Samsung has said that previous Galaxy Watches will not be getting upgraded to the version of Wear OS that debuted on the Galaxy Watch 4.
If you’re the proud owner of a Galaxy Watch 3, or an even older version of a Galaxy Watch, you might be interested to learn that Samsung has no plans to update them from their Tizen operating system to the new Wear OS platform.
Wear OS is Google’s solution to its smartwatches operating system, and recently both Google and Samsung have teamed up to use Wear OS (also known as One UI) on the newest generation of Samsung Galaxy Watches.
This new-and-improved version of Wear OS is what Samsung is ditching Tizen for, and it’s hoped that including this revamped software will help improve battery life and revitalise how users interact with their wearables.
So, moving back to the older Galaxy Watch models, Samsung has said it will be populating the smartwatches with security updates only from now on, so if you were looking forward to testing out the new Wear OS then you’ll need to update your model. This is a hardly a surprise, but worth noting if you were planning on picking up an older Galaxy Watch.
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As reported in Slash Gear, older generation smartwatches will receive at least three years of software updates.
While this is likely meant to appease existing customers, it seems unlikely that Samsung will be putting any extra effort into improving the older watches, while the newer releases like the Galaxy Watch 4 will integrate more seamlessly with future iterations of Android.
The theory that Samsung is leaving existing customers in the dark also isn’t helped by news that Samsung is blocking attempts to put Wear OS on existing Wear OS smartwatches, as reported by SamMobile.
This means that all watches from the Galaxy Watch Active to the Galaxy Watch 3 (the latter only being released a year ago), will soon become outdated.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
