Update 11/09/2023: The update is now live for Galaxy Watch 4 in India. The LTE model should also start receiving it soon.
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Samsung started rolling out the Wear OS 4 based One UI 5 Watch update to the Galaxy Watch 5 series last week and now it is Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic’s turn. The brand has began the rollout of the latest Wear OS 4 update for its two generation older smartwatches from 2021. Here’s what you can expect from the update.
The update has the new build number being R870XXU1HWH3 for the Galaxy Watch 4 and R890XXU1HWH3 for the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. The build also includes the July 2023 security patch level and a bunch of new features improvements. The update was first announced back in May of this year and some of the features were detailed back then itself.
Wear OS 4 on Galaxy Watch 4: New Features
The update includes improved sleep management features where users will now be able to better understand their personal sleep patterns through a new Sleep Insights UI that displays the user’s sleep score for the night before, including metrics such as snoring hours, blood oxygen levels, and sleep phases.
Then, the watches now get Sleep Coaching. With One UI 5 Watch, Galaxy smartwatch users will be able to access Sleep Coaching directly on their wrists. Samsung has also improved connectivity between Galaxy Watches and SmartThings-compatible devices.
Next, Samsung announced a feature called personalised Heart Rate Zone that will offer tailored running tools, such as real-time running analysis and a customised interval training program. Samsung has also improved the safety features of the watches also. In case of an emergency, the ability to connect to emergency numbers such as 119 has been added when the user presses the Home button on the Galaxy Watch five times in a row and confirms whether the phone is connected or not.
It will also share the user’s location and medical details with the department. One UI 5 Watch will also enable Fall Detection by default for users aged 55 or older. Apart from this, the features that have been mentioned in the change log include a new backup and restore method where files and data from your watch are periodically backed up to your phone when it’s connected to your watch. You can also save backups to Samsung Cloud.
Moreover, you can now switch from one phone to another and pair your watch with the new phone while retaining your watch faces and apps after transferring. Earlier, users had to set up the watch from scratch.
Next, you now have more control over calls without touching your phone. You can adjust the call volume, mute sound, and press buttons on the keypad, all from your watch. You can now also take pictures from your watch if it is paired with a Galaxy Z Flip 5 or a Z Fold 5. Whenever the camera is open in Flex mode or Tent mode on your foldable phone, a camera icon will appear at the bottom of your watch face.
As for customisation, there are new watch faces, a new vertical layout find watch faces and tiles quickly. There’s a new Battery tile that lets you quickly check the battery level of your watch, phone, and Galaxy Buds. You can now turn 360 audio on and off from the Buds controller tile if your Buds support 360 audio. Apart from this, you can now make your watch face cycle between pictures in an album or story that you select instead of just having a single picture set as watch face.
Then there are other minor but significant improvements to enhance the user experience. You can now press and hold the Home button any time you’re entering text with Samsung Keyboard to instantly switch to voice input. Bixby can read your notifications out loud if you have headphones connected to your watch and you can also tell it what to do next.
Users can now run multiple timers simultaneously, use universal gestures to control their watch without touching the screen or pressing a button, organise apps in folders or set a PIN or Password to prevent someone else from setting up the watch after it has been reset.
Wear OS 4 on Galaxy Watch 4: Availability
The Wear OS 4 based One UI 5 Watch update is rolling out to US models of the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. If you reside in the US, you can head over to the settings of the watch and then to software update to check if an update is available. Alternatively, you can check for updates via the Galaxy Wearable App on your smartphone. As it is a phased rollout, it will eventually expand to more units and more regions, hopefully in the coming weeks.