The Over-The-Air (OTA) update for Wear OS 5.1 began rolling out on March 18, 2025, and is now widely available to users.

Initially, the update aimed to enhance features such as pulse detection, menstrual health tracking, and sleep monitoring.

Additionally, the step counter has been malfunctioning, with devices inaccurately counting steps even when not worn.

This situation highlights the disappointment of receiving a software update intended to enhance performance that instead introduces new bugs, severely impacting user experience.

Given the ongoing issues, users are advised to hold off on updating to Wear OS 5.1 until the problems are resolved.

Readers are encouraged to share their experiences with bugs after updating to Wear OS 5.1 in the comments section of the article.

However, instead of improvements, users have reported widespread dissatisfaction due to issues like delayed or missing notifications.

Reports from Pixel Watch users on the /r/PixelWatch subreddit indicate that many are facing problems with notifications, watch face editing crashes, slow Fitbit syncing, and touch screen freezes.

Despite the acknowledgment, Google's update timeline suggests that fixes for these bugs may take months, although quicker resolutions could occur if a significant number of users report issues.

As of now, Google has not officially addressed the broader concerns raised by Pixel Watch users regarding the flawed update.

Some users have attempted temporary fixes such as restarting their devices or performing factory resets, but these solutions have proven ineffective for many.

A Google spokesperson acknowledged the notification delay issue affecting a small number of users and stated that a fix is expected via an OTA update before June 2025.