Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Series Update Brings Fall Detection, Gesture Control, New Watch Faces, More

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are getting a new software update that brings many new features to the smartwatches including a Fall Detection feature. The update brings with four new watch faces alongside support for GIFs on My Photo+ watch face. New animations are also added to expand Samsung’s watch face collection. The latest update also brings gesture controls that enable users to do more with the wearables using simple hand movements. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic were unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event in August this year, and both devices are now receiving their first major update.

Samsung announced the release of its first update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic smartwatches on Wednesday. The update will be available through the Galaxy Wearable app.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic update changelog

With the new update, Samsung has added an ‘Info Brick’ watch face that displays heart rate, stress, and daily activity status, along with a watch face that shows an in-depth weather forecast. Users can also choose from a basic dashboard or live wallpapers inspired by Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. All these come with an option for customisation.

Users can mix and match up to four complications like battery life, reminder, messages, and step count to display on the Animals watch face. The latest update also brings support for displaying moving GIFs on My Photo+ watch face. The changelog for Galaxy Watch 4 series features interesting animations on the Steps Challenge watch face. With this, an animated bear will follow the Galaxy Watch 4 user for every step of the competition.

Samsung has bundled the latest Galaxy Watch 4 update with a gesture control feature. With this, a ‘knock, knock’ motion with the wrist can let users to do a number of things, such as open a pre-selected app, open the list of workouts, create a reminder, or turn on the light. Additionally, calls can be received by just moving the forearm up and down twice.

Lastly, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic get a Fall Detection feature with the new update. The wearables can detect hard falls and activate an alert as well as send out an SOS notification to up to four pre-selected contacts. Galaxy Watch users who install the new update can also avail of a 60-day free Strava subscription with the Strava app.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic update has started rolling out from Wednesday, October 20. Samsung says the availability is likely to vary by market and operator. The update will come to Bluetooth versions of the Galaxy Watch 4 series first, with the LTE versions scheduled to get it soon after.

Is OnePlus 9R old wine in a new bottle — or something more? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Later (starting at 23:00), we talk about the new OnePlus Watch. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.