Like many of Google’s products, the Pixel Watch debuted with a rather extensive feature set but also the assurance that additional functionality would be added in the near future. Today, Google is bringing your attention to a few upcoming upgrades that range in importance from new to potentially lifesaving.
First off, the Pixel Watch now supports Fitbit’s Sleep Profiles. For those who are unfamiliar, Sleep Profiles are a Fitbit Premium function that analyses your sleeping patterns, including timing and length, and gives you one of six animals with comparable sleep schedules. Potential profiles include creatures like the bear, which has a regular sleep pattern with plenty of REM sleep, and the dolphin, which has a later bedtime and a propensity for naps.
Sleep Profiles are more of an amusement than an informational function in comparison to the more thorough insights Fitbit’s sleep tracking offers, especially with Premium. But hey, measuring your fitness doesn’t necessarily have to be formal and uninteresting. If you have Fitbit Premium and wore your Pixel Watch to bed for at least 14 nights in November, according to Google, you ought to have a Sleep Profile animal right now.
Additionally, there are a few fresh Wear OS tiles, which Google mentioned a few days ago. One is for your favourite contacts, providing you quick access to the people you communicate to the most often on the go, and the other is a new weather tile that shows the time of day’s sunrise and sunset as well as how much time is left in the day. In contrast to Sleep Profiles, these tiles were initially offered as new Wear OS capabilities rather than new Pixel Watch features, thus they ought to be readily available on a range of devices soon.
Last but not least, Google is stating that fall detection would be available in 2023. Your Pixel Watch can use its sensors to detect when you’ve fallen and send a notification inquiring whether you’re okay if fall detection is turned on. The watch will contact emergency personnel on your behalf if you don’t respond to the notification (for example, because you’re unconscious), perhaps saving your life. Although fall detection has been scheduled for deployment in 2023 since before the Pixel Watch was introduced, it’s encouraging to know that the feature is still on track.
The Pixel Watch is still one of the better Wear OS alternatives available today, despite not being the segment-defining slam dunk we had thought it would be. It’s unfortunate that the wearable didn’t come with these functions when it first released, but as it develops additional capability, it will eventually be able to justify its high $350 MSRP.