Google Pixel Watch 2

The Pixel Watch 2 AOD lets you immediately launch complications

Abner Li | Oct 15 2023 - 5:01 am PT

A small but meaningful change on the Pixel Watch 2 means that a single tap of the always-on display (AOD) will immediately launch a complication.

This is a very nice change if you conserve battery life by disabling raise-to-wake and rely on touch over tapping the crown.

If the always-on display is active on the original Pixel Watch (running Wear OS 3.5), a single tap disables the AOD/activates the screen fully, and then you can tap on the desired complication or app shortcut.

On the Pixel Watch 2 with Wear OS 4, you can tap a complication on the AOD, and it will instantly launch. For example, if you have media controls on your watch face, pressing will immediately show the now playing screen instead of it being a two-step process.

If you haven’t been using your watch for a moment, it does take a second from tapping before the screen wakes and the app launches. However, if the wearable was just active, it’s very fast. In the grand scheme, this will be a time saver. Newer Apple Watch models also have this capability.

One downside is that you have to be slightly more careful about where you tap. If you just wanted to see the fully lit-up watch face, an errant press will launch an app and require you to first go back.

Meanwhile, Wear OS 4 on the Pixel Watch 2 has yet to update key parts of the UI to support the AOD. Something like media controls just blurs the screen and displays a clock when you put your wrist down.