Pixel Watch and Watch 2 Get Workout Tracking Boost with Wear OS 5
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Google's Pixel Watch 3 debuted with the Wear OS 5, which introduced meaningful changes and enhancements to wellness tracking features. Apparently, it didn't take long before the update hit the older Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch.
- Also read: Pixel Watch 3 vs. Pixel Watch 2 comparison
In a community post, Google announced that it has started rolling out Wear OS 5 to last year's Pixel Watch and the original Pixel Watch running on Wear OS 3.5. This comes in an over-the-air update labeled as AW2A.240903.005 while the availability for other Pixel Watch variants depends on countries and the carriers for cellular models.
New Pixel Watch tools for runners
Although there are a few modest changes, the most notable ones are found in the Health Services. Particularly, there are now more extensive insights when tracking workouts such as letting users set a metric threshold or range through the debounced goals and view the current level during exercise.
In addition, Google is further improving the Pixel watches as running trackers. With Wear OS 5, users can benefit from the more advanced metrics that can help their training. These include ground contact time, stride length, cadence, and vertical oscillation/ratio—all are accessible from the Health Services section.
What else is new in Wear OS 5
Along with the firmware, several Pixel Watch app updates are added as well, including a new grid view app launcher and upgraded camera controls that were first seen on the Pixel Watch 3. There is also a new Pixel Recorder feature. However, all of these require a separate update in the Play Store app after installing Wear OS 5.
Elsewhere, a new metric goal and weighted elements complications are added and can be customized with select watch faces. Another quality-of-life tweak is on the media output switcher, showing more details about the currently playing track or video and which audio device is currently selected.
Overall, the update also ships with the September security patch and system optimizations and bug fixes for more stable performance and better battery life.
Do you own a Pixel Watch or Watch 2? If so, have you received the Wear OS 5 update? Share with us the other changes you've discovered.
Via: 9to5Google Source: Google Support
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