Android version front and center
Android users are increasingly attuned to the software on their phones — you’ve probably got an Android 11 handset right now, anxiously awaiting an update to the latest release. But what do you know about the software running on your smartwatch? Google seems interested in drawing our attention to just that, as it adds fresh details to how Wear OS reports its update status.
Users with Google Play Services version 21.42.18 are noticing a change to their system update screen. On previous versions, if your system was up to date, the watch would show you a blue checkmark alongside a simple message. After updating, the screen displays both the Android version and when your latest security update was installed (as spotted by 9to5Google).
Although there’s no way to be sure, this likely has something to do with the recent release of Wear OS 3, a new version based on Android 11. Wear OS 2 — which is still running on all smartwatches aside from the Galaxy Watch4 series — is still using Android 9. Several of those models have optional updates to Google’s latest software planned for sometime next year, making a clearer software version necessary. Either way, it’s great to see Google making this kind of information easier to find instead of burying it deeper in settings.
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