What you need to know
- Wear OS 6 dev preview code and an APK teardown by Android Authority have shown upcoming Pixel Watch features.
- The update should include the long-rumored Adaptive Charging tool and a renamed Water Lock mode.
- Your Pixel Watch 4 could automatically lock your phone if you leave it behind.
- Stock Wear OS 6 should arrive first on the Pixel Watch 4 in late summer.
Google publicly unveiled Wear OS 6 last month, but it appears the upcoming OS has a few hidden depths. Strings of code in the developer preview show hints at features that Google has yet to reveal, and they all sound useful to the upcoming Pixel Watch 4!
Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority spotted strings of code in the ClockworkSysUiGoogle app for adaptive charging. It would stop at a set percentage — likely 80%, as on Pixel phones — and show "Charging will be completed by X" on the display, with an option to "Override" and show "Charging to full now."
During my Wear OS 6 hands-on at I/O, I spotted the full-charge screen above, and "Ready to go!" is one of the code strings Rahman spotted. So I fully believe this feature is coming. It'll pair well with the "fully charged" notifications Google added last year.
Galaxy Watch 8 code leaks also revealed an adaptive charging tool that lets you choose a custom max percentage, so we can reasonably expect this tool across devices when Wear OS 6 arrives in late summer or early fall.
Rahman spotted another dev preview code string for a Water Lock feature on Pixel Watches, but it's unclear how different this would be from the current "Touch Lock" that prevents false inputs on the display and disables the rotating crown while you're swimming or in the shower. Perhaps it's simply a branding change for people to use the feature more often.
Most intriguingly, an APK teardown showed how your watch could help keep your phone more secure, in an inverse of the popular Watch Unlock tool.
The code string shows that your "Phone will lock when it disconnects from your watch, like when it’s far away." So if you have a Pixel 9 Pro sitting on your desk, walking away while wearing your Pixel Watch 4 will lock your phone; then, when you return, Watch Unlock will trigger by proximity.
So, if someone were to snag your Pixel phone while it's unlocked and walk away, it should lock by default once they reach a certain distance.
Wear OS 6 will bring major changes to Pixel Watches, from the new Material 3 Expressive UI and dynamic color theming to third-party watch face storefronts and revamped Tiles with more tools.
The Pixel Watch 4 will receive the update first, and the leaked Pixel Watch 4 design appears thicker than the Watch 3 — possibly to squeeze in a larger battery. So we're hoping that the new adaptive charging tool will help the Watch 4's improved capacity last much longer.
Add in the fact that Gemini should replace Assistant on Wear OS relatively soon, and this should be the biggest update to the platform since Google and Samsung first joined forces with Wear OS 3.
