After releasing the stable One UI 6 Watch update to the Galaxy Watch 5 series and the Galaxy Watch 6 series, Samsung has started rolling out the update to the Galaxy Watch 4 series. That is Samsung's first set of smartwatches running Wear OS.
Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic get stable One UI 6 Watch update in Korea
More than four months after beta testing One UI 6 Watch, Samsung released the stable One UI 6 Watch update to the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. The update, which is based on Wear OS 5, is currently available in South Korea and could soon be released in other countries worldwide.
The update comes with firmware version R87xXXU1IXK1 for the Galaxy Watch 4 and R89xXXU1IXK1 for the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. It is a big update of over 1.5GB in download size and brings the October 2024 security patch to the smartwatches.
One UI 6 Watch update changelog for Galaxy Watch 4 series (translated from Korean)
New Watch Styles
Discover New Watch Faces
Express your own style with premium watch faces. Spatial Number with iconic graphic numbers, Simple Digital for users who prefer minimalism, and Ultra Info Board for quick access to workout information. Watch faces can be found in the new recommended watch faces menu in the Galaxy Wearable app, and you can also search for watch faces by keyword, including color, style, and complications.
One UI Aesthetic Improvements
The watch uses buttons, toggles, and other features that are the same design as your phone to provide a consistent visual experience. You can also use new fonts that are more stylish and modern. You can use the new fonts right away by selecting the default font in Settings, and if you are using a different font, you will need to upgrade to One UI 6 Watch.
A sophisticated first impression that you will want to use
We have consistently updated the graphic style of each tile’s home screen to make the tiles look more attractive.
Start a healthy routine
Provide personalized health insights with Galaxy AI
Check your daily condition with the Energy Score and plan a healthy day. It analyzes sleep, activity, heart rate, etc., to easily understand your current condition and give you a score. If your Energy Score is low, get enough rest, and if your score is high, try to set a new record for your favorite exercise. With personalized insights and motivation provided by Galaxy AI, you can take a step closer to a healthy life.
Sophisticated and smart sleep monitoring
Measures more diverse data, such as heart rate, breathing rate, and actual time taken to fall asleep during sleep, to analyze the quality of your sleep more accurately. Wear the watch when you go to bed and manage your sleep more carefully.
Supports personalized workout routines
Do you usually do multiple workouts at once? Set up your own workout routine by combining different workouts. When you reach the goal of the previous workout, it will automatically move on to the next workout, and you can also take a break in between. Once the routine is complete, you can check the results of all your workouts in one place and manage them efficiently.
Easy and fast watch control
Quick launch with double thumb and index finger gesture
You can perform various actions such as answering calls, turning off alarms, scrolling through notifications, controlling music, and taking photos by double-tapping your thumb and index finger without touching the screen. A finger icon appears on the button that can be executed with this gesture. (In some situations where it is difficult to see, the icon is not displayed.)
Quick scrolling through notifications and tiles
You can quickly scroll through multiple notifications and tiles at once by quickly swiping the screen left or right on the watch screen. The faster you swipe, the more pages you can move at once.
Check and select multiple apps running at once
If you have multiple tasks in progress, such as calls, exercises, or music playback, tap the icon at the bottom of the watch screen. You can go directly to the app you want by tapping the app in the list.
Even more convenient one-hand operation with universal gestures
Universal gestures, which allow you to control the watch without touching the screen, have become more convenient. Not only can you easily return to the previous screen using the newly added gesture, but you can also use the universal gesture immediately without additional actions when a call or alarm rings.
Simple and convenient communication
Reply recommendation made smarter by AI
Respond quickly with replies recommended by AI. AI analyzes received messages and generates replies. Replies are provided when you check watch message notifications and are generated on your phone and safely protected. It can be used by connecting to a phone that supports AI reply recommendations and One UI 6.1.1 or later.
Respond with your favorite emojis
Add frequently used emojis to favorites to respond quickly and easily to notifications and messages.
Set your watch as you want
Set the weather tile with the information you want
Decorate the weather tile with the information you want. You can conveniently check the daily weather forecast, hourly weather forecast, probability of precipitation, sunrise and sunset times, useful weather information, etc.
Set the time of two cities on the world clock tile
You can easily check the time difference by displaying the time of two cities on one tile.
Easily set watch app notifications
You can easily set the notifications of the watch apps you want to receive not only in the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone, but also on your watch.
Control watch behavior by mode
When you set the mode such as sleep, exercise, and movie theater on your phone, you can set various watch behaviors by mode. Freely set various watch behaviors such as watch face, do not disturb, Always On Display, wake by raising wrist, wake by touch, wake by turning bezel, sound mode, and disconnection notification. Available on phones with One UI 6.1.1 or later installed.
Other enhanced features
Manage schedules directly from the watch
You can quickly add or edit schedules on the watch without your phone. You can also check more schedules using the weekly view of the calendar.
Make your watch last longer
You can use your watch longer by limiting some health functions such as automatic exercise detection and background heart rate measurement when power saving mode is on.
Automatically turn on while charging
Now you don't have to bother turning on your watch after charging. Try using the automatic power-on setting so that your watch turns on while charging.
Automatically connect to Bluetooth audio devices
When you start playing music on your watch, it automatically connects to Bluetooth headphones or speakers registered on your watch or phone without any additional operation. If there are no Bluetooth audio devices to connect, you will be taken to the audio output screen where you can register a new device or playback will be through the speakers.
One UI 6 Watch is probably the last major software update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. If you are thinking of upgrading to a newer Galaxy Watch, you should check out the Galaxy Watch 7 and its features in our hands-on video above.
