That’s the question I keep asking myself now that we have rumors and a possible code reference for Samsung working on a Wear OS watch for the first time since the launch of the platform in 2014. I can’t decide whether Samsung should make a Wear OS watch again or whether they should stay away.
To update it, we think Samsung is working on a Wear OS watch because first a rumor of a consistent leak from Samsung suggested that it was. That rumor was quickly followed by a report that Samsung had left some code in its kernel source code that recognizes a product called “Merlin” that has something to do with Wear OS. This is noteworthy because Samsung has not touched Wear OS since Gear Live 2014 and instead launched only watches with its own Tizen operating system. As one of the biggest players in the smartwatch game, it would be a immense move to Samsung to change platforms.
Would it be a good move? Again, this is where we return to the title question. I do not know! Here’s what I can tell you.
Wear OS is still an outdated wearable platform, which barely works at times and which Google has abandoned almost completely. They care so little about Wear OS that their leaders don’t even know if or when they attend their own developer conference. Some of its most important features have been broken for months and are now only catching Google’s attention because the media has made noise with them. People are constantly asking Google if it’s a dead platform.
Google tries to tell us that it’s investing in Wear OS and wearables every few months, so we have at least that to continue. We also received a decent Wear OS update last fall. It was not major major, but it was an update that showed that Google is still working on it. We even have a very promising new Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip, but no one wants to use it outside of Mobvoi (and perhaps Motorola). I think it’s generally safe to say that Wear OS is not a thriving platform, has few partners manufacturing devices and would have died years ago if Fossil didn’t keep it alive with its many brands.
But what if Samsung made a Wear OS watch? Well, Samsung makes great hardware. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 was a fabulous fitness-oriented watch, while the Galaxy Watch 3 is certainly a premium sensation. They make their own wearable chips that are updated regularly over time. They do interesting things, like adding rotating bezels and trying to track advanced health metrics. Samsung does same cool smartwatches – they just don’t run Wear OS.
I think the idea becomes interesting just because a move to Samsung may well mean that Google has new plans for Wear OS. Does that mean a whole new user interface, new apps and services and a mature Wear OS unlike anything we’ve seen before? Eh, maybe? Or maybe Samsung just brings all your stuff.
An example of this is OPPO Watch or TicWatch Pro 3, where both companies put a ton of their own software on these watches with complementary apps that sync with smartphones, almost outside of Wear OS. They even put up their own app launchers because Google’s is so frustrating to use. Samsung could do something similar with Samsung Health, while relying on Google for most of the rest, such as Google Assistant, notifications, Google apps, etc.
There is another part of me that thinks the big change would be Google opening up Wear OS a little more, letting someone like Samsung put a UI on top of it and use it more like they do with Android on a phone. With so little interest in Wear OS as it is now, it’s time for Google to allow companies to showcase their own visions. In a way, we saw companies like Fossil do this, in which they added battery modes and sleep tracking because Google couldn’t find the time for that. But these companies could certainly take things to the next level if Google allows it.
Returning to the subject that I mentioned, I think so, Samsung making a Wear OS watch is interesting. It’s not just interesting because Samsung makes cool smartwatches, however. Instead, the details I want to know are in the why Samsung would return to Wear OS. What is Google doing?