Well-known Twitter user @UniverseIce tweets that Samsung's next smart watch will not run Samsungs own Tizen operating system but will instead use Wear OS. This is Google's operating system specifically designed for smart watches.
Wear OS was previously known as 'Android Wear' but despite that rebranding, the operating system didn't really take off yet. That's mainly because the lack of hardware it could run on . Makers of smart watches mostly rely on Qualcomm, which in turn gives little priority to processors for smartwatches. Samsung, on the other hand, makes its own hardware and is ahead of the pack in that respect. But Samsung is using their own Tizen.
Samsung's new watch will use Android to replace Tizen.
- Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 19, 2021
Samsung moving away from Tizen and will use Wear OS for its next watch makes it rather unusual. The fact that the watch uses Google software makes it more compatible with other phones. Typically, Tizen watches work best paired with a Galaxy phone.
Advantages Wear OS
Another advantage of Wear OS is a larger selection of available apps. Developers are more likely to write apps for platforms that have more users. Tizen is the third platform for smart watches after watchOS and Android Wear. Despite that, Samsung does take the 2nd place in market share of smartwatch manufacturers. A switch to Wear OS could increase its market share.
It is far from certain that Samsung will switch to Wear OS. A single tweet is no confirmation as far as we are concerned. We are now waiting for more information about this and which watches Ice Universe is referring to. To be continued.