Google is sunsetting Google Assistant on older Wear OS watches. In specific, smartwatches running Wear OS 2 or older will no longer be able to use Google Assistant after August 31, 2023. The details were first spotted in the latest version of the Wear OS Companion App, which contains a message that says “Google Assistant support on this watch is ending soon. Please upgrade to a newer watch that supports Google Assistant and runs Wear OS 3 or later.”
The Companion App, as per 9to5Google, is specifically designed for devices that run Wear OS 2 and lower, so the shutdown of Google Assistant on these devices is certain. This leaves many devices from popular brands such as Montblanc, Polar, Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton, and Fossil with no access to the voice assistant.
As per TheVerge, some users have already seen a shutdown notification on their smartwatches following the recent update to the Wear OS app. Mishaal Rahman, a well-known figure in the Android community, even shared an image of his TicWatch Pro 3 displaying the message “Google Assistant support for this watch is ending soon.”
This is a relatively quick turnaround, but Google’s decision to discontinue Google Assistant support for Wear OS 2 devices is understandable, given that Wear OS 3 is now the main focus and Wear OS 4 is already rolling out. However, this does leave owners of older Android Wear smartwatches in a bit difficult situation. Do you own a Wear OS 2 or an older smartwatch? What do you think about this change?
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