Two weeks after it started rolling out, Wear OS 5.1 is now available on all three generations of the Pixel Watch. Here’s everything new with the first update in four months.
Android 15
Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15. It follows Wear OS 5 / Android 14, Wear OS 4 / Android 13, and Wear OS 3 / Android 11. The next Pixel Watch update is coming in June, with Google continuing quarterly updates.
For app developers, Wear OS 5.1 brings two features:
- Credential manager support: The Credential Manager API provides a unified authentication solution, supporting sign-in flows using passwords, passkeys, and federated identity (such as Sign In with Google). A user’s credentials are stored in a credential provider, which syncs account information across devices.
- Watch speaker playback: On devices that support media playback through the watch speaker, users can select this speaker as their preferred media output option if your app integrates with the Wear Output Switcher.
The first appears in Settings > Passwords, while no apps have been updated to support watch speaker playback.
Force Global AOD Experience
A new Developer option lets you skip the blurred clock when you put your wrist down in apps. More details
Active watch face tweak
The Active face on the Pixel Watch 3 has been tweaked. When the AOD is enabled, the time is no longer hollowed out, while it’s now placed in a pill-shaped container. This is via an update to the “Google Pixel Watch Faces” app.
L-R: Active, old AOD, new AOD
New accent color
The default yellow accent color is being phased out. In its place is a gray of sorts that could be a precursor to proper Dynamic Color, or simply letting users select their own theme/hue.
Old vs. new
Settings > Modes
Similar to Android 15 QPR2, Google is consolidating Do Not Disturb, Bedtime, and Theater under a new Modes menu in Settings.
Google Sans font returns on original Pixel Watch
With the Wear OS 5 update in November, the first-gen Pixel Watch reverted to the Roboto font. Google Sans is now back.
March 2025 Feature Drop
- More
- Auto Bedtime Mode on Pixel Watch 2, which was first introduced on the PW3
- Loss of Pulse Detection on Pixel Watch 3: Arriving later this month
- Menstrual tracking on Pixel Watch 3 to log periods, view cycle status, and predict your next period
- Improved step tracking algorithm for jogging with a stroller, pushing a shopping cart or wheelchair, and hiking with poles
- Media Controls Upgrade: “Make it easier to control audio content from the watch with control types based on content being played (such as Podcasts within YouTube music).”
- “Manage your favorite audio content with new actions on Pixel Watch to fast forward and rewind, adjust playback speed or control playback queue.”
- As of YouTube Music for Wear OS 8.10, there’s 10-second rewind and 30-second fast forward, as well as the following playback speed increments: .5, .8, 1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8, 2x. We’re not seeing “control playback queue.” We’re not seeing “control playback queue.”
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