Google Brings Gemini AI to Wear OS, Starting with Galaxy Watch 8

Google's new AI-powered assistant, Gemini, is officially making its debut on smartwatches. After months of anticipation, the company has begun rolling out Gemini AI to Wear OS devices, replacing Google Assistant to bring a more conversational and context-aware AI experience to users' wrists. 

The rollout starts with the newly launched Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series and Watch Ultra (2025) leading the charge. These new watches come with Wear OS 6-based One UI 8 right out of the box. Other Wear OS smartwatches running on Wear OS 4 or later, including the Google Pixel watches, will gradually receive the update. 

While Wear OS 6 isn’t strictly required for Gemini, Google says it helps the AI assistant work better with apps from your watch brand. That’s because Wear OS 6, built on Android 16, includes a new App Functions API that lets assistants like Gemini access features from third-party apps. This makes it more useful for tasks like checking the weather, navigating or even adding calendar events. 

Unlike the older Google Assistant, Gemini on Wear OS is said to be designed to handle more complex, natural-language queries. From asking for quick answers like recipes or travel tips to dictating messages and setting reminders, a lot can now be done straight from the smartwatches. 

Although Gemini's full featured "Live" version stays limited to smartphones and tablets, the smartwatch version focuses on bringing voice-first interactions to the small screen. This aligns with Google's broader strategy of bringing Gemini across all its platforms, including Android Auto, Google TV and others. 

By phasing out Google Assistant in favor of Gemini, the company aims to deliver more personalized, context-aware help while also giving its AI model a deeper integration.