Android 16’s best feature will make it to Wear OS, but you’ll need to wait

Android 16 will bring a pretty exciting notifications feature when it officially launches. It’s called Live Updates, and it could be an extremely helpful addition. Well, Smartwatch users are not being left out in the rain. According to a new report, Google could bring Live Updates to Wear OS next year.

In case you’re curious, Live Updates is a feature that displays live information about apps in a notification. While notifications do show you information, they don’t typically change over time. If you’re using a rideshare app, and it informs you that your ride will be there in 10 minutes, the notification will continue to display 10 minutes indefinitely. However, what if there’s a notification that actively tracks your ride in real time? Rather than opening the app to see where your ride is, you can simply look at the notification.

That’s the beauty of live updates. It’s a feature that can help reduce the number of notifications you get while letting you stay informed with real-time information.

Google could bring Live Updates to Wear OS next year

Plans change and delays happen, so you will want to take this information with a grain of salt. However, this feature is too useful to rule out. During Google I/O 2025, which went down just a few days ago, the company announced that it plans to bring Live Updates to Wear OS wearables next year.

The fact that Google officially announced it makes us more confident that the company will eventually launch it. It sure is a lot more reassuring than discovering code in an APK.

Also, as stated before, bringing Live Updates to Wear OS is much too useful to pass up. Imagine simply glancing down at your smartwatch to get Live Updates about what’s going on with your apps. Instead of having to take your phone out of your pocket to check the status of your Uber Eats order, you can simply flip up your wrist and see how far away it is. It’s an extremely efficient and quick gesture.

This may sound incredible and Innovative, but Apple did beat Google to the punch. The company launched live activities as a part of WatchOS 11 last year. The iOS equivalent of that is the company’s Dynamic Island. In any case, this feature will still be an incredible one to have.