufacturer-induced or directly stemming from Google.

Owners of the older Pixel Watch models updating from Wear OS 4 to Wear OS 5 experienced these issues firsthand. The company halted the rollout for two months after issues of black screens emerged after users installed the update. Samsung is also dragging its feet pushing new updates to its Galaxy Watch devices.

Like smartphone users, smartwatch owners deserve fuss-free updates. For a device platform that shares commonalities with Android, version rollouts and security patches shouldn’t render devices paperweights. Here’s to hoping that Wear OS 6 ushers in a predictable update schedule for the smartwatch platform.

Further battery and efficiency improvements

With Wear OS 5, Google and Samsung finally turned their gaze toward efficiency and battery life, and it clearly shows. We’ve noticed improvements on the Pixel Watches running the latest OS, as have users across the internet.

These improvements are largely thanks to internal nips and tucks and the adoption of the Watch Face Format. Of course, this means that many classic watch faces are no longer available, but I’d happily trade these for less time tied to the wall.

With battery capacities remaining largely static on smartwatches, Wear OS must continue to chisel out efficiency gains.

Wear OS’s own Smart Stack/Live Activity solution

One of watchOS’s many advantages over Wear OS is its Smart Stack system. Since its lukewarm debut, it has received a notable bump in functionality with Live Activity support, which adds contextually relevant cards to the stack when required.

For instance, if you just requested an Uber, a card detailing a pickup countdown, the car model, and its license plate will appear on the watch. Once the trip is underway, those details will switch to display the dropoff estimate and destination. This can all happen seamlessly on the Apple Watch, and it’s something Wear OS should adopt.

Gemini support on the wrist

Some may not like the use of AI on devices, but Gemini is both massively powerful and useful in certain scenarios. At this point, only Google Assistant is supported on Wear OS smartwatches, but with Wear OS 6, I’d like to see Gemini included as an option. Moreover, I’d like to see Gemini Live support.

I’ve used Live in various facets of my life, including cooking and driving. The hands-on, free-flowing nature of the feature makes it exceptionally useful when your hands are indeed tied. Having such a feature on the watch, or at least the option to use it, would be welcome.

Wear OS 6 expected release date and name

• Wear OS 5: July 2024
• Wear OS 4: July 2023
• Wear OS 3.5: October 2022

Since version 4, Wear OS has seen a consistent mid-year release. This timeline is designed to coincide with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch arrivals, as new versions of the OS debut on the Korean company’s hardware. Given this, it’s not farfetched to imagine that Wear OS 6 could debut in July 2025. However, there is evidence that the next major Wear OS version might not be version 6.

Wear OS 5.1 is now available for testing for developers, with Google confirming that the watch OS is based on Android 15, the current pinnacle of Android. This suggests we may see Wear OS 5.1 arrive in July 2025, not Wear OS 6. Additionally, while we expect a sixth major version of the OS to emerge at some point, it now seems likely to be based on Android 16. This alone may suggest a much later arrival in 2025 or even 2026.

There is no word on when we can expect a stable Wear OS 5.1 launch, let alone Wear OS 6, so we wait with bated breath.

Will there be a Wear OS 6 beta?

Presumably, there will be a Wear OS 6 beta build, at least for a small selection of supported devices. Samsung regularly offers beta builds of its smartwatch platforms, and it’ll likely do the same for Wear OS 6.

That said, going by prior experience, you can expect a beta for older Samsung watches only once the stable version debuts on its latest Galaxy Watch model.

Wear OS 6 rumored features

As already mentioned, we know very little about Wear OS 6 in its current form, but considering that Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15 and will adopt some of its traits, it stands to reason that Wear OS 6 will be based on Android 16 and integrate some of its improvements, too.

Some of the rumored Android 16 features that would make a perfect addition to Wear OS include notification cooldowns and Do Not Disturb mode updates with Priority Mode in tow.

Wear OS 6 compatibility

As Wear OS 6 is not yet official, there is no concrete word about which devices will receive the update. However, based on current update policies, we can piece together a reliable picture.

Wear OS 6 should be available on Samsung Galaxy Watch models with the balance of their four-year update support window. This may include the Galaxy Watch 4, but should include the Galaxy Watch 5 and newer. We can also expect the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 to receive the OS version.