GoKawiil
Tech News
Google has confirmed that a system status bar showing the time and icons like airplane mode and Do Not Disturb will launch with Wear OS 8. The company had previously let developers test the feature in a Wear OS 7.1 emulator but said it wouldn't ship until a later release, and has now shared an image of the status bar's design.
Google has released an updated Wear OS emulator built on unreleased Wear OS 7.1 software, based on Android 17. The emulator introduces a persistent system status bar that appears over app windows at the top of circular watch displays, showing the time and system icons after a few seconds of inactivity. Google says the feature currently only displays a placeholder star icon and won't be present when Wear OS 7.1 actually ships to devices.
The 41mm Wi-Fi version of Google's Pixel Watch 5 is now selling for $299.99 on Amazon, down $100 from its $399.99 list price. That marks a 25% discount and the lowest price the smartwatch has seen since its release.
Amazon has cut the price of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 (40mm, LTE) to $269.99, down $80 from its $349.99 list price as part of a Prime Day sale. That matches nearly the lowest price the watch has seen, just $4 above the previous all-time low set during last year's Prime Day event. The deal requires an active Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon is selling Samsung's Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, the 46mm stainless-steel smartwatch with a rotating bezel, Wear OS, Galaxy AI and health tracking features, for $389.99 instead of its $549.99 list price. The discount, a 28% cut saving $160, requires an active Amazon Prime membership, though new users can sign up for a free 30-day trial.
Amazon has reduced the Google Pixel Watch 5 (41mm, Wi-Fi) to $334.99, marking its first discount since launch and saving buyers $65 from the original $399.99 retail price. The smartwatch features a compact design, Wear OS, enhanced GPS, health tools, and Fitbit integration, with a 30-hour battery life and a 4.6-star rating. The deal requires Amazon Prime membership, available with a free trial.
A new third-party app called Now On Wrist relays song-recognition results from a Pixel phone's Now Playing feature to a paired Wear OS smartwatch. It can display detected tracks via notifications, a watch face complication, or a dedicated tile, and tapping a result opens the song in apps like YouTube Music or Spotify. The app requires Wear OS 3.0 or newer and is available now on Google Play.
Facer has relaunched its watch face marketplace for Wear OS and Apple Watch with a redesigned interface that sorts faces into curated tabs, brand partnerships, sport-specific designs, and independent creator content under a new 'Facer Originals' label. The company also announced a dedicated Entertainment section featuring franchises like Pac-Man, Fallout, Star Wars and Tetris, alongside new partnerships bringing Timex-inspired dials and Sonic and Angry Birds watch faces to the platform.
Amazon is selling the 41mm LTE version of the Google Pixel Watch 4 for $329.95, down $120 from its $449.95 list price, a 27% discount. The company describes it as the lowest price the smartwatch has reached since launch.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch9 brings a new Snapdragon Wear Elite processor, Wear OS 7 with customizable widgets, and a raise-to-talk Gemini feature, alongside a modestly larger battery. Despite the bigger battery, real-world battery life stayed around 25 hours with always-on display enabled, similar to its predecessor. The reviewer calls it a solid but incremental update over last year's Watch8, better suited for those upgrading from older Galaxy Watches.
Android Authority's Paul Jones argues that despite the $350 Moto Watch Ultra's strong feature set—LTE eSIM, Wear OS 6, a 1.5-inch pOLED screen and Polar health tracking—its weaker processor and limited two-generation OS upgrade path make it a risky buy. Instead, he recommends five alternatives including the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025), Google Pixel Watch 4, Samsung Galaxy Watch 9, Garmin Venu 4 and Amazfit Balance 2. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025, now around $330 on Amazon, is highlighted as the top pick for Samsung phone owners thanks to its rugged sapphire-glass build, 64GB storage, multi-day battery and four years of promised software updates.
Android Auto users report that Gemini has stopped controlling smart home devices like AC units and lights while driving, with the assistant now replying that it cannot control such devices through Google Maps. The issue follows similar complaints on Wear OS, which Google said it had already fixed, though it's unclear if the two problems are related. Some users say the same commands still function inside the standalone Gemini app.