Google Pixel Watch update breaks phone finding feature

One of my favorite Pixel Watch features is the ability to make my phone ring when it disappears under a blanket or into the couch. It’s a tool you don’t think about much until it suddenly stops working — and apparently, that’s exactly what’s happening to a growing number of Pixel Watch owners.

A recent Reddit post from Silent_Polak reported that the Find My Phone/ring feature on their Pixel Watch stopped working after a software update. According to the owner, they’ve been using the Google Pixel Watch 3 for nearly a year without any trouble, and the issue only appeared after installing the latest update.

What makes this more concerning is how many people jumped into the thread saying they were relieved they weren’t alone. Several users claimed the same thing happened to them immediately after updating their watches, while others said they use the option constantly and were frustrated to suddenly lose it.

That frustration even led some owners to start hunting for temporary fixes. One poster in the thread shared a workaround that surprisingly seems to help. They explained that the Watch app on their phone had become unusable after the update, opening and immediately crashing every time they tapped it. Restarting both their Google Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch didn’t solve the problem either.

However, asking Gemini directly on the watch to find their phone apparently still works. Even more interestingly, multiple people replied saying the workaround fixed the issue for them, too. So while the standard shortcut appears broken for some users, Gemini voice commands may still trigger it in the meantime.

The good news is that Google appears to be aware of the situation. Earlier today, the Pixel Watch team acknowledged the issue on Reddit, saying it’s actively working on a fix that will arrive in a future software update. The company also points to the same temporary workaround: using Gemini on the watch to locate their phones until a proper fix rolls out.

The user response makes one thing very clear — this tool is very important. For many people, the Pixel Watch is the fastest way to find a misplaced phone before turning the entire house upside down. Lately it feels like everything’s been breaking on the Pixel Watch, so we hope that Google’s able to put an end to this annoying trend soon.