Google is already testing Wear OS 5.1, could be based on Android 15

We’re merely days away from the expected unveiling of the Google Pixel Watch 3 series, and because of leaks, many details about the watches have already been made public. We already know that, for example, both watches will come with the latest version of Wear OS, Google’s Android-based platform for wearables. But ahead of its launch, Android Authority has learned that the next version of Wear OS is not only already in the works but that it could be based on a different version of Android.

Although Wear OS is based on the same open source codebase as Android for handhelds — that is, AOSP — it doesn’t follow the same release cadence or versioning. For example, Wear OS 3 was announced in May of 2021, a full eight months after the Android version it’s based on, Android 11, was released. Wear OS 4 was announced two years later, in May of 2023; it’s based on Android 13, which was released the year prior. The latest version of Wear OS announced this year, Wear OS 5, is similarly based on a version of Android that was actually released last year — Android 14.