The Morning Brief on the Pixel Watch 3 is very short and not too early

To be clear, I’m not a morning person by nature, but years of having to get up early has taught me to handle getting up well. I may have crazy hair, and I certainly won’t be able to see my hands until I get my glasses, but I’m sticking to the “up and ’em” adage. In other words, I like to start my day with a smile because if I wake up, it might be for a reason. So, when Google announced a new Morning Brief feature leading up to the Pixel Watch 3, I was excited to see a device that would take me from groggy to caffeinated. Instead, the inconsistency of the new brief has me wondering if even a smartwatch can hit snooze.

The prospect of getting up in the morning is not usually exciting, but according to health experts, consistency is important. Unfortunately, no one seems to have told the Morning Brief. Since I started wearing my Pixel 3 regularly, I’ve had days where I can’t find my shorts until after I wake up and start my day, and I’m “well ” I mean hours later.

Considering the power of brevity is that it helps users start the day with important information, it should be slow to arrive. For one, I’m already dressed and I don’t need to know the weather (probably because I asked Alexa). For one, if I try to slip during the first workout (which I often need), I’m either already committed or I’ve started the workout without seeing my readiness score.

Some mornings, I received the Morning Brief without realizing it. That said, that’s because the notification doesn’t come with a haptic alert if you’ve enabled Do Not Disturb, that is, if your watch is still in sleep mode, for example. In my experience, the alert does not always vibrate even when DND is not open. According to Google, users should receive Morning Brief within 30 minutes of waking up. If you miss an announcement or a notification, you will see a continuous indicator on your watch face, which lasts for another 30 minutes. I have seen this indicator once or twice, but not as often as I should have it. This isn’t just my problem, either. My colleagues C. Scott Brown and Rita El Khoury both have the Pixel Watch 3 and are seeing the same erratic Morning Brief notifications.

This inconsistency has become a reason to wake up quickly. I asked a Google representative about the challenges I’ve been having, and while the team has been very responsive and helpful, I haven’t had a great experience. One tip if you’re facing similar issues is to make sure your phone, watch, and companion app are updated. Again, this hasn’t solved anything for me, but it’s worth a shot.

Things get even worse when you consider that not everyone can maintain a regular sleep schedule. If you tend to wake up in the middle of the night and scroll down shortly before going to bed, you may find the light on the screen long before dawn. Now your sleep notes and getting ready screens are both useless and you’re left with no guidance later, when you start your day. Besides, if you sometimes get up early for a sunrise trip or an early flight, you’ll want that conversation to hit your wrist, even at an ungodly hour.

Considering these circumstances, brevity cannot be assigned only for a certain period of time. It needs to be intuitively responsive to users getting up and going. This isn’t easy by any means, but some wearable companies have managed to pull it off. Apple always gets me a good morning when I wake up, and Garmin’s Morning Report is also very reliable.

Assuming a software update will solve the delivery issues at some point, I’ve never been surprised by the Morning Brief, even on good days. Accessing the psyche immediately in the morning is not something I give easily. I basically save my mental energy by avoiding my phone until I’ve at least brushed my teeth, done my hair, and put on my slippers. If a notification is going to appear on my hand asking for my first attention, it needs to be very useful. In this regard, Morning Brief feels cooked. The most obvious missing feature is the calendar screen. Nothing is more important as you approach the day than knowing what lies ahead. Do I have meetings today, or can I stay in my pajamas for a few hours (a big problem with working from home)?

Similarly, the climate component of the current model is very simple. Instead of a high-level forecast, I want more information so I can plan my day. Will it pour all day or later tonight? Should I plan my outdoor runs tonight when it’s pouring so I can skip it guilt free? These are important points. Everywhere, every part of the Morning Brief should be easily accessible so that users can find more information at will. If my sleep quality is poor, I should be able to quickly dig into where things went wrong that night. If my Weekly Workout progress is good, I should be able to get more information about the workouts I’ve done so far. Simply put, the whole device should be better.

To be clear, I’m not ready to write a Morning Brief. The tool has many capabilities. I look forward to seeing Fitbit continue to make it better and more reliable.