Yesterday, a mysterious OTA update started rolling out for the LG G Watch that bumped the Android Wear build from KMV78V to KMV78Y. The update was not accompanied with any official changelog and did not bring any noticeable improvement as well, so most users were left wondering as to what it exactly did. 

It looks like the update is being rolled out by LG to fix the corrosion issues in the POGO charging pins that was reported by many G Watch users.

LG G Watch forums on the Internet are filled with reports from users complaining about the POGO port of their smartwatch getting corroded leading to the device not charging properly. Some even reported slight burns on their wrists, which is a much more serious issue.

According to an LG representative, this OTA update will simply disable the current which flows to the charging pins when the watch is not connected to its charging dock. This should be enough to prevent the chemical process from happening which leads to corrosion building up on the POGO pins.

Below is Google’s official statement on this matter issued to Android Police:

Recently it has come to our attention that a small number of G Watch devices have been reported to have developed discoloration and residue buildup on the terminal pins located on the back. While completely safe and unlikely to affect charging, LG will be rolling out a maintenance release over the next few days that will disable the current when the G Watch is not in the charging dock. The maintenance release will be rolled out automatically over-the-air to all G Watch owners. We thank G Watch users for their patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

It is interesting to see that LG can fix a hardware issue via a simple software update. Whether the update works in real life or not is something that only time will tell.

The OTA update is being rolled out gradually so don’t fret if it has not already shown up on your G Watch.