Wear OS 6 brings Material 3 Expressive redesign, Gemini

Abner Li | May 13 2025 - 9:59 am PT

In addition to Android 16, Wear OS 6 is coming and will feature a Material 3 Expressive redesign. Besides major visual changes, Gemini is coming to Wear OS.

Google has optimized the UI of Wear OS 6 — which is based on Android 16 — to take advantage of the round screen, with “space-efficient and easily tappable” buttons that hug the display. Dynamic Color is finally coming, with users selecting an accent for their watch face that gets applied across their wearables.

There’s a heavy emphasis on animations, like “smooth transitions with shape-morphing elements that adapt to the smaller screen size.” When scrolling, animations “trace the curvature of the display,” while “lists animate to give you a sense of depth that makes information more accessible.” This is especially the case in your notifications feed.

Similarly, you’ll find “motion and responsive feedback” in the PIN pad, which takes after the phone screen, and the recently upgraded media controller.

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Similarly, Wear OS Tiles get a big update that adds density to fit much more information and multiple actions compared to today.

Quick Settings Tiles go from circles to pill-shaped containers that morph into rounded rectangles when activated, just like on phones.

Despite all these visual additions, Wear OS 6 “delivers up to 10% more battery life.” Wear OS 6 is coming later this year, while — like on phones — Material 3 Expressive will first debut on Pixel Watch.

Meanwhile, Google is bringing Gemini to Wear OS in the “coming months.” The company touts how Gemini, compared to Google Assistant, allows for more natural language queries that don’t have to be as precise.

Gemini on your wrist has access to apps/Extensions so you can ask questions about Gmail and other information in Workspace. For example: Where’s the restaurant Emily emailed about for tonight?

Let’s say you’re at the locker room in the gym, and you’ve already put your phone away. You can use Gemini to set reminders, like “Remember I’m using locker 43 today.”

Gemini can both read aloud and show responses (text + images).