Google’s smartwatch working system took a again seat at I/O this yr, and its lack of prominence reveals the place AI is heading subsequent: your physique.
Final yr, Wear OS 6 debuted a redesigned interface, smoother animations, battery optimizations and, most significantly, Gemini on the wrist. The corporate framed smartwatches as the following main floor for AI, with Put on OS positioned as a central a part of Android’s future.
Seems this may occasionally have marked the start of a bigger shift.
This yr, Put on OS 7 received little greater than a passing point out. As an alternative, Google I/O centered closely on AI well being instruments, Gemini integrations, XR glasses and supporting {hardware} just like the screenless Fitbit Air, a $100 band with no show, designed primarily as a gateway into Google’s well being ecosystem. The redesigned Fitbit app has now develop into the Google Well being hub, which facilities round an AI well being coach/concierge (with a $10 per thirty days Premium subscription) that may give customized coaching suggestions and floor broader well being traits.
Google’s new Fitbit Air is a screen-less health tracker with a built-in coach.
Put on OS 7 updates, as described in an official blog post, focus totally on minor tweaks beneath the hood: battery life enhancements (10% over Put on OS 6), a shift from full-screen tiles to smaller Android-style widgets, refreshed Reside Replace notifications with dynamic info, a standardized common workout-tracking expertise for train apps and expanded Gemini Intelligence for “choose” watches. This features a new AppFunctions API that lets builders tie their apps into Gemini for activity automation. Builders can now take a look at options within the Put on OS 7 Canary emulator, based mostly on Android 17. A broader shopper rollout is anticipated later this yr.
That shift alerts the place Google sees {hardware} heading total, with wearables taking a supporting position in Google’s most important AI story. Telephones, watches, glasses and earbuds are beginning to really feel secondary to the AI layer sitting on prime of them. {Hardware} will nonetheless be essential, however largely as a result of it offers Gemini extra context, extra sensors and extra entry to your life (and physique). Google’s new AI well being coach can now analyze biometric traits and even medical data to generate customized suggestions.
Google is not alone on this broader trade pattern. Apple is leaning on Google’s Gemini to power a revamped Siri, whereas additionally increasing its Apple Intelligence to watchOS on the Apple Watch. Firms like Whoop and Oura are constructing related AI-driven teaching techniques. Throughout the trade, {hardware} is more and more introduced as a supply mechanism for AI providers fairly than the principle product itself.
The Google Pixel Watch 4.
However earlier than this AI-driven well being future turns into actuality, firms like Google might want to persuade their prospects that their most delicate information is definitely secure.
Google says its well being options are designed with consumer privateness controls in thoughts, however the firm hasn’t but totally outlined how biometric and medical file information might be processed throughout Gemini-powered experiences.
Well being information has a protracted historical past of being uncovered, shared or bought, and even sturdy privateness guarantees have failed earlier than. Anonymized well being information can nonetheless be traced again to a particular particular person. Google will possible face an uphill climb to entice folks handy over entry to their medical data.
Put on OS 7 is now accessible by the Canary Emulator for builders, giving app makers early entry to new APIs and compatibility testing forward of launch. Google says the broader Put on OS 7 rollout will start later this yr (no particular watch fashions have been listed but), with some Gemini Intelligence options arriving independently on supported {hardware} based mostly on area, producer and account eligibility.
