Google and Samsung are combining Wear OS and Tizen in a big way

Google has confirmed some big rumors we've been hearing about the future of Samsung's smartwatches today, revealing that it has teamed up with the South Korean company to revolutionize Wear OS and the next round of Android smartwatches. According to Google, the two companies are 'bringing the best of Wear and Tizen into a single, unified platform.'

The news dropped during Google's I/O 2021 keynote today, with the company, as well as representatives from Samsung and Fitbit, teasing the future of Android smartwatches. The companies are promising faster device performance combined with longer battery life and more apps, giving the wearable platform a much-needed boost.

Though some details are still missing at this point, Google said that the two companies' teams worked together and managed to speed up app start-up time by up to 30-percent, while optimizing things like sleep tracking, the heart rate sensor, and more to increase battery life. Google is promising developers that the new unified platform will also make it easier to build apps for Android smartwatches.

Though the effort comes from Samsung and Google, the unified experience won't be limited to their devices. According to the company, all device manufacturers will be able to put their own customized UI over the unified platform; and for developers, nothing about the tools they use to bring apps to the wearable ecosystem will change.

As for the consumer side of things, Google is promising a major revolution in the Wear OS experience, including 'faster than ever' speeds, additional customizations for the home screen, shortcuts for key functions, and more. As mentioned, Fitbit is also getting in on this Wear OS revolution by bringing its fitness and health tracking features to the Android smartwatch market.