The day tinkering minded Pixel Watch owners have been anxiously awaiting is finally here. Those of you who dropped some cash on Google's smartwatch might want to saddle up for some real firmware flashing adventure. A little over seven months after launching the device, the company has now posted the factory image and OTA files for the watch. While not exactly a software update, these files could come in handy should you be the modding type, do something to break your watch’s software, and need to get it back to normal.

Keep in mind that the firmware packages aren't meant for regular folks to update your device; you should have done that over-the-air. Rather, the files would be handy for gaining root access or to update when a new build drops and you, being a power user, don’t want to wait for the staggered OTA push. Developers can also take bits and pieces from them in order to come up with custom software distributions, at least in theory. In other words, apart from saving you in a pinch and bringing your Pixel Watch back from the dead, the factory image might also be an important ingredient for the aftermarket development community.

Google Pixel Watch XDA forums

Due to the fact that the you can't connect the Pixel Watch to a PC using a traditional USB Type-C cable, the flashing part is actually a bit difficult. According to the official notes, you will need "a debug adapter that Google distributes by invitation only,” which will likely utilize the pogo pins inside the watch band connector. Nonetheless, the modding community has long been aware of a homebrew solution.

The images for both the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and LTE variants of the Pixel Watch are available. The latest one corresponds to the May 2023 release, but you can scroll all the way back to the initial October 2022 firmware. Do note that unlike sideloading OTA packages, flashing factory images requires you to unlock the bootloader of the watch. You can always relock it after that, though.

Google Pixel Watch: Full OTA images || Factory images