Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Most people reading this know that Google Pixel phones are some of the best you can get if you prioritize fast, reliable software updates. Most of the time, you’ll get a notification on your phone within a few days after an update goes live. And, if you don’t want to wait, it’s very easy to pop into the Settings app to see if you’re on the latest version. If not, a quick tap of the Check for updates button will get you there.
Strangely, this system does not apply to Google’s line of smartwatches in the Pixel Watch family. On all three Pixel Watch models, it can be a week or longer before your watch will automatically update to the latest version. Additionally, there is no obvious way in Wear OS settings to check for an update or force an update. I have found this to be incredibly frustrating with my Pixel Watch 3. It sucks knowing that there are updates available, but my watch simply refuses to bring the update on board.
I went searching for a way to rectify this, and initially came up empty. Google’s official instructions simply tell you to go to Settings > System > System updates on your watch, but the assumption is that your watch will then automatically check for an update and start downloading it, if found. However, that has never worked for me.
Thankfully, I found the real way to update a Pixel Watch.
How to really update a Google Pixel Watch
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
There are two tricks to updating your Pixel Watch. Neither is super obvious, although the first makes sense when you think about it.
First, you need to disable Bluetooth. This seems counterintuitive because that will sever the connection to your phone. However, doing so also forces the watch to connect to Wi-Fi instead, which is what you want for an update (especially a large one). Bluetooth updates will take a very long time to transfer from your phone to your watch, so severing that connection speeds up the process greatly.
So, the first steps go like this: Disable Bluetooth on your Pixel Watch by going to Settings > Connectivity > Bluetooth . Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and toggle the Bluetooth service into the “Off” position.
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