In the past couple of years, Google has got into the habit of releasing Pixel Drops, its name for major Android software and feature updates for its Pixel smartphones. These happen several times per year and are a good way to push out new tools to users without having to wait until a whole OS version upgrade, which only happens once per year.
Such regular updates seem to also be coming to Google’s Pixel Watch line up, with the firm this week announcing a notable free update that is coming to the newest Pixel Watch 4 that came out in October.
Some of the features Google has added appear to take a leaf out of Apple’s book, as there are some handy upgrades here that we’ve seen come to the Apple Watch recently.
The software update, which is rolling out now to all Pixel Watch 4 models globally, adds two new one-handed gestures to help owners do different things with ease, subtlety, or if their hands are full. These gestures are double pinch and wrist turn, which are similar (OK, identical) to gestures introduced to some Apple Watch models in 2023.
“You can now use various features without ever touching your screen: scroll through notifications, dismiss notifications, snooze your alarm effortlessly, manage a timer or stopwatch, pause your music, select a smart reply to respond, answer and end a phone call…the list of what you can do with one-handed gestures goes on and on,” Munjal Shah, Senior Product Manager for Pixel Watch said in a blog post.
I installed the update on my Pixel Watch 4 review sample and it works well. Little indicators pop up on screens where you can double pinch after you’ve updated. It’s a useful way to show where you can use the new gesture within the UI.
It’s mostly good for scrolling through long notifications or messages if your other hand isn’t free to scroll on the screen or with the crown. The wrist flick gesture is mostly there for you to dismiss anything from notifications to timers or unwanted phone calls.
Those upgrades are exclusive to the Pixel Watch 4 for now, but if you have a Pixel Watch 3 you are also getting some other new features.
Along with the Watch 4, Watch 3 is getting what Google is calling “enhanced smart replies”. Smart replies already existed on these wearables, suggesting stock quick replies you can send when you see a message come in from someone. Now, Google says the Pixel Watch can use on-device AI to suggest better, more contextual replies.
“In a first for smartwatches, Pixel Watch 3 and newer watches will now use our on-device Gemma-based language model to generate Smart Replies for Google Messages and more even when you aren’t tethered to your phone,” Shah said. “This new model is twice as fast and nearly three times more efficient in terms of memory usage compared to our previous generation.”
I’ve been very impressed with the Pixel Watch 4, a product I awarded a rare five stars in my full review. The combination of refined hardware and Google’s new visually excellent take on Android WearOS feels very accomplished, and this new software update should only add to the polish.