Galaxy Watch
Samsung One UI Watch 5 (WearOS 4) Changelog and features
Samsung has recently introduced the One UI Watch beta program, specifically designed for Galaxy Watches. Now, the company is rolling out the highly anticipated One UI Watch 5 beta update based on the Wear OS 4 for Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 users.
With the arrival of the One UI Watch 5 update for Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5, users can expect an array of exciting new features and enhancements compared to the previous version. To enjoy these additions, users will need to download an extensive 1800MB package for the installation of this significant update onto their watches.
The latest One UI Watch 5 update, built on Google’s Wear OS 4 platform, brings forth an assortment of fresh watch faces, increased customization options, new clock faces, tiles, expanded Samsung Health features, as well as backup and restore functionalities. Moreover, it offers enhanced call control features, the ability to dictate text using the Home button, Device care, and much more. This update empowers users to switch between different communication styles to suit various occasions conveniently.
Samsung One UI Watch 5 & Wear OS 4 Changelog:
Watch faces and tiles
- Add watch faces and tiles easily
- A new vertical layout makes it easier to find the watch faces and tiles that are right for you.
- Improve Buds controller tile
- You can now turn 360 audio on and off from the Buds controller tile if your Buds support 360 audio.
- Quick access to timers
- You can start timers from the new Timer tile without opening the Timer app.
- Set an album or story as your watch face
- Instead of just one picture, you can now make your watch face cycle between pictures in an album or story that you select. Your watch face will change to a different picture each time you turn on the watch screen.
Samsung Health
- Automatically record cycling workouts
- Samsung Health can now detect when you start cycling and record your workout automatically. You can also set whether to automatically map your cycling routes.
- Get heart rate guidance while running
- Your watch can provide personalized heart rate zones while you run to help you manage your exercise intensity.
Backup and Restore
- Keep your watch data safe
- 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. Your phone needs the latest version of the Smart Switch app to use this feature.
Control Your Phone
- More call controls
- 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.
Additional changes
- Dictate text with Home button
- Just press and hold the Home button any time you’re entering text with Samsung Keyboard to instantly switch to voice input.
- Using multiple timers at once
- You can now have up to 20 timers running at the same time to help keep track of all your tasks.
- Share medical information in an emergency
- A button to access your medical info will appear automatically when a hard fall is detected or when you press the Home button 5 times to start the Emergency SOS feature.
- Device Care
- Check the status of your watch’s battery, storage, and memory and immediately fix any problems to extend battery life and keep your watch running smoothly.
- Control your watch without touch
- Universal gestures let you control your watch without touching the screen or pressing a button. You can assign various actions to gestures such as shaking your wrist, making a fist, or pinching your fingers.
- Organize app in folder
- Create folders to keep your apps organized so you can find the apps you need quickly with less scrolling.
Samsung Galaxy smartwatches are on the way to significant improvements, as at I/O 2024, Google unveiled Wear OS 5, promising even more worthy enhancements, including battery life improvements.
Initially, Wear OS 5 is expected to launch with the forthcoming Galaxy Watch 7 in July at the Galaxy Unpacked event, and then on the Pixel Watch 3 by the end of this year, as its availability expands to other Wear OS watches. With Samsung’s continued collaboration and Google’s ongoing commitment, Wear OS is poised for a bright future, providing a robust and versatile smartwatch experience.
However, Google just teased Wear OS 5 but has yet to reveal all the details, but the giant claims this new update will decrease up to 20% of battery drain when tracking a marathon compared to Wear OS 4.
Samsung Galaxy Watches will receive the Wear OS 5 update, hopefully bringing worthy attention to a decent boost in battery life. Apart from this, it is expected that the fitness application will have access to more data types, such as stride length, group contact time, and vertical oscillation. None of these are radical new features, but these enhancements should help further refine the Wear OS experience. Plus, longer battery life is always a welcome improvement, especially on smartwatches.
Google will base Wear OS 5 on Android 14, with the release packing a few major developer-facing changes, including the next version of the Watch Face Format, which is expected to support new complications such as weather, goal progress, and many more.
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Samsung is actively looking forward to expanding its wearable smartwatch family by adding one more member to the line called the Galaxy Watch 7, which is expected to arrive with the Exynos W1000 3nm. On the other hand, the existence of the Galaxy Watch FE is also confirmed.
The next-generation Galaxy Watch 7 is supposed to be introduced at the Galaxy Unpacked event in July, consisting of three variants, including an “Ultra” model that could be the first smartwatch with a 3nm chipset. However, another affordable model is also rumored to be in the line called the Galaxy Watch FE.
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Initially, the rumors teased the fan community that the forthcoming Galaxy Watch 7 series’ three model could arrive with a 3nm Exynoss W940 chipset. If the new reports are to be believed, the upcoming watches will still be the first Samsung smartwatches with a 3nm chip, but the chip might be named the Exynos W1000 by contrast.
The predecessor series Galaxy Watch 6 lineup arrived with the 5nm Exynos W930, and according to the new reports, the latest Exynos W1000 should bring 12% more enhancement in performance as well as energy efficiency. If the reports come true, then Samsung will introduce the Galaxy Watch FE alongside the Galaxy Watch 7.
The Galaxy Watch FE is expected to be more affordable, similar to the recently launched Fan Edition phones and tablets such as the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, Galaxy Tab S9 FE+, Galaxy S23 FE, and Galaxy Buds FE. The reports from Android Headlines are revealing the two popped-up firmware models on the Samsung servers: the SM-R866 version, which was actually already looked at previously as an LTE variant, and the SM-R861 version with the R861XXU0AXE5/R8610XM0AXE5 firmware, which is expected to be a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth variant.
It seems that the forthcoming Galaxy Watch FE may feature a lot of similar specs as the Galaxy Watch 4; for instance, a 1.2- or 1.4-inch AMOLED display, an Exynos Wg20 SoC, and more.
Samsung is actively working on expanding the Galaxy Watch’s functionalities for users’ convenience. The company has filed a US patent for continuous atrial fibrillation detection through PPG ECG signal translation.
Many smartwatches available on the market perform atrial fibrillation (AFib) spot checks using an ECG sensor, but unfortunately, continuous AFib data is impossible without a medical monitor. A week ago, Samsung patented a plan to convert that for the forthcoming Galaxy Watch 7 by employing a generative AI model.
Initially spotted by Wareable, the US patent “System and method for continuous atrial fibrillation detection via PPG to ECG signal translation” would “translate PPG signals to corresponding ECG waveforms.”
Samsung got FDA consent for the passive detection of irregular heart rhythms. Samsung, such as Fitbit, Apple, and Withings, can use their watches to monitor irregular heart rhythms. Although this is not a diagnosis tool, It is only capable of suggesting a potential issue and requires confirmation with a proper ECG reading.
Samsung’s patented PPG-to-ECG mechanism would offer more definitive data at all times, making it more possible to catch the lead-up to serious heart conditions such as arrhythmia and heart failure. The patent describes that “conventional models” can only count on “long-term relationships” between PPG heart rhythm data and possible ECG results. Along with its GenAI models, Samsung assures that it will create a “first-order Markov relationship” between them for better accuracy.
Samsung’s patent confesses that by using generative AI, “fake information may be introduced, which affects an AFib detection result.” The giant decided to solve this by “incorporating prior knowledge in terms of probabilistic graphical models” so that it is “robust to noise,” also known as irrelevant or misleading details.
The generative AI plan of Samsung might make heart health data available to Google since it typically relies on Gemini AI.