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Google has released the May 2023 update for the Pixel Watch. It’s a relatively small update that only brings the latest security patches to the first-gen Google smartwatch, bringing it to the May 5, 2023 security patch level. A bigger release should come next month as the second Feature Drop of the year is due in June.
The latest update for the Pixel Watch comes with the firmware build number RWDA.230114.013. Unlike in some instances in the past, Google is pushing the same build number globally this time around. There is no separate build for users in Japan and Taiwan either, at least according to the company’s official announcement.
The rollout began recently and may take a while before reaching every Pixel Watch unit around the world. As Google puts it, the rollout will “continue over the next week in phases depending on carrier and device”. As usual, you will receive a notification once the OTA (over the air) release becomes available for your smartwatch. You can also manually trigger the update by navigating to Settings > System > System updates.
If you don’t see an update here, there’s a trick that works more often than not. When on the “Your watch is up to date” screen (under System updates), repeatedly tap on the watch icon at the top. After a few seconds of repeated taps, the screen should refresh and start downloading the latest update. This trick has been around since at least Wear OS 2 and works on Wear OS 3 devices as well.
However, if this trick doesn’t work on your Pixel Watch, maybe you need to wait a few days to get the latest update. And when we are talking about tricks, there’s a hack to speed up the downloading process as well. Go to Settings > Connectivity and disable Bluetooth, so the watch is forced to a Wi-Fi connection (connect to a stable Wi-Fi network). Updates download much faster this way.
Pixel Watch should get a major update next month
Google has been updating the Pixel Watch regularly since its launch in October last year. Like Pixel phones, the smartwatch receives new updates every month, mostly around the same time too. The company also pushes the quarterly feature drops to the wearable, introducing new features and functional improvements to it. The last major update came in March, so a new release is due in June. We will let you know when it arrives.