Managing app permissions isn’t only important for phones. There are some smartwatch apps out there abusing permissions, and many of us don’t notice. Well, according to a new report, the Pixel Watch may gain the ability to sync app permissions with your phone.
When you get an app on your phone, you have the ability to control which permissions it gains. Well, this is the same thing for smartwatch apps. You are able to choose what part of the system that the apps have access to. This is just another step to help keep the Wear OS experience safe.
The Pixel Watch could get the ability to sync permissions
Right now, we are still dealing with early information, so you’ll want to take this news with a grain of salt. Back in October, Android engineer Mishaal Rahman discovered some code within the Android 14 QPR1 Beta 2 that hinted at this feature. However, on Monday, Nail Sadykov was able to discover the same feature within the code, and it appears that he was able to corroborate Rahman’s discovery.
In the screenshot below, we see the device details screen within the System Settings of a Pixel phone. At the bottom of the screenshot, we see the sync permissions option at the bottom. When you turn on the toggle, the app permissions that you gave your phone will automatically be synced with the app permissions you gave your smartwatch.
However, Google is only testing this right now, so you won’t be able to activate it without flipping a few flags. Since the feature has progressed this far, it seems likely that Google will actually launch it. We just don’t know when the company will do so. Also, we don’t know if this is going to be exclusive to Pixel devices or if Google will distribute this to other Android and Wear OS devices. We’re just going to have to wait for more information on this feature.
