When the Apple Watch first came out, we couldn’t buy them fast enough. Being able to check your apps got a lot easier without the worry of dropping your phone. Though Apple has been the dominant force in smartwatches, Meta might just try to give them a run for their money.
While plans for the watch were reportedly scrapped last year in favor of other projects — Meta also laid off 13% of its staff last fall — tech insider Kuba Wojciechowski recently tweeted that an anonymous source shared that the watch was still in development, and offered up details (and photos).
Leak: A new version of the @Meta smartwatch is in development, new details and photos below👇 pic.twitter.com/mlEgEQvWp5
— kamila 🌸🏳️⚧️ (@Za_Raczke) January 31, 2023
The story so far
If you thought all of the layoffs at Meta would put a spanner in their plans for their new smartwatch, think again. This whole thing started with some information leaked information back in 2021, according to Bloomberg. The first version of the watch was reportedly supposed to drop in 2022 (when the project actually was canceled), with another model to release in 2023, because, you know, you have to have a new version every year. As it’s already 2023 without any idea of an initial product release, we know that timeline is wrong.
Now, Wojciechowski’s source says that while Meta’s V1 version of the watch has been canceled, the company would like users to get used to its form factor since it plans to use it for other Metaverse devices in the future. Looking at the leaked photos, the details are pretty similar to the first photos of the smartwatch. There’s a slight change in the face of the design and some features were added, but the general form is still the same. For those who love the option of removing the face while keeping the band on, don’t worry, that is still intact. That feature would allow the watch to be used with more devices related to Meta, whatever those will entail.
Wojciechowski noted that the source says Meta plans to use a custom version of Android for the device (and not Wear OS).
Coming from Facebook, we should probably expect the usual things like fitness tracking, sleep tracking, and all of the normal apps to manage through your account. Of course, that’s if the rumored watch sees the light of day (or if it’s shelved again).
And whether the public wants another smartwatch option or not is, of course, another story.
