Summary
- Original Pixel Watch users can now access new clock faces that were previously exclusive to the Pixel Watch 2, expanding their options to choose from.
- Pixel Watch owners can customize their watch faces with various complications and layouts, and can also download additional designs from the Wear OS Play Store.
- The new watch faces are still rolling out and might not be available to all Pixel Watch users right away.
The Pixel Watch 2 is a big upgrade over Google’s first smartwatch. It packs a faster and more efficient chip, better health sensors, and other improvements to deliver a better experience overall. On the software front, the watch launched with Wear OS 4, some new watch faces, and safety features. The original Pixel Watch gained access to the safety features as a part of its Wear OS 4 update, but the new faces were missing. That’s changing now, as the Pixel Watch 2-exclusive clock faces are showing up for original Pixel Watch users.
Google appears to have rolled out the new watch faces as a part of a recent Google Pixel Watch Faces app update (via 9to5Google). The November 6 build of the app is still rolling out, so not all first-gen Pixel Watch users report seeing the new clock styles. But original Pixel Watch users who have access to the new watch faces report being able to select from six new watch faces: Adventure, Analog Arcs, Analog Bold, Large Scale, Digital Bold, and Rotation.
All watch faces feature customizable complications with varying slots and multiple layouts. With the addition of these new styles, the original Pixel Watch now has access to 25 first-party watch faces. You can always download more designs from the Wear OS Play Store. Check out our guide on how to add watch faces on Wear OS if you are new to the platform.
Many Pixel Watch users had already sideloaded the new Pixel Watch 2 faces on their smartwatch after updating to Wear OS 4, and it worked without any issues. This was not surprising because Google kept the screen size unchanged across both Pixel Watch generations. In fact, many Galaxy Watch 5 and 6 users have also been able to successfully sideload the Pixel Watch 2 watch faces using ADB commands.
If you have not already, check the companion Pixel Watch app on your phone to see if the new watch faces are available for your first-gen smartwatch. If not, wait for a few days for the update to appear.
The Pixel Watch 2’s first post-launch update was an underwhelming one — it was only rolled out for the LTE variant and contained minor bug fixes. Now that the Pixel Watch 2 watch faces are available on the original model, Google could roll out some exclusive new styles for its newest smartwatch with the upcoming December Feature Drop amidst other improvements.
Additionally, the company is working on an update for the Watch companion app to notify you when the smartwatch is fully charged. Both the first and second Pixel Watch generations should get this minor usability improvement.
