What you need to know
- Mobvoi TicWatch owners have been waiting for the Wear OS 3 update to arrive on their watches.
- After a period of radio silence on the matter, Mobvoi posted a statement explaining the long wait.
- The company explains that its proprietary dual architecture is to blame and requires additional work to get Wear OS 3 running smoothly.
- Mobvoi will have a closed beta for the update.
Are you a TicWatch owner still waiting for Wear OS 3 to reach your smartwatch? Well, there's good news and bad news. The good news: Mobvoi finally put out a statement on the matter. The bad news: we're still waiting.
After relative silence from Mobvoi on the state of the Wear OS 3 update for its TicWatch models, the company posted a Tweet on Monday explaining why the update is taking too long to reach users. According to the company, its eligible smartwatch models, like the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, use the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 chipset, which is capable of running the software. However, they also use the company's in-house co-processor to handle certain tasks.
"This necessitates further architecture upgrades and performance debugging when updating to Wear OS 3 to guarantee the highest level of software quality and user experience," Mobvoi says in the statement.
pic.twitter.com/qhHt0gcTJmMay 8, 2023
While the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ (launched in 2020) has its own low-power co-processor to handle tasks such as continuous heart rate monitoring, alarms, timers, haptics, and more, the regular 4100 does not. Mobvoi's in-house co-processor does much of the same in order to save battery and help its watches run more efficiently with support for the company's dual-display technology.
The company apologizes to users, stating that it understands how eager TicWatch owners are to receive the new update. That's probably an understatement by now, especially after Fossil smartwatches received the update last year and other companies have launched their own models with the software.
A Mobvoi representative seemed to indicate that the Wear OS 3 update would arrive in Q3 of this year, which would mean it could come sometime between July and September. And as noted by Mobvoi's statement, we can expect the update to arrive at some point for the TicWatch Pro 3, Pro 3 Ultra, and the cheaper TicWatch E3.
In the meantime, Mobvoi states that it will conduct an "extensive closed beta" that it will announce at some point, although it's unclear at the moment how users will be chosen to participate. This should hopefully help the company work out any user-facing bugs before rolling it out more widely to its users.
Meanwhile, the company also teased its upcoming TicWatch model powered by the new Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1, but there has been no official word on its progress or when it'll be available. Recent leaks suggest it may arrive soon, with an impressive set of specs, too.
Looking for a Wear OS smartwatch that will last you days and days? The TicWatch Pro 4 Ultra is a beast with a tough build and unique dual display tech to ensure you get the best battery life when you need it. And fear not, as Wear OS 3 is still coming to this gorgeous watch.
