Google Pauses Wear OS 5 Rollout After Serious Bug

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Key Takeaways

  • Google has provided an update on the Wear OS 5 rollout.
  • This follows news that the Wear OS 5 OTA was paused on September 26th due to users experiencing blank screen issues.
  • Google promised to resume the Wear OS 5 rollout “later this year” but didn’t give a specific date.

Google halted the Wear OS 5 rollout for the Pixel Watch after a major bug caused blank screens and forced resets. The update will resume later this year.

After Wear OS 5 for Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 was paused at the end of September, Google published an “Update for Wear OS 5 Expansion” post on its Community page.

Though most users could install Wear OS 5, some experienced a blank screen requiring a factory reset through Fastboot. This wiped user data and meant wearables needed to be set up again.

At the time, Google said it was “actively working on a resolution.” On October 10, the company provided a further update, confirming that the OTA was paused two days after release on September 26th.

In the update, Google also provided links to support articles helping users factory reset their wearables.

Wear OS 5 Rollout Resuming Later Than Expected

Google says it will “resume the Wear OS 5 rollout to these devices later this year,” once the issues have been mitigated. It also promised to “share additional updates” once available.

That’s a later time frame than expected, and it’s not yet clear if this will impact updates such as the October security patch for Pixel Watch devices already running Wear OS 5.

All watch updates may be affected until this issue is fixed. We didn’t see a Pixel Watch OTA as expected on Monday. However, that could be on its way alongside Android 15 for phones.