Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch update rolls out to the Galaxy Watch 4 series

What you need to know

• The One UI 5 Watch update for the Galaxy Watch 4 series includes the July 2023 security patch.
• Samsung’s Wear OS 4-based skin updates the two-year-old smartwatches with new watch faces and tiles, as well as new health tracking features like the personalized heart rate zone.
• The build numbers for the One UI 5 Watch updates end in HWH3.

Samsung is bringing One UI 5 Watch, its newest smartwatch OS skin based on Wear OS 4, to the Galaxy Watch 4 and 4 Classic in the United States.

A few users took to Reddit to share the update, which arrives a few days after One UI 5 Watch was released for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series (via Android Authority). It brings with it the July 2023 security update along with a host of new features and tweaks meant to improve user experience.

According to 9to5Google, the updates have build numbers that end in HWH3, and they are only available for the watch’s US models at the moment. That said, it should not take long before the update lands in other territories.

Among the major upgrades with One UI 5 Watch is the ability to pair your Galaxy Watch with a new phone without having to do a full factory reset. You’ll also be able to control the volume of incoming calls or mute them, and turn on (or turn off) 360 audio on your Galaxy Buds with a new Buds controller tile.

Speaking of tiles, the latest Android smartwatch OS update includes a slew of new watch faces and tiles, including the new Battery tile, which allows you to quickly check the battery level of your watch, phone, and Galaxy Buds. Meanwhile, the new Timer tile gives you quick access to timers without needing to open the dedicated Timer app.

The update also gives you even more ways to track your health and fitness, like personalized heart rate zones, a sleep coach that can tell you how well you slept each night, and the ability to automatically record your cycle workouts, among others.

You can view the full changelog by downloading the One UI 5 Watch update on your Galaxy Watch 4, assuming it’s available for you. Simply navigate to Watch Settings and then tap Watch Software Update.

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Jay Bonggolto always keeps a nose for news. He has been writing about consumer tech and apps for as long as he can remember, and he has used a variety of Android phones since falling in love with Jelly Bean. Send him a direct message via Twitter or LinkedIn.