Wear OS users will soon be able to back up their smartwatch, according to code spotted in the Android operating system.
Legendary Google Watchers XDA Developers spotted a new feature hiding in a string of code.
They found a reference to “companion_backup_opt_in_title” and the new menu option “Back up your device with Google One” in Google Play Services v22.32.12 beta.
This means that users will be able to create an image of their smartwatch and upload it to Google One, the cloud storage service that offers all users 15GB of free storage.
Until now, if you bought a new smartphone, you would have to factory reset your Wear OS device, which is obviously not ideal.
Also, if you upgrade your smartwatches, you’ll also have to start from scratch.
It’s unclear which smartwatches it would launch on when it’s released. It could be a new feature that lands in Wear OS 3.0, or we could see it on older Wear OS 2.0 devices.
Google has been busy improving its smartwatch operating system, which is slowly rolling out to new devices. It works with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4, and is found in the Montblanc Summit 3.
However, while it’s been promised to roll out to a selection of existing smartwatches, namely Fossil Gen 6 and TicWatch Pro 3, it’s still MIA.
Google has also improved the app selection with new quality control guidelines, to improve the experience.
Overcoming poor elements of the user experience, such as backups, also brings Wear OS closer to where it needs to be, and not ahead of time.