Gemini Intelligence is coming to Wear OS 7 and your smartwatch may get a lot smarter: here’s what’s new

Google announced a number of new AI-powered innovations at the Google I/O keynote on Tuesday. However, one important update that quietly flew under the radar was the announcement of the new Wear OS 7, which not only brings deeper Gemini integration to your wrist but also adds much-needed features like dynamic widgets, better workout tracking, and smarter media controls.

Here is a complete breakdown of everything new coming to Wear OS 7.

Gemini Intelligence is coming to smartwatches:

Google replaced Google Assistant with Gemini on Wear OS-powered smartwatches last year and the company is now taking things a step further with Wear OS 7.

The tech giant says it is bringing its “Gemini Intelligence” system to Wear OS 7 in order to provide proactive and personalised assistance, allowing its AI to manage users’ digital lives with less swiping and tapping.

With Gemini Intelligence, Google is adding agentic AI features to Wear OS, allowing users to invoke and track automated tasks from select phone apps directly on their smartwatches. With this, users will be able to manage tasks like placing a food order through DoorDash directly from their wrists.

The company also announced that developers will be able to integrate their apps with Gemini via the new AppFunctions API. This means that once an app is integrated, users can simply say, “Start tracking my run”, and Gemini could launch workout tracking directly inside supported apps.

Improved battery life:

One of the biggest concerns with Wear OS smartwatches has been battery life, and Google seems acutely aware of this issue. The company announced that users upgrading from Wear OS 6 to Wear OS 7 can “expect up to 10% improvement in battery life.”

Live Updates on your wrist:

Wear OS 7 is also introducing a new feature called Live Updates, which will allow apps to bring real-time information directly to smartwatches.

For example, food delivery apps or ride-hailing platforms could show live progress updates directly on the watch without users repeatedly opening the app.

New Wear OS Widgets:

Google is replacing traditional Wear OS Tiles with new “Wear Widgets”. The company says these widgets are designed to offer greater expressiveness and consistency while aligning more closely with widgets available on Android smartphones.

The new widgets support two card layouts in 2×1 and 2×2 formats, while developers will also have the option to create more expressive designs.

New media controls:

Google is adding smarter media controls in Wear OS 7 to give users greater control and more customisation options.

Google says users will now be able to set app-specific auto-launch settings for media controls. For apps where auto-launch has been enabled, media controls will automatically appear on the watch whenever media playback starts on the smartphone.

Google is also introducing a new Remote Output Switcher that will allow users to quickly change audio output devices from their wrist and switch between paired phones, Bluetooth headphones, a Nest smart speaker, or even an Android TV.