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Bad news, old Android Wear watches may not get the latest software update

By Andy Boxall Published June 13, 2016

moto 360 tips and tricks wear next 120114 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Proud owners of the first Android Wear watches that ever went on sale may find themselves lagging behind the newer models, because they won’t receive the latest Android Wear 2.0 software update. Announced in May, the update isn’t revolutionary, but it does add some great new features, including smarter watch faces, message improvements, and better fitness tracking ability.

LG was the first to break the bad news through its official Twitter account. The message referred to the original LG G Watch, and in reply to an enquiry about the update’s arrival time, the company said the watch had been discontinued, and therefore not on its list for Android Wear 2.0. While the G Watch has been superseded in the range several times, it’s still used, and several owners conveyed their displeasure at LG’s decision.

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A few weeks later, Motorola also took to Twitter with news of the original Moto 360 smartwatch. Likely in wider use than the G Watch, thanks to it being the first with a stylish circular face, the device will also miss out on Android Wear 2.0. The Motorola Support Twitter account said in reply to a follower question that the watch definitely wouldn’t be updated.

The Moto 360 is less than two years old, making it a surprise that it won’t be supported any more, a move that suggests it’s a hardware issue. The first generation Moto 360 has 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz Texas Instruments processor inside. The LG G Watch also has 512MB of RAM, but is powered by a faster 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400. It’s identical internally to the G Watch R, and the Watch Urbane.

Samsung, Sony, and Asus haven’t spoken out about Android Wear 2.0 for the Gear Live, SmartWatch 3, or the ZenWatch respectively yet. Android is no stranger to missing updates, but there are potentially many smartwatch early-adopters who will be frustrated by the news. Owners of newer Android Wear watches that can make use of the new software’s more hardware-dependent features such as Wi-Fi and internal speaker systems, should all receive the new software in the near future.

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Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

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Google is finally bringing YouTube Music to older Wear OS watches

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Disappointingly, Wear OS 3 won’t be saving Android smartwatches for a while yet

Galaxy Watch 4 Classic on the wrist.

It all started out so well. Google working with Samsung and Fitbit on an updated version of Wear OS that would be faster, provide longer battery life, and enable more apps was exactly what we wanted -- an injection of effort, investment, and excitement into a piece of software that had stagnated for too long.

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What’s the problem?
Wear OS 3 is available on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, and that’s the way it looks set to stay until the second half of next year. There’s an argument to be made that it’s right for Samsung to benefit from the software platform it co-developed first, but that’s not the impression Google gave, and not really the idea behind any of Google’s software generally. Android has always been for everyone, while Wear OS 3 isn’t just yet.