Google is rolling out a major December update for the Pixel Watch 4, and the headline feature is a clever new one-handed gesture that lets you snap photos with a quick double pinch – no swiping, tapping, or free hands required.
The update adds two new gestures overall. The first is Double Pinch, which Google describes as tapping your thumb and index finger together twice. It already works for scrolling notifications, sending your first Smart Reply, pausing timers, snoozing alarms, and controlling music playback. Google says call answering and call ending via Double Pinch will arrive “soon,” but the gesture is fully enabled and functional for most other interactions starting today.
A second gesture, Wrist Turn, lets you flick your wrist away from you and back to dismiss incoming calls or close alert-style notifications. It’s a small addition, but the kind of subtle control upgrade that makes a smartwatch feel more responsive in the moments when your hands are occupied, whether you’re cooking, carrying groceries, or just don’t want to poke at a tiny screen.
To make these features easier to discover, Wear OS now surfaces Gesture Hints, which can appear directly over interface buttons or along the scroll bar. You can adjust how often these prompts appear – from “Always” down to a one-time reminder – in Settings under Gestures > Hand gestures. Both gestures are switched on by default.
The update isn’t only about convenience. Google is also boosting message handling on the Pixel Watch 4 and Watch 3 with faster Smart Replies, powered by Gemma. Google says Smart Replies now run twice as fast and are nearly three times more memory efficient, which should be noticeable when you’re replying directly from your wrist without a paired phone nearby.
This is the Pixel Watch 4’s first major update since launch, following Wear OS 6’s earlier rollout to other models.
