Google has struggled to find popular acceptance of its Wear OS while its competitor Apple watchOS has raced ahead, in spite of having a smaller audience. The company brought the Wear OS 3 in 2021 with Samsung's support, But, to no avail. All this may have forced the company to take an upside down look at things.
Now, we have Google sharing that smartwatches running the Wear OS can be worn upside down. The folks 9to5Google spotted an update on the company's complaints forum that was marked as closed, indicating that the problem of not being able to tie a watch on either hand was indeed a big one.
Yes, that's the big problem that Google is attempting to resolve. Wear OS watches of the day expect users to wear the device in a specific orientation. To be precise, only on the left wrist with the crown facing forward in order to provide easy access for the right hand. Which means half the world might have found it useless!
Now you can tie your watch upside down
Not exactly. The watches with the Wear OS could be worn on the right wrist, but all the buttons and the crown would be at an inconvenient position resulting in the user's hand even blocking the screen.
In itself, the change might be a small one, but Google needs to keep updating and upgrading its watch operating system if it hopes to capture marketshare in the fast growing wearables business. In fact, the just concluded CES 2022 saw very few with the Wear OS getting released.
Of course, there were a few that appeared. We saw Fossil’s Skagen Falster Gen 6, and the Razer x Fossil Gen 6. The inference is there for us to draw. That Wear OS is not a big lure for manufacturers and that its latest edition, the Wear OS 3, too didn't really capture anyone's imagination.
It is possible that watch makers are adopting a wait and watch policy over the Wear OS 3. Because, till date we had only the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 range actually shipping with the latest operating system. Most others in the works might ship with the Wear OS 2 and offer a software update later this year.
Wear OS update - what actually changed?
Coming to the latest update, there is a possibility that users could prefer the buttons facing them instead of the hand. But, even in such cases it would help if the watch's side buttons don't press when folding an arm back, like one does while exercising. Either way, the updated Wear OS allows users to wear the watch upside down.
Which means, southpaws could tie the watch to the right and not block the controls or hide the screen when using them. As for the right handers, they needn't worry about accidental button presses while working out - all they need to do is tie their smartwatch upside down.
Must say that it took Google more than three years to fix the matter that first came up on their Issue Tracker in 2018 when both fans and watch owners sought a 180-degree flip of their watch interface. Google has now marked the issue as resolved with this message: Our development team has implemented the feature you have requested and will be available on future new devices.
All very well for now. However, Google needs to clarify when the feature would find its way into actual devices. Would it be a part of the Watch OS 3 upgrade or would they wait till the Wear OS 4 appears on the scene? Of course, there is also the small question around whether the upgrade will bring a toggle in the settings or just leave the orientation of the device on auto-detect mode.
- Check out our list of Best smartwatch in India in 2021
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