Owners of the recently launched Galaxy Watch 4 are witnessing a change in data visualization after an update to the Samsung Health app.
The company has replaced the Continuous Heart Rate graph with a new graph that shows the data in segments. Each day is separated into time bars displaying the highs and lows from that part of the day.
While this appears to be a rather innocuous change, some users are not happy with the update. It can’t be denied that this is a downgrade from the older version of the Samsung Health app. Since accuracy can be a problem with wearable devices, users are encouraged to view tracking data only as a reference. Samsung probably wanted to reflect this with the new update.
However, it didn’t take too long for conspiracy theories to float around the internet, particularly on Reddit (via). Some users claim that the company is intentionally segmenting the data to hide the inaccuracies of the new Galaxy Watch 4. It’s worth noting that most fitness trackers and their corresponding apps use a continuous line graph to show heart-rate data.
Samsung has confirmed that it’s not possible to go back to the older graph
To make matters worse, Samsung customer support told a Reddit user that users can’t revert back to the older version of the Health app. However, the Reddit user later edited the post with an update.
The user claims that the continuous line graph could come back by uninstalling the new version of Samsung Health and installing an older version (for ex: v6.18). While this is an unofficial method to remedy the issue, it is the only working method to retain the older graph.
There is some talk of a class-action lawsuit, though it’s unlikely that it will get to that stage. Samsung could issue a clarification or perhaps the option to revert back to the old graph to avoid any further complexities in the matter.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Watch 4 Classic in August. As our review points out, the wearable is Samsung’s best yet. This is primarily due to the fact that it brings together One UI and Wear OS for the very first time.
The Classic model has a starting price of $349, while the entry-level Galaxy Watch 4 will cost $249. Users need to add an additional $50 to the prices for LTE variants of the wearables.