Good news, Wear OS smartwatch owners: there's a new software update on the way promising to give your device more staying power.
The 'System Version: H' Wear OS update adds four new features, with the most interesting from a watch stamina perspective being a tweak to the battery saver mode.
This battery saver mode extends battery life by turning on Battery Saver to only display the time once your battery falls below 10%. This is a feature that has been included on Wear watches packed with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 3100 chipset. So, that's the Montblanc Summit 2 and the Fossil Sport.
Another battery improving tweak being introduced is putting the watch into a deep sleep mode after 30 minutes of inactivity. Away from improving battery performance, Google is adding a resume option for all apps, which means you can pick up where you left off across all watches.
Last up, Google is simplifying the process of turning off the watch. You'll be able to simply hold down the power button until you see the power off screen and then select 'power off' or 'restart'.
This update is rolling out over the next few months, so it's over to hardware makers like LG, Huawei and the Fossil Group to get the latest version of Wear OS up and running on your device. If you want to check if the update is available, go to Settings on your watch and then select 'System' and then 'About'. Scroll down and tap System updates to see if the latest update is available.
Google has been ramping up the software updates in recent months clearly with a view to get its smartwatch operating system more fully formed. The Google Fit revamp was a welcome one, as were the changes to the Wear OS user interface. While the H update isn't going to give us the kind of battery life we crave from Wear OS smartwatches, it's certainly a positive thing to see that Google take steps to keep you away from that charger.
