Google confirms Pixel Watch battery drain and says a fix is rolling out

Google has confirmed that some Pixel Watches were losing battery much faster than normal, and a fix is already on its way. Owners who noticed their watch running out of charge early can likely solve it by updating apps on the watch itself.

What happened

Complaints started appearing on sites like Reddit last week. Some owners said their battery life dropped to less than half of what they were used to. Google told the site 9to5Google that it knew about the problem. It now says the fix has started rolling out and will reach everyone over the next couple of days.

Not every watch was hit. Google describes the problem as affecting a small number of users. Reports covered the Pixel Watch 2 and newer models. If your battery is lasting as usual, you were probably not affected.

The alert box above lists the steps to update your watch apps. If the fix has not shown up yet, check again in a few days, since the rollout is still going.

What is not known yet

Google has not said what caused the drain. It has not said whether a recent Wear OS update, the software that runs the watch, played a part. 9to5Google notes the cause could be one of the watch's own apps, or something in the general software that used too much power in the background. Until Google explains, that is only a guess.