Recognition: Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
- There will still be Galaxy Watch updates for existing Tizen devices.
- However, the new combination of Wear OS and Tizen is only limited to upcoming versions.
- This should reassure current owners even if they don’t see the fancy new operating system.
One of the highlights of today’s keynote on Google I / O 2021 was Google’s announcement that it has partnered with Samsung to revolutionize the Android wearables industry. Google, Samsung, and Fitbit plan to combine all of their forces to create a hybrid operating system that will be a mix of Wear OS, Fitbit OS, and Samsung Tizen.
This new operating system, which will continue to be used by Wear OS, will appear on Samsung wearables in the future. It will also appear on Fitbit wearables and, in theory, a Google wearable if the company ever gets around to it. Ah, but what does that mean for Galaxy Watch updates on your current Samsung wearables?
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In its press release on the news, Samsung confirmed that the current list of wearables powered by Tizen will continue to be updated. The products adhere to the regular schedule, regardless of the model (three years from the release date).
However, Samsung also confirmed that none of the company’s existing products will be upgraded to Wear OS. The obvious culprit for this is the hardware in Samsung watches that is inconsistent with the Wear OS platform.
We’ve heard rumors for months that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 could run on Wear OS. With today’s news, this now seems more of an inevitability. We expect this watch to land in August or sometime this summer.