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Google rolled out a major Pixel Watch update this week that, for Pixel Watch 4 owners, delivers support for new one-handed gestures. They\u2019re super useful already, but do they measure up to the gestures Google introduced a decade ago?<\/p>\n
This issue of 9to5Google Weekender is a part of 9to5Google\u2019s rebooted newsletter that highlights the biggest Google stories with added commentary and other tidbits. Sign up here<\/a> to get it delivered to your inbox early!<\/p>\n Rolling out in the December 2025 update<\/a> for Pixel Watch 4, new \u201cdouble pinch\u201d and \u201cwrist turn\u201d gestures are available<\/a>. These gestures, as Google explains<\/a>, offer controls and interactions such as \u201cscroll through notifications, dismiss notifications, snooze your alarm effortlessly, manage a timer or stopwatch, pause your music, select a smart reply to respond, answer and end a phone call,\u201d and more.<\/p>\n It works rather well. Getting a long message notification no longer requires me to drop what I\u2019m doing to read the whole thing, as a quick double-pinch gesture scrolls down. Wrist turn is a bit less useful so far, but I\u2019m looking forward to seeing what it can do with more time.<\/p>\n \tAdvertisement – scroll for more content<\/p>\n But as a long-time Wear OS user, I can\u2019t help but look back and wonder why Google isn\u2019t doing a bit more.<\/p>\n Google offered gestures on Wear OS literally a decade ago<\/a>, back when the platform was still called Android Wear. <\/p>\n Today\u2019s \u201cwrist turn\u201d is a recycled version of \u201cwrist flicks\u201d from those days. Except, back then, they could do a little more. The original version of this feature allowed users to use the gesture basically all of the time. A flick \u201cout\u201d would scroll down, while a flick \u201cin\u201d scrolled back up. This had obvious utility in notifications, but it was also useful for opening your notification feed and scrolling through the whole thing without touching the screen, as the gesture worked even when on the watch face.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The other gesture was to \u201cshake\u201d the entire watch, which would send you back to the watch face regardless of what you were actively doing. This was the most clunky one of the bunch, but it was still handy at times.<\/p>\n Google removed these in Wear OS 3, though Samsung brought its own version (heavily based on gestures from the Apple Watch) a couple of years ago.<\/a> The removal was probably because, while useful, these gestures didn\u2019t always work reliably, and they only made the battery life problems of early Android-based smartwatches worse. As you can see in the video above, the \u201cup\u201d and \u201cdown\u201d wrist flicks didn\u2019t always work as intended, with the other direction sometimes activating instead. <\/p>\n After a few days with the new gestures on Pixel Watch, I can\u2019t help but think there\u2019s a good middle ground between today\u2019s implementation and what was offered years ago. The biggest upgrade in my book would be bringing back to the wrist flick to open the notification feed from the watch face. Sometimes I need to see more than the latest notification, and having a one-handed gesture to do that remains one of the biggest things I miss from the Android Wear days. And if the gesture only works in one direction \u2013 scrolling down \u2013 it would probably be a lot more reliable. I think that would work well as Google has also clearly made this new version less sensitive, requiring a more intentional motion that\u2019s harder to trigger by mistake.<\/p>\n What do you think? Did Google do this better 10 years ago, or do you prefer the new iteration? <\/p>\n This Week\u2019s Top Stories<\/p>\n The next chapter of Android XR is in view<\/p>\n Google this week showed off the next chapter of Android XR, revealing more details about next year\u2019s \u201cProject Aura\u201d glasses from XREAL, while also teasing future proper smart glasses.<\/p>\n Samsung releases One UI 8.5 beta<\/p>\n Samsung launched its first beta for its next major Galaxy update, One UI 8.5. The update is available so far only on Galaxy S25 devices and brings some relatively minor changes, including a few Liquid Glass-like redesigns.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Google speeding up Gemini for Home rollout<\/p>\n The rollout of Gemini for Home on smart speakers and displays is speeding up. After heading to \u201cmillions\u201d so far, Google says that users in the US can now opt-in and expect an invite to arrive within 24 hours.<\/p>\n More Top Stories<\/p>\n From the rest of 9to5<\/p>\n 9to5Mac: AirPods Pro 3 after three months: Exactly what I want from an upgrade<\/a><\/p>\n 9to5Toys: Sleek, smart, and simple: Hands-on with the Ecobee Smart Thermostat Premium\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Electrek: Tesla ranks dead last in used car reliability study, but there\u2019s a catch<\/a><\/p>\n Follow Ben:\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.<\/a><\/p>\n
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