If there’s something Ausdroid readers loathe it’s waiting for carrier approvals for software updates for your smartphone or tablet. Now there’s another device you can add to the list: Your smartwatch.
In their March 30th Software update blog last week, Vodafone has listed their usual list of software updates that are being tested on phones, tablets and in a first for us: the Huawei Watch 2. Yes, the update to Oreo which is currently rolling out to the Huawei Watch 2 requires carrier approval before it can be pushed to your wrist.
This won’t affect all of the Huawei Watch 2 watches sold, just the LTE enabled ones sold through Vodafone Australia. My unlocked LTE enabled Huawei Watch 2 received the Oreo update last week.
Much as we hate to admit it there’s actually good reasoning behind the carrier update approval process. In Australia, carriers test updates to ensure that they, well, for one thing that they actually work, and also ensure they comply with ACMA regulations for telecommunications devices such as being able to make calls to emergency call services. Vodafone has had to pull updates previously – yes, including even Nexus updates, so testing does actually have a purpose.
Vodafone has actually written quite a good guide on the process which is available on their software testing pages that’s definitely worth a read.
The update to the Huawei Watch 2 purchased through Vodafone is in testing and shouldn’t take longer than a few weeks if all goes well. The update is out in the wild, so there’s nothing terribly wrong with it, so all going smoothly you should see an update on your wrist soon.
