Google Wallet users on Android phones and Wear OS smartwatches experienced a frustrating issue this month. The app began requiring authentication even to open, while some Wear OS users were prompted for their PIN before every transaction. However, the problem has now been resolved by Google.
The bug caused users to re-enter their PIN or password on their watches during in-store payments, even if the watch was unlocked. This issue affected some users but not others, with one user experiencing no problems on a Pixel Watch 3.
Google acknowledged the problem and released an update that fixed it. The latest version of Google Wallet on Wear OS is 25.17.x, which can be checked for updates through the on-watch Play Store.
Source: https://9to5google.com/2025/05/30/google-wallet-wear-os-pin-fix