Pixel 10 owners who have been fighting to pair Samsung Galaxy Watch devices over Bluetooth can finally breathe a sigh of relief. We’ve had several user reports as well indicating that the recent Google Play system update now re-enables confidence in pairing and maintaining a connection between the two leading ecosystems, successfully terminating my painful saga of disconnects and faulty initial setup attempts.
What went wrong
The problem surfaced when new Pixel 10 phones wouldn’t complete or hold Bluetooth pairing with recent Galaxy Watch models — that is, the Galaxy Watch7 line and Galaxy Watch Ultra. The symptoms were inconsistent: For some users, they could not progress past the first pairing screen in the Galaxy Wearable app (the new version of which was required to pair with the watches), while others made it through pairing only to have their connection frequently drop and re-pair — making notifications, calls, and health sync unreliable.
Since this failure affected models across the board and was on different carriers/regions, it alluded to a low-level Bluetooth or system service regression as opposed to a defect in Samsung’s companion app or an isolated batch of malfunctioning devices. Reddit community threads and official support forums filled with similar accounts, and side-by-side tests with non-Pixel phones seemed to support the claims that the issue was not caused by the watches themselves.
The fix comes through a Play system update
Users have now reported that the normal behavior can be restored by installing the latest Google Play system update. After updating and rebooting, Galaxy Watch pairing finishes normaly and with stable connection (for notification, call, media control,…) and health syncing. Numerous community posts report that Pixel 10 were previously resistant but started connecting to the Galaxy Watch in a matter of minutes after being updated.
How could a Play system update help this? Google has been moving more and more parts of the system to be updatable modules through Project Mainline since Android 10. That means that fixes to portions of the Bluetooth stack, Fast Pair and device-to-device connection services can ship outside of full OS updates or monthly security patches. In practice it means a widespread connectivity bug can be squished without hanging around for a bumper firmware rollout.
How to obtain the update
On a Pixel 10, open Settings and go to Security & privacy, then Updates and tap Google Play system update. Install it, and restart if an update is waiting. It’s also worth looking for app updates in the Play Store, Galaxy Wearable (and its watch-specific plugin) especially, before retrying the pairing flow.
Remember, the Play system update isn’t the Android security patch or a Pixel Feature Drop. If you’re troubleshooting, update all t three if you can. It is just a “clean” sequence that many user find reliable: install Play System Update, reboot, update GW and plugins, reboot again and only get BT enabled w/o any old watch entries in the BT menu as well as within GW…(“\”properties\” wouldn’t help here.
Why this is important for Wear OS users
Samsung and Google have been close partners lately on Wear OS, with Galaxy Watch models accounting for a sizable chunk of all Wear OS devices, depending on who you ask (Counterpoint Research reported that the lineup held 11 percent market share in 2020). Basic compatibility between a new Pixel phone and a current Galaxy Watch breaks down consumer trust in whether the platform is interoperable. The quick fix would send the right signal that this is a major connection component that will be treated as first class and quickly fixed.
This episode also demonstrates the increasing significance of modular updates. On watches, fitness, safety and payments functions rely on a reliable low-latency Bluetooth connection. And when problems do occur, the ability to patch the stack easily—no need to go through carrier testing cycles or flash a full OS—allows users to stay online and reduces returns.
If problems persist
If your Pixel 10 still won’t pair after the update, do this: Clear Bluetooth cache (Settings > Apps > Show system > Bluetooth > Storage & cache > Clear cache), remove the watch from known devices in both Bluetooth settings and Galaxy Wearable, then restart the phone and watch. As a final hail Mary, back up the watch and do a factory reset then re-pair again.
You can also submit feedback via the Pixel’s Feedback app or through the watch companion app to create logs. The more reports that engineers see, the faster edge cases get fixed. That being said, others report that disabling battery optimization for Galaxy Wearable and its plugin seems to yield better effectiveness after doing the initial workaround.
Bottom line
Pixel 10–Galaxy Watch connectivity bug is apparently fixed for most with Google Play system update of latest variety. Install the update, reboot and refresh your companion apps, and you should find yourself back to a reliable phone–watch experience—just what you would hope for with two premium devices engineered to complement each other.