Credit: Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
- There will still be Galaxy Watch updates for existing Tizen-powered devices.
- However, the new combo of Wear OS and Tizen will be limited to upcoming releases only.
- This should set current owners at ease, even if they won’t see the fancy new operating system.
One of the highlights of the Google I/O 2021 keynote today was Google’s announcement that it has teamed up with Samsung to revamp the Android wearables industry. Google, Samsung, and Fitbit plan to combine all their powers to make a hybrid operating system that will be a mix of Wear OS, Fitbit OS, and Samsung’s Tizen.
This new operating system — which will still go by Wear OS — will appear on Samsung wearables in the future. It will also appear on Fitbit wearables and, theoretically, a Google wearable if the company ever gets around to it. Ah, but what does this mean for Galaxy Watch updates on your current Samsung wearables?
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In its press release surrounding the news, Samsung confirms that its current slate of Tizen-powered wearables will continue to see updates. The products will stick to the regular schedule, whatever it may be for that particular model (three years after its release date).
However, Samsung also confirmed that no existing products from the company will see an upgrade to Wear OS. The obvious culprit for that is the hardware within Samsung watches, which does not jibe with the Wear OS platform.
We’ve heard rumors for months now that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 could be powered by Wear OS. With today’s news, that seems more like an inevitability now. We expect that watch to land in August or at some point this summer.
