Your older Pixel Watch may have fewer safety features outside of your home by the end of the year. A new announcement from Google confirms that free cellular access to Safety Signal tools will end in mid-December 2026.
Safety Signal offers Emergency SOS, Fall Detection, and Safety Check as a suite of tools to help protect your wellbeing. Free cellular access was previously available on the Google Pixel Watch 2 LTE and Pixel Watch 3 LTE from launch.
In a new support post, Google confirmed plans to end its free LTE connectivity on Dec. 12, 2026. It said it would notify everyone with a compatible device via email or push notification in the coming months, though it may not arrive until 30 days before the official shutdown.
The features will continue to work when you’re connected to Wi-Fi or through Bluetooth over a paired smartphone. You can also set up your own active cellular line to use the features, though it will incur a monthly fee with your carrier.
Previously, all you needed was a Google Health Premium subscription (formerly Fitbit Premium) to access the features outside of your home. Google has yet to detail why it’s closing this feature, other than to say it’s part of its plans to “evolve our connectivity and safety capabilities.”
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If you own one of these devices, you may find this frustrating, but you had to have a very specific setup to make use of it. As pointed out by Zellkrator on Reddit, “Why would you even buy the LTE version but have no stand-alone carrier? I mean only if you really relied on Google offering you a free LTE service in dangerous situations?”
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