Google intends to phase out the Weather app for Wear OS in favor of the newer Pixel Weather app. Older Pixel Watch models (except the 1st gen Pixel Watch) have already received the new Weather app, with Google also keeping the older app running while barring new installations.
Unfortunately, those who have continued to use the legacy weather experience on their Pixel Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch are now facing a bug that has completely broken the experience. A first-gen Pixel Watch user shared excerpts of their conversation with Google support, in which the company basically confirms the issue and promises a fix in an upcoming firmware update.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on exactly when this bug-fixing update will arrive, with the advice being to check for updates “from time to time.” Additionally, the chat support agent recommends that the affected user try out alternative weather apps for their Pixel Watch. This suggests that users may be in for a long delay to regain Google Weather’s functionality.
There aren’t many solutions right now
A screenshot shared by 9to5Google details the issue with the Google Weather app. Impacted users will see a “Loading…” indicator, followed by a “Can’t download weather data” warning. Although there’s a ‘Retry‘ button there, tapping it reportedly has no effect.
The bug also breaks the existing tiles for Sun, UV Index, and Forecast, reflecting errors such as “Loading weather” and “Couldn’t retrieve your location.”
Of course, this issue also affects owners of Samsung Galaxy Watch models who rely on Google Weather instead of Samsung’s native solution. As 9to5 notes, impacted users can seek weather info via Gemini using a voice command, though it’s definitely not as convenient as seeing the data instantly on your smartwatch.
Barring this workaround, users have no other choice but to use a third-party weather app, with AccuWeather being the most popular option.
This issue doesn’t affect owners of the 2nd or 3rd-generation Pixel Watch, as both models support Pixel Weather, courtesy of Wear OS 6. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 4 comes with the app preinstalled as part of the latest Wear OS software.
Google released the now-outdated Weather app back in 2022, but replaced it with Pixel Weather this September. While the move to a more polished weather app made a great deal of sense, the fact that some users were left out meant Google couldn’t completely get rid of the older Weather app.
