TAG Heuer
TL;DR Luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer has just launched its newest smartwatch, the Connected Calibre E5.
After relying on Google’s Wear OS for nearly a decade, it is switching to a custom interface to fix connectivity issues with the iPhone.
TAG Heuer went a step further, securing a “Made for iPhone” certification for the smartwatch.
Google’s Wear OS has been the choice of interface for several generations of TAG Heuer Connected series smartwatches. However, the luxury watchmaker is changing that with the latest generation of the series, replacing Wear OS with a custom operating system that plays well with the iPhone.
TAG Heuer’s recently launched Connected Calibre E5 comes with a custom operating system bearing its name. The TAG Heuer OS, which replaces Wear OS on the Calibre E5, is claimed to be built “entirely in-house” for a “fluid, intuitive interface designed for seamless navigation.” WIRED notes that the OS is still based on Android, but these customizations will allow the smartwatch to also be compatible with iOS.
Although Wear OS watches won’t refuse to connect with an iPhone, the experience can be labelled quite the opposite of pleasant. On one hand, iOS has always restricted devices other than the Apple Watch from performing key functions like viewing iPhone notifications on a wearable when the phone’s screen is locked or refusing to support voice calling over Bluetooth through connected devices. This might change once the EU’s mandate for Apple to enable interoperability with non-Apple wearables is enforced.
Meanwhile, Google has also pulled support for Wear OS on the iPhone. Although the Wear OS app for iOS still exists on the iOS App Store, it hasn’t been updated in over two years, effectively marking its death. Whether that happened because of Google’s own disinterest or because of being smothered by Apple’s ecosystem remains unclear.
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