Fast Pair started out as Google’s way of quickly connecting Bluetooth headphones to Android phones, and will soon be able to do the same on Chrome OS. Google hinted today that Fast Pair is coming to Wear OS, possibly in preparation for the Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds Pro.
Quick Pair on Wear OS
Google updated the Google System Changelog changelog today, adding the following entry to the “Device Connections” section:
[Wear OS] Quick pairing on Wear OS allows
sPreviously paired headphones will be discovered and connected to the wearable.[5]— [5] Available with Google Play Services v22.24, updated June 24, 2022.
The described feature is the basis of Fast Pair, which saves paired headphones to your Google account for easy access on other devices through system-level notifications. Fitbit devices also use it during initial setup, and while doing anything with Bluetooth on small wearables is a hassle, quick pairing is a welcome addition.
This update to Google Play Services hasn’t rolled out widely on the watches we checked out today. It’s unclear how UI Fast Pair on Wear OS will take, and Google hasn’t explicitly announced the availability of Fast Pair on Wear OS. The closest it came was at CES 2022 in January, when Google described “audio connectivity to wearables” as an existing Quick Pair feature:
We’ll continue to work with our partners to further extend Fast Pair’s capabilities beyond audio connectivity to wearables, headphones, speakers, and cars, and to TVs and smart home devices, so you can start living your life right away All devices in .
Fast Pair will be coming to Chrome OS in the next few weeks, and has also been announced for Android/Google TV and select cars. And used to pair Matter smart home devices.
Pixel Watch ready
Meanwhile, Fast Pair on Wear OS may work on the Pixel Watch. The Pixel Buds Pro’s product page says you can “easily go from music on your phone to video calls on your laptop.” The headset multipoint connection coming next month only describes a “phone-to-laptop” switch.
However, the Pixel Watch page describes Fast Pair’s discovery and connectivity features as mentioned by Play Services today.
With Quick Pair, you can quickly and easily connect your earbuds, watch and phone to each other. The Pixel Buds Pro also simplify things by automatically switching audio between your watch, phone, and laptop.
In theory, Fast Pair shouldn’t be limited to the Pixel Watch and what all Wear OS devices benefit from at launch.
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