{"id":290758,"date":"2025-07-25T14:05:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T14:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/290758\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T14:05:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T14:05:13","slug":"hands-on-with-google-gemini-on-the-pixel-watch-its-about-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/290758\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands on with Google Gemini on the Pixel Watch: It\u2019s about time"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m just getting acquainted with Gemini on the Pixel Watch I\u2019m wearing when it tells me that there\u2019s a kind of pastry called \u201cnun\u2019s farts.\u201d This relationship is off to a good start.<\/p>\n

\u201cNun\u2019s farts\u201d was a totally appropriate response, by the way. I\u2019d asked it for a list of pastries with silly names, prompted by a question from my 3-year-old. But my first reaction \u2014 right after \u201cThat\u2019s hilarious!\u201d \u2014 was \u201cI wonder if that\u2019s true?\u201d Which sort of highlights the problem with having AI on your wrist.<\/p>\n

Google has just released an update for Wear OS<\/a> that enables Gemini Assistant on smart watches for the first time. I figured I\u2019d have to faff around with software and app updates to get it on the Pixel Watch 2 that I use. Surprisingly, it downloaded automatically, announcing itself with a notification.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve gotten used to having Gemini at my disposal whenever I\u2019m using an Android phone<\/p>\n

As problematic and hallucination-prone as AI assistants are, I\u2019ve gotten used to having Gemini at my disposal whenever I\u2019m using an Android phone. I don\u2019t ask it to plan my vacations or help me shop for shoes, which are the use cases AI companies seem most obsessed with. But I do find it useful for a certain kind of question \u2014 something a little more complex than one that can be answered by a straightforward Google search. I\u2019ve also started noticing that I tend to have \u201cGemini questions\u201d when I don\u2019t have easy access to Gemini, like in the car or when I\u2019m in the kitchen and my phone is in another room. I guess those days are over, because now I\u2019ve got Gemini literally attached to my wrist, even when I sleep. Not creepy at all!<\/p>\n

I started with a question I was pretty sure I knew the answer to but asked anyway: \u201cDo I really have to scrub this sweet potato if I\u2019m just going to peel it?\u201d My husband yelled in the affirmative from the other room, and Gemini gave me a short answer to the same effect. Okay, okay, I get it.<\/p>\n

Gemini handled another line of questioning pretty well, too: \u201cWhere should I get coffee around here?\u201d It recommended a long list of shops, with two of my favorites at the top. When I prompted it to help me navigate to the closest one, it fired up Google Maps as directed. It also correctly identified a \u201cfancy, third-wave coffee shop\u201d when I asked for such a recommendation in another neighborhood. Job well done.<\/p>\n

Calendaring \u2014 one of my favorite jobs to give AI<\/a> \u2014 was more mixed. Gemini can add a new calendar event easily enough, and it found the details of my next flight when I asked. But for some reason it insists that there\u2019s nothing on my calendar tomorrow, even though there definitely is. It also doesn\u2019t seem to have access to events on someone else\u2019s calendar that\u2019s been shared with me, which is just an extension of the eternal struggle of living with multiple Google Calendars.<\/p>\n

Gemini didn\u2019t do so well with the ferry schedule. I asked when the next ferry would leave downtown Seattle for Bainbridge Island, and it gave me an answer that was, oh, 35 minutes wrong. That\u2019s not something I\u2019d normally rely on Gemini for, but when you use Gemini on your watch that\u2019s kind of your only option. Working with such a small screen and no web browser, there\u2019s no easy way to verify or contextualize what Gemini is telling you from the watch itself. Aside from a little fine print that says \u201cGemini can make mistakes, so double check it,\u201d you have to put a lot of trust in a technology that is known to make things up.<\/p>\n

Of course, your phone is usually around somewhere even if you\u2019re talking to Gemini on your watch, and all of your conversations with the AI are available in the Gemini phone app\u2019s history. Assuming your mobile device isn\u2019t far away, it\u2019s not hard to grab it and double check what\u2019s being said. But given how few people actually click through to the sources on AI summaries<\/a> for web searches, I\u2019m not confident that everyone\u2019s going to go to the trouble.<\/p>\n

You have to put a lot of trust in a technology that is known to make things up<\/p>\n

I am sure of one thing, whether or not I want to admit it: I\u2019m going to use Gemini on my watch a lot. I\u2019m already used to having AI available to answer certain kinds of low-stakes questions, and having constant access to it will probably spur me to ask even more of it. I like to think that I\u2019m disciplined enough to double-check sources when it really matters. Maybe those are famous last words.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I\u2019m alone in wanting this kind of convenience. When I started using my watch with the regular Google Assistant to ask simple questions \u2014 the ones you can answer with a basic web search \u2014 my tech-averse husband took notice. Now he says \u201cAsk your watch\u201d whenever he has a question about something and his phone is out of reach. Once you realize you can get certain kinds of questions answered without lifting a finger, you start to notice those questions more often and actually ask them. Just double check that ferry schedule, though.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Follow topics and authors<\/strong> from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.<\/p>\n