Samsung has just announced a small surprise for Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 users. The company confirmed that these aging smartwatches will get a few “stylish and informative watch faces” introduced with the Galaxy Watch 6 series last month through a new software update. The said update will arrive this fall.
The Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic run Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch. It’s the latest version of the company’s custom smartwatch platform based on Google’s Wear OS 4, which itself is based on Android 13. The Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 series will also get this update. The Korean firm is already running One UI 5 Watch beta programs for its 2022 and 2021 smartwatches.
Unfortunately, Samsung smartwatches launched before 2021 won’t get the new One UI version. That’s because the Galaxy Watch 3 (2020) and older Galaxy Watch models don’t run Wear OS. They run the company’s in-house platform called Tizen OS. The Korean firm has already stopped making Tizen-powered wearable devices, so these watches haven’t been getting many new updates lately.
However, Samsung hasn’t entirely forgotten those wearables. In a Newsroom post announcing the One UI 5 Watch update for the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 series, the company revealed that the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 will also get a few watch faces that are part of One UI 5 Watch. Samsung named Stretched Time and Perpetual, but more could be coming.
While the Korean behemoth didn’t reveal a precise release date for the update, we aren’t too far away from “this fall” now. If you’re using a Galaxy Watch 3 or Galaxy Watch Active 2, watch out for a notification about a new software update. You can also manually check for updates directly on your watch or using the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected smartphone.
Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4 will soon get the One UI 5 Watch update
Samsung has been beta testing One UI 5 Watch for the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 since June. The company has released as many as five beta builds during this time, with the latest one coming last week. While we don’t yet have a date for the stable rollout, yesterday’s announcement suggests the wait will end soon.
If everything goes according to plan, Samsung’s 2022 and 2021 smartwatches may get the One UI 5 Watch update globally within the next few weeks. As always, we will let you know as soon as the rollout begins. You can also be on the lookout for a notification or manually check for new updates.