The Wear OS 6 update (One UI 8 Watch) rolled out to most Google and Samsung smartwatches last year. But beyond its fresh and meaningful features, numerous bugs have been wreaking havoc for many users. The most recent and prominent issue involves broken third‑party watch faces.
Broken Always‑On for Pixel and Galaxy Watch Users
Reports from Google and Samsung forums (via Piunikaweb) highlight a watch face bug that occurs specifically with third‑party designs. Users describe elements like the clock and date freezing or overlapping when the watch shifts from active mode to always‑on.
This results in a bleeding or ghosting effect, breaking the legibility of the time, date, and other watch face components. The issue persists across third‑party watch faces but does not affect default or native options on the Pixel Watch or Galaxy Watch. For now, the only workaround is to switch to one of the first‑party faces.
The bug appears to stem from Wear OS 6’s API‑level optimizations for performance and battery life. As a result, Galaxy smartwatches running One UI 8 Watch—including the Galaxy Watch 8 (review), Watch 7, Watch 4, and even the recently updated Watch FE—are all affected. As for Google, the Pixel Watch 4 and Watch 3 are said to be impacted.
Samsung to Release a Fix
Beyond the watch face issue, Galaxy Watch 6, Watch 5, and Watch 4 owners continue to report problems with One UI 8 Watch, including a slower, lagging interface and buggy tracking sensors.
Samsung has pledged to release a new update addressing these problems. The rollout is expected to begin as early as next week for select models in South Korea before expanding to other regions.
Google is also expected to ship its own firmware update for Pixel Watch devices, though no clear timeline has been provided.
Do you own a Pixel Watch or Galaxy Watch running Wear OS 6? Share your experience in the comments below.
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