Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 with Wear OS will add One UI into the software mix
Samsung has revealed that its next Galaxy Watch, which we anticipate will be called the Galaxy Watch 4, will feature its own One UI laid on top of Google’s Wear OS.
While we already knew that Samsung was swapping Tizen for a version of Google’s smartwatch operating system that also brings in elements of Tizen, it’s now confirmed that it will also be adding the user interface commonly found on its smartphones, to create a more unified relationship between watch and phone.
While Samsung didn’t unveil the Galaxy Watch 4 or the Galaxy Watch Active 4 at its MWC 2021 virtual event, it did use that virtual time to tell us a bit more about what we can expect from Samsung in this Wear collaboration and when its next Galaxy Watch packing it is unveiled at an Unpacked event later this Summer.
A lot of the details about the collaboration with Google on Wear were already known to us, thanks to the big reveal at Google’s I/O developer conference along with developer sessions that revealed how the two tech heavyweights will team up to take on the Apple Watch.
Samsung unveils One UI for next Galaxy Watch video
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That includes promising performance improvements, better battery life, a more thriving developer system and more fitness and health services.
The big reveal here was that Samsung is set to top that new Wear with its own One UI, which has been present on its phones and will seek to bring the two devices closer together.
It showed how settings on your phone will closely mirror those on your watch. So when you download a watch app on your phone, it will automatically download and install on your watch. Phone setting menus will now more closely reflect the ones on your watch too.
Another example given was the ability to mirror clock settings you’ve set on your phone on your smartwatch. If you block numbers on your phone, those blocked numbers will be synced with your smartwatch too.
Other than the news of One UI, Samsung didn’t divulge much else about what its next smartwatch will be packing, but we are starting to get a better idea of what Samsung is bringing to the table. We already knew that it was opening up its watch creator tools to new Wear developers and working on new fitness and health services.
It also unveiled more of the partner apps that will launch alongside its next watch, which we now know will include nutrition app LifeSum, which is already available on the current Wear OS platform and for the Apple Watch.
It also spoke a lot about bringing eSim support for more carriers, which should hopefully mean LTE functionality on its watches will be available on more than just a few networks, which has usually been the case for Samsung’s smartwatches.
It also reiterated that it will continue to support current Tizen-based Samsung Galaxy Watches and the Galaxy Store for up to 3 years.
What we don’t know is those juicy details about the actual hardware that will house Wear and One UI. Samsung said all will be revealed at its next Unpacked event, which seems likely to take place in either July or August.
