Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15, but it’s missing a notable feature

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Credit: Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

• Google has officially confirmed Wear OS 5.1, on which we had previously leaked information.
• Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15 and adopts certain characteristics of it while blocking others, such as Private Spaces.
• You can try out this new version of Wear OS in the Android emulator. It’s possible it would be available to test on the Pixel Watch family eventually, but we have no word on that yet.

Back in August, we showed you evidence that Google was likely working on a new version of Wear OS, its Android-based wearable operating system that powers various smartwatches, including its own line of Pixel watches. In that article, we posited the new version would be called Wear OS 5.1 and be based on the then-unreleased Android 15. Now, Google has confirmed it.

In an official developer post, Google announces Wear OS 5.1 and discusses how it might alter the behavior of certain apps due to its upgrade to Android 15. Wear OS 5, if you remember, is based on Android 14. As such, Google encourages developers to run this new version in the Android emulator to make sure their apps will work as expected.




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