Key Takeaways
- The Google Pixel Watch 3’s revamped charging screen is rolling out to the Pixel Watch 1 and 2.
- It shows more information, including the month and time of the upcoming alarm.
- The new charging screen’s rollout might be linked to Wear OS 5 and won’t appear on Pixel Watches running Wear OS 4.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 houses the same internals as its predecessor, with Google focusing on improving the software experience. These include features like Cardio Load, Target Load, and Pulse Detection. There are several other minor UI changes, all aimed at delivering a better user experience. One of them is the revamped charging screen, which shows the estimated time remaining for a full charge and the time of the upcoming alarm. Google is bringing the same charging screen to its first two Pixel Watches, albeit with a catch.
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Some Pixel Watch 1 and 2 owners on Reddit report getting the new Pixel Watch 3 charging screen on their wearable. As visible in the featured image above, the Pixel Watch’s original charging screen only displays the day and date below the time.
The new layout puts the date and day on the left, with the month to the clock’s right. If you have an ongoing timer or an upcoming alarm, it will appear on the left, with the date and day pushed to the right.
Instead of green, the charging screen uses yellow as the accent color, with the time showing up in white. The current battery percentage position remains unchanged in both layouts.
On the Pixel Watch 3, the charging screen also displays the time remaining for a full charge on the right of the clock. This is currently not showing up on the Pixel Watch 1 and 2.
Pixel Watch’s new charging screen might require Wear OS 5 to work
Presumably, the new charging screen will only appear on Pixel Watch units running Wear OS 5. If your watch is still stuck on Wear OS 4, you might have to wait a few more weeks for Google to roll out a revised Wear OS 5 build.
The new charging screen is rolling out just days after Google released a feature that allows the Pixel Watch to send a notification to the paired Android phone when it’s fully charged.
The new charging screen appeared on my Pixel Watch 2 after installing all pending system app updates from the Google Play Store, followed by a quick restart. You can also try your luck by following the same steps.
