Google Pixel Watches hit with delayed notifications, crashing, and performance issues following Wear OS 5.1 update

- Google has rolled out Wear OS 5.1 to all of its Pixel Watches
- There are reports it could be causing serious issues
- Reported problems include delayed notifications, crashes, and sluggish performance
If your Google Pixel Watch has recently started giving you delayed notifications, crashing, and slowing down, you’re not alone, and the recent Wear OS 5.1 update could be to blame.
Google rolled out Wear OS 5.1 to all of its Pixel Watch models, including the best Android smartwatch, the Pixel Watch 3, at the start of March.
Promised upgrades include the Loss of Pulse Detection feature in the US, as well as upgrades to menstrual health support, step counts, and sleep tracking.
You may like
However, there are now numerous reports from users who are saying the update appears to be causing serious performance issues, delayed notifications, and more.
As reported by Android Police, multiple Pixel Watch 3 owners on Reddit are reporting problems, some of which are also occurring on older models.
Wear OS 5.1 issues on Pixel Watch – what we know
“Has anyone else had sluggish connection issues from the app to the watch since the March update? I am not able to edit watch faces, syncing with Fitbit is very slow and there are delayed notifications,” one poster noted in the Pixel Watch subreddit.
“Delayed notifications issue is definitely affecting me,” one commenter replied. “My landlord had called me today and the watch didn’t even react once,” another added.
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Delayed notifications seem to be the most prevalent issue, however. Users are also reporting crashing when trying to edit Watch faces, a frozen or unresponsive touchscreen, Fitbit syncing issues, and more.
TechRadar has also seen similar reports in Google’s Pixel Watch Help Community.
It’s a blow for Google, which recently moved to a quarterly software update cycle for Wear OS. Whether that precludes more frequent patches for serious issues like this remains to be seen, and we’ve reached out to Google for comment on these issues.
We’ll be sure to update you if anything changes. If the company sticks to the quarterly cycle, even for security and performance, it could be a long few months for users who’ve upgraded.
If you haven’t yet downloaded Wear OS 5.1, we’d recommend swerving the update until these issues get fixed.
Last year, Google had to pause the rollout of Wear OS 5 to older Pixel Watch models because of issues with crashing and even bricking, so it looks like the company is yet to get a handle on pushing stable software updates to its users.
You may also like
Google has rolled out Wear OS 5.1 to all of its Pixel Watches There are reports it could be causing serious issues Reported problems include delayed notifications, crashes, and sluggish performance If your Google Pixel Watch has recently started giving you delayed notifications, crashing, and slowing down, you’re not alone,…
Recent Posts
- Google Pixel Watches hit with delayed notifications, crashing, and performance issues following Wear OS 5.1 update
- 85 Best Amazon Spring Sale Deals (2025)
- The best monitors for every budget in 2025
- What time is Daredevil: Born Again episode 5 going to be released on Disney+?
- Navigating the growing complexities of the cloud
Archives
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010