Google’s smartwatch software is buried under a pile of AI health news at I/O 2026.
Vanessa Main Orellana Senior Editor
Vanessa is a senior editor at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She first joined the brand as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s YouTube videos and series. When she’s not testing smartwatches or dropping a phone, you can catch her hiking or trail running with her family.
Skill Consumer technology, smart home, family, apps, wearables
Google’s smartwatch operating system has taken a backseat to I/O this year, and its lack of importance reveals where AI is going next: your body.
Last year, Wear OS 6 introduced a redesigned interface, smoother animations, battery optimizations, and most importantly, Gemini on the wrist. The company has touted smartwatches as the next major surface for AI, with Wear OS positioned as a central part of Android’s future.
It turns out that this may have been the start of a bigger change.
This year, Wear OS 7 received only passing mention. Instead, Google I/O focused heavily on AI health tools, Gemini integrations, XR glasses, and supporting hardware like the screen-less Fitbit Air, a $100 screen-less bracelet designed primarily as a gateway to Google’s health ecosystem. The redesigned Fitbit app has now become the Google Health Hub, which centers around an AI health coach/concierge (with a $10 per month Premium membership) who can give personalized workout recommendations and surface broader health trends.
Google’s new Fitbit Air is a screenless fitness tracker with a built-in coach.
Google/Jeffrey Hazelwood/CNETThe Wear OS 7 updates, as described in an official blog post, focus primarily on minor under-the-hood tweaks: battery life improvements (10% over Wear OS 6), a move from full-screen tiles to smaller Android-style widgets, updated live update notifications with dynamic information, a standardized universal workout tracking experience for exercise apps, and expanded Gemini Intelligence for “select” watches. This includes a new AppFunctions API that allows developers to link their apps to Gemini for task automation. Developers can now test the features of the Wear OS 7 Canary emulator, based on Android 17. A wider rollout to consumers is expected later this year.
This change signals where Google is looking at hardware as a whole, with wearables playing a supporting role in Google’s main AI story. Phones, watches, glasses, and headphones are starting to seem secondary to the AI layer above them. Hardware will always be important, but especially because it gives Gemini more context, more sensors, and more access to your life (and your body). Google’s new AI health coach can now analyze biometric trends and even medical records to generate personalized recommendations.
Google is not alone in this broader industry trend. Apple is leveraging Google’s Gemini to power a revamped Siri, while also extending its Apple Intelligence to watchOS on the Apple Watch. Companies like Whoop and Oura are building similar AI-powered coaching systems. Across the industry, hardware is increasingly being presented as a mechanism for delivering AI services rather than the core product itself.
The Google Pixel Watch 4.
Celso Bulgatti/CNETBut before this AI-driven future of healthcare becomes a reality, companies like Google will need to convince their customers that their most sensitive data is actually safe.
Google says its health features are designed with user privacy controls in mind, but the company has yet to fully explain how biometric data and medical records will be handled in Gemini-based experiences.
Health data has long been exposed, shared or sold, and even the strongest promises on privacy have already failed. Anonymized health data can still be linked to a specific person. Google will likely face an uphill task getting people to give up access to their medical records.
Wear OS 7 is now available through Canary Emulator for developers, giving app creators early access to new APIs and compatibility testing ahead of launch. Google says the broader rollout of Wear OS 7 will begin later this year (no specific watch models have been listed yet), with some Gemini Intelligence features arriving independently on supported hardware based on region, manufacturer, and account eligibility.
Vanessa is a senior editor at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She first joined the brand as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s YouTube videos and series. When she’s not testing smartwatches or dropping a phone, you can catch her hiking or trail running with her family. See full bio
