Owners of the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic got a few minor updates the past few months ever since it launched. The latest one though is slightly more significant than the others as it brings new watch faces, improved features including more accurate health tracking, and of course the all-important updated security patch. The update is rolling out already in the U.S., the Netherlands, and most likely will follow in other territories. The features were actually previously announced by Samsung but is only now making their way to the wearables.
Watch faces are always important if you want your smartwatch to look different every once in a while. The update brings 4 new types to choose from plus the following: the AR Emoji and Bitmoji Watch faces which usability has been improved; the My Photo Watch face which supports GIF files; and the “Animal, Cute Character” watch face whose customization feature is now supposedly better. The update also improves the backup feature as it now remembers settings on preloaded watch faces in case you update your watch or connect to a new device.
For the Samsung Health improvements, the heart rate measurement should have a more accurate algorithm although of course it’s still not as reliable as an actual HR device or machine. They’ve also added a sensitivity option in the Fall Detection feature so users will be able to adjust what level of falling or movement will actually trigger this feature. Fall Detection is a good feature to have on your wearable but if you’re pretty clumsy or do some actions that might be constituted as falling, it might have some false alarms.
There’s also a new gesture that will let users run apps or features immediately. There wasn’t much detail mentioned about that but we’re assuming that’s a good thing. There’s also a new mute status that lets you mute or unmute yourself while talking on the phone. There’s also the usual “improved system stability and reliability” that mere mortals don’t really understand but accept as always a good thing.
The update also comes with the always-needed security patch so best to update your Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or Galaxy Watch 4 Classic to the latest version. Expect more updates to the newest member of the Samsung smartwatch family, which will also hopefully include the older members.
