- Wear OS users are getting an upgrade to earthquake alerts
- Starting with the Google Play Services v26.07 update, earthquake alerts are sent to your watch even without a phone nearby
- Presumably this requires cellular connectivity to use – Bluetooth-only models likely won’t get them without a connected device
Users of the best Android watches – which run on Wear OS – get a life-saving new upgrade with the latest Google Play update (Google Play Services v26.07, in case you’re curious).
The changelog reads “[Wear] With this feature, you can now even get earthquake alerts on your Wear devices [when] it is not paired from the phone”.
This is a potentially life-saving new addition, as if you’re ever away from your phone (for example, on a run or left your phone in your locker at the gym), the earthquake alerts will still come through, providing a crucial early warning. After all, if you’re on a treadmill, you want to stop the action and get to cover!
While the update doesn’t specify, we’re assuming there’s a catch: the update likely only applies to watches with cellular connectivity, not just Bluetooth watches, unless it comes through via satellite to modern Google Pixel Watch 4s with this feature. We’ll know more for sure as the update rolls out.
Other than the earthquake alert change, this update is very minimal. The only other change, according to 9to5Google, is for phones — a quality-of-life autofill change to improve password syncing.
Wear OS users don’t often get the kind of updates that the best Garmin watches get, which usually add new features, training profiles and the like on a regular basis, like the latest Garmin Fenix 8 update.
