Mobvoi swaps Google Fit for ‘TicHealth’ in Wear OS update on Ticwatch models [Updated]

Ben Schoon | Oct 3 2018 - 5:36 pm PT

The redesigned Wear OS started rolling out to users this week, but some are finding a change to the experience. Google Fit on Ticwatch E, an affordable watch from Mobvoi, is actually replaced with the company’s own TicHealth service.

In case you haven’t followed Google’s new Wear OS update, it makes some major changes to the navigation of the operating system. Quick swipes from the watchface access commonly used functions, and one of those is the redesigned Google Fit. Or at least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Some Ticwatch E owners on Reddit this week have noted that, with this update, their watches leave that shortcut to Mobvoi’s TicHealth service.

We’ve reached out to Mobvoi to confirm that this is indeed the case, but it only seems to affect the Ticwatch E. The Ticwatch S may also have this change, but we’ve been unable to confirm that. For obvious reasons, this is causing some frustration among the community. The Ticwatch E is solid, but replacing Google Fit with TicHealth is clearly not something users were on board with. To add insult to injury, some users report the same change on the Ticwatch Pro (my own unit included) and Ticwatch S.

To that note, though, Google Fit on Ticwatch E may end up back in that shortcut later on. Due to the customer feedback, Mobvoi did mention to me that making this action customizable is a possibility. Specifically, this would allow users to switch between Google Fit and TicHealth for this gesture. It would not allow them to switch it to any application or function, nor would it affect any of the other swipe gestures. Unfortunately, there’s no timeline on when or if this could happen, and for the time being Mobvoi is focusing on the TicHealth app and “optimizing it based on user feedback.” Mobvoi did publicly say in one instance that this choice may be available “in the coming months.”

In the meantime, Google Fit on Ticwatch E is still available, it’s just not accessible through the swipe shortcut. Rather, it’s only available as a standard Wear OS app.

Update 10/4: Mobvoi has reached out to clarify a previous statement. The article has been updated to reflect that and further affected Ticwatch models.