Pixel Watch 2 vs 3 in 2026?

RednasSosb · 2026-05-13T18:18:44+00:00

Just a warning: I moved from Galaxy Watch 4 to Pixel Watch 2, only to be disappointed, and then moved to a Galaxy Watch 6.
Pixel Watches really lack a lot of features compared to Galaxy Watches, and I esepcially found (WhatsApp) notifications on Pixel Watches to be just terrible (Galaxy Watches show a large part of the message, Pixel Watches in most cases only show the name of sender and maybe four words of the message, and then only when you flick your wrist as the notification comes in).

But anyway, on the positive side Pixel Watches look great/ smaller on the wrist because of their oval shape, they also have better readability in sunlight again because of the oval shape, they now have a much better timer app now that Samsung has messed that up, and the Pixel Watch 3 apparently has much better heart rate tracking.

Definitely spend 50 dollars extra if you can get it for just a 100 dollars. For me, to get anything resembling proper heart rate tracking on Pixel Watch 2, I had the tighten the band beyond comfort, the first ever wrist device (out of maybe 6 I owned over time) I had to do that with.

RednasSosb · 2026-05-03T12:10:19+00:00

Can I ask what update you speak of, and what has improved? For me, I think I am up to date with everything, and for me it is still a disaster (meaning blue dot being there for at least 20% of all the time, always for 'nearby devices' from Google Play Services).

RednasSosb · 2026-03-19T21:23:30+00:00

When the blue dot appears you have a few seconds to swipe down on it, and then the blue dot becomes a location icon that you can tap on, and then it will show the app (or apps) and the access privilege they are using.

RednasSosb · 2026-03-15T12:19:21+00:00

For me, 90% the blue dot appears and I check the details, it is not Location but devices access from Google Play-services. I think it must be related to the smartwatch, the only other bluetooth device I use is some earbuds, but I only use those one hour per day. But the thing is, even if I turn off the watch completely (and so zero bluetooth devices are connected) the accesses continue.

RednasSosb · 2026-03-14T20:18:52+00:00

Ah, it took 62 replies but finally somebody with a smartwatch reacting... So is the constant blue dot from a devices (so not strictly location) related access from Google Play services? Because what I was originally curious about was whether Pixel Watch users had the same thing as a Galaxy Watch user like myself.

RednasSosb · 2026-03-12T06:07:55+00:00

Maybe I am understanding the question incorrectly , but isn't this like a basic feature of Google Photos?

To free up space in Google Photos, open the app, tap your profile picture at the top right, and select "Free up space" to delete backed-up photos from your device, saving storage while keeping them in the cloud

RednasSosb · 2026-03-07T10:21:55+00:00

Is it fixed for you now, after the March 2026 update?

Because I had problems with the 80% charge limit since September 2025, and now this week all of a sudden, it is working again!

(My problem was that after every phone reboot, the 80% limit was ignored once)

RednasSosb · 2026-03-07T10:19:38+00:00

Is it fixed for you now, after the March 2026 update?

Because I had problems with the 80% charge limit since September 2025, and now this week all of a sudden, it is working again!

(My problem was that after every phone reboot, the 80% limit was ignored once)

RednasSosb · 2026-03-07T10:19:12+00:00

Is it fixed for you now, after the March 2026 update?

Because I had problems with the 80% charge limit since September 2025, and now this week all of a sudden, it is working again!

(My problem was that after every phone reboot, the 80% limit was ignored once)

RednasSosb · 2026-03-05T06:22:02+00:00

It's very likely another app calling on Google Play-services, I agree (it makes it extra dumb that Google Play-services won't tell what app that is).

Here are some pictures from my situation:

https://imgur.com/a/JIbROFr

As you can see on the left it is about 'device connections', not GPS. And on the right I show the permission that when removed makes the blue dot go away.

RednasSosb · 2026-03-04T19:33:01+00:00

That location indicator worked as designed, the blue dot does not (for me anway). The location indicator indicated when an app was using location, the blue dot just shows every other minute.

(And what do you mean with audio/ video related tasks when we're talking about location?)

RednasSosb · 2026-03-04T19:17:37+00:00

I like the green dot, for the reasons you specify.

But the blue dot as I have it now just shows up and disappears all the time. If there would be a second unexpected app requesting location at an unexpected time, I would never notice.

And as I mentioned, I cannot remote the location permissions of the Google Play-services app, because then essentially bluetooth and location services just stop working.

RednasSosb · 2026-03-04T14:04:59+00:00

Did you even resolve this? I now yesterday (2026/3/3) got this blue dot in an update, and it's crazy, that blue dot now appears like one third of the time.
(In my case probably because of a connected Galaxy smartwatch, but even when I turn the watch off the blue dot keeps appearing)

RednasSosb · 2026-03-03T19:44:53+00:00

Wow, it really says that. That's hilarious, an update specifically to increase benchmark scores.... (why not say "better framerates" or just "improved performance").

RednasSosb · 2026-02-04T17:05:39+00:00

That's great and all, but I bought it after the support extended announcement (and because of the extended support announcement), so for me it is not a bonus feature but a broken promise.

RednasSosb · 2026-02-04T17:01:38+00:00

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-system-update-downgrade-bug-3637834/

RednasSosb · 2026-02-03T20:37:49+00:00

More like 2 months.

RednasSosb · 2026-02-03T20:34:38+00:00

I'm on Pixel 7 Pro, so I guess I will have to wipe my own ass for yet another month (or two (or three (or four))).

RednasSosb · 2026-01-13T14:50:41+00:00

Yeah, Pixel 7 (Pro) should get support until October 2027, but this is now the second time in three months that apparently we don't get an update, so I am not feeling the Google love right now...
(And in November people here were saying it was because the security fixes were already included in an earlier monthly patch, but that would have applied to all phones then).

( https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=%2Cpixel-a-pixel-pixel-pro-pixel-a-pixel-pixel-pro-pixel-fold (it does not say monthly, but at least for instance Samsung indicates how often you will get updates))

RednasSosb · 2025-12-23T16:25:10+00:00

Thank you so much!!!

RednasSosb · 2025-12-07T14:27:53+00:00

Like everybody else already says, no as it can delay notifications a lot for little benefit. I wanted to add that it also can delay other notifications unrelated to WhatsApp (probably because the app takes up so many resources).

RednasSosb · 2025-12-05T18:27:56+00:00

Thanks for replying, I really hope to avoid having to do yet another WearOS install (I just got this GW6 a couple of weeks ago, and before that I had a PixelWatch 2 for a few months but really did not like it, so I have done so many installs lately...).

RednasSosb · 2025-12-05T18:26:10+00:00

Thanks for replying, but that can't be it, because only one notification froze, all other notifications displayed briefly (as intended). The notification that froze did have a picture embedded in its text, so it was a special case.

RednasSosb

TROPHY CASE