It took Google four years to fix the Pixel Watch’s terrible screenshots

I never thought the day would come, but after more than four years, Google has finally rolled out an update to the Pixel Watch companion app on Android that fixes the horrendous way it manages screenshots coming from the watch. Every silly issue we used to have while taking watch screenshots is now gone, and you can finally take multiple shots in a row without stopping to save or share each one and without them vanishing.

Version 4.2.0.833802130 of the Pixel Watch app rolled out to my Pixel 10 Pro XL yesterday evening, and I’m pretty sure it’s the one that triggered this change. Just a few hours earlier, I had taken a bunch of screenshots on my watch for another article, and I had to manage them the silly and horrifically slow old way. That is, each screenshot I used to take on my Pixel Watch got sent to the phone with only an option to share it. There was no save or view, so I often resorted to sharing to Google Drive to keep it safe. Plus, every new screenshot dismissed the previous one, even if I hadn’t acted on that one yet.

This created so many frustrating moments where I thought I’d saved a few snaps on my watch, only to realize that my phone just showed me the last one and the rest had vanished. Go back, repeat one by one. It was a stupid time waste, and for someone who has a job covering Pixels and smartwatches, it made my own life (and several of my colleagues) hell. Ask Kaitlyn how many times she had to repeat some exercises during her tests because she took a few screenshots in a row and forgot that the Pixel Watch only keeps the last one!

The new Pixel Watch app changes that completely. Now, screenshot notifications stack up on top of each other, instead of dismissing one another. I can bulk-screenshot on my watch, then grab my phone, and every notification is there for me to see. Better yet? They get automatically saved on the phone’s local storage under Pictures > Watch screenshots. No more manual saving one by one.

Google has also changed the default notification action. Instead of sharing, it’s now Tap to view, which opens the screenshot in any gallery or photo viewer on your phone. If you choose Google Photos, you’ll be able to back it up, edit it, add it to an album, and more. All standard stuff, but we had to go through hoops to achieve these before. Thankfully, not anymore.