Huawei may fully abandon the Android platform in near future in favor of their in-house OS, but they already turned down Wear OS (aka Android Wear) from Google and designed a dedicated wearable optimized operating system called Huawei wearable platform.

huawei_watch_gt_side
Huawei Watch GT runs Huawei wearable platform

Being a nascent piece of software, the Chinese OEM regularly pushes patches and security fixes to enhance the user experience. For example, they enabled the always-on display (AoD) on Watch GT via the May patch which also contains heart rate measurement related fixes.

Back in July, Huawei rolled out software version 1.0.9.2 for Watch GT which enabled dual time zone display. The OTA also bundled various fixes related to triatlon interface and workout tracking.

huawei_watch_gt_1.0.9.2_ota_changelog

The rollout happened less than a month ago, but the OEM is already ready with their next update. There is no concept of security patches in Huawei wearable platform, thus we should mark it as monthly OTA for the smartwatch.

The version number of this August update is 1.0.9.6. The size of the incremental OTA is just 1.23 MB, which is rather small compared to previous updates. Moreover, the changelog does not mention any new feature other than a typical ‘system stability’ phrase.

huawei_watch_gt_1.0.9.6_ota_changelog
Source

However, initial feedback after installing this update is harshly negative. Huawei Watch GT owners are bugged with frequent Bluetooth connection disruption issue as well as glitches related to notification syncing.

New 1.0.9 6 FW

Still with Bluetooth conection problem..

No new features

No hope…

(Source)

Please also note that is update introduced a new problem… every mail notification keeps popping up for a couple of times even if the mail itself has already been deleted on the phone.

Quite irritating, just like the other watch os bugs.

My two cents, ignore new functionality requests (it’s not a smartwatch!) but fix the functionality already present.

(Source)

Worst thing so far – someone got their watch bricked after installing this particular update! A community manager quickly spotted the report and notified the support team, but there is no further update on the matter at the time of reporting this article.

huawei_watch_gt_1.0.9.6_brick_forum
Click/Tap to zoom

Have you noticed any improvement on your Huawei Watch GT after installing the 1.0.9.6 firmware? Let us know by commenting below.

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Kingshuk De
896 Posts

I came from a mixed background of Statistics and Computer Science. My research domains included embedded computer systems, mobile computing and delay tolerant networks in post-disaster scenarios. Apart from tinkering with gadgets or building hackintosh, I like to hop on various subreddits and forums like MyDigitalLife and XDA.

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