One of the most interesting new features in Android Wear 5.1.1 is support for Wi-Fi connectivity. It allows a smartwatch to connect to a Wi-Fi network and receive various notifications and perform certain actions even a paired smartphone is not within Bluetooth range. Unfortunately, a number of Android Wear smartwatches cannot take advantage of this feature.
Among these is the LG G Watch R. While other devices lack the necessary hardware, the LG G Watch R is nearly identical under the hood to the LG Watch Urbane which does support the feature. This has puzzled (and upset) more than one LG G Watch R owner. It turns out that it does in fact have all the necessary hardware though and LG today confirmed it will enable the feature with an upcoming maintenance release.
LG’s confirmation came in the form of an official statement sent to the Netherlands’ AndroidWorld. Here is the statement:
There have been some confusion over the capabilities of LG wearable devices with the arrival of the latest version of Android Wear, currently rolling out this week. Regardless of what has been reported, the latest version of Android Wear does not automatically provide Wi-Fi support unless the device was designed with this functionality in place at the time of sale.
LG Watch Urbane is the only wearable device currently shipping with the latest version of Android Wear OS and is Wi-Fi capable out of the box. The original LG G Watch was not designed with Wi-Fi in mind and will not have this capability even after the Android Wear update. LG G Watch R will require a maintenance release patch after the Android Wear update to access Wi-Fi networks. LG engineers are preparing the patch now for availability in the third quarter.
We thank LG fans for their patience and loyalty. LG is confident in guaranteeing that their wearable experience will be second to none.
Unfortunately, LG has reconfirmed that the LG G Watch does not have the required hardware and will never be able to use this feature.
While LG only commits to Q3 for the release of the LG G Watch R maintenance release to enable Wi-Fi connectivity, Android Police has learned that LG expects to roll it out sometime in July.
Sources : AndroidWorld // Android Police