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Motorola unveiled the Moto Watch Ultra at IFA 2026, a flagship smartwatch built with Polar that returns the company to Google's Wear OS platform. The watch features a Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 chip, a 1.5-inch pOLED display hitting 2,700 nits, LTE eSIM support, and up to two days of battery life from a 550mAh cell. It launches September 10 for $349.99, with carrier versions to follow.
Google is rolling out version 1.0.0.94 of its Pixel Weather app for Wear OS, adding three new watch face complications: Air quality index, Pollen, and Precipitation. These join the existing Sunrise/sunset, UV Index, and Weather complications available to Pixel Watch owners. Users can add them through the Pixel Watch companion app or by long-pressing the watch face directly.
Motorola has released the Moto Watch Ultra, its first premium smartwatch to run Google's Wear OS instead of the custom software used on its earlier Moto Watch. The 46mm stainless steel device uses a Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 chip, features a 1.5-inch OLED display, and comes in black or silver with interchangeable leather and silicone straps, an IP68 rating, and 5ATM water resistance.
Samsung has begun rolling out the One UI 9 Watch beta to US-based owners of the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, following an earlier launch in South Korea. The update, accessible through the Samsung Members app, brings a redesigned Galaxy Wearable app, revamped Samsung Health metrics, and new workout and camera remote features.
Google's Pixel Watch 5 introduced exclusive Weave and Chronograph watch faces, plus custom face creation tools. A Reddit user found a workaround letting Pixel Watch 4 owners access these same faces by sideloading a newer version of the Pixel Watch Faces app using the GeminiMan WearOS Manager tool over wireless ADB debugging.
Samsung has begun rolling out its Wear OS 7-based One UI 9 Watch beta to Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic devices, starting in South Korea. The update, roughly 2GB in size, includes a redesigned interface, expanded watch face customization, new safety features, and improved Samsung Health metrics like aerobic load and sleep vitals tracking. Samsung has also streamlined its beta sign-up process, letting users accept terms once for all future beta programs.
Several widely-used smartwatches, including Google's Pixel Watch 2, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro, and multiple Apple Watch models, will lose software support in 2026. The devices will continue basic functions like fitness tracking and notifications but won't receive further feature updates or, in some cases, security patches. Apple is reportedly retiring five watch models in a single watchOS release, one of its largest support cuts to date.