What you need to know
- Original Pixel Watch users on Reddit quickly reported a warning message in the Google Health app that said they were about to lose major features.
- Sync for sleep and workout data was apparently going to be removed unless they updated Wear OS, which isn’t possible for this four-year-old watch.
- Google confirmed that this warning was a bug in its systems and that the original Pixel Watch is still “fully supported” in the Health app.
Owners of Google’s original Pixel Watch were frightened this week by an on-device alert that said they were losing access to Health features.
We’re coming off the back of the Pixel Watch 5’s launch, and the last thing consumers want is for their tech to become obsolete. That nearly felt like a reality, as users on Reddit posted an alert that read: “Update your watch to keep using Google Health” (via Android Authority). This warning made its rounds, as more users replied to the thread, reporting the same alert. The message said their watch was running an “older version of Wear OS” and that it would soon “stop syncing sleep and workout data with Google Health.”
Many users were in an uproar. The first Pixel Watch debuted four years ago. While the device received its last minor update last November, it stunned many to think that Google would drop it outright after the Pixel Watch 5. Becoming ineligible for new features is one thing, since it’s an older model. But cutting support entirely wasn’t sitting well with the majority. Not everyone saw this warning message, and that’s where things became curious. A community moderator highlighted Google’s official response to the warning O.G. Pixel Watch users have been seeing.
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Google confirms that the first Pixel Watch remains “fully supported” with the Health app and features. It adds, “We had a bug where some users received this card incorrectly. Thanks for raising this, it has now been resolved.”
Pixel Watch is still hanging on
Google had a Health app double-feature in July. The first update focused on key stats, as the app rolled out a massive selection of metric tiles for the Today and Health tabs. Google said users would find new tiles for “heart rate variability, breathing rate, oxygen saturation (SpO2), resting heart rate, skin temperature variation, blood glucose, mindful days, mindful minutes, resilience, protein intake, fat intake, carbohydrate intake, and your friend leaderboard.” Convenience was the goal for this.
Many of these metrics can be viewed in the Health tab; however, taking a quick glance at them in the Today tab would save you time. What’s more, your sleep session statistics will now account for any naps (20 mins or longer). The second July update was about nutrition. Nutrition Logging, or rather “Quick Logging,” focuses on calories and macro estimates. Google states users don’t have to worry about the exact name of what they’ve eaten.
So long as they can fill out the meal’s calories and macronutrients, it will be logged. These nutrition updates rolled out with vv5.04 of the Google Health app.
Android Central’s Take
The funny thing that a few users mentioned on Reddit is that the original Pixel Watch runs Wear OS 5.1. Given that, you’d think the device would be spared from any EOS in the Health app. These alerts were a scare, for sure. They’re not that far behind in software. Sure, the hardware is older, which is why many aren’t expecting new features (EOS came for Wear OS, not the app). I’m glad it worked out. The original Pixel Watch isn’t that bad, even four years later.