Samsung has an impressive line of Galaxy Watches based on Google’s WearOS operating system, which began with the Galaxy Watch 4 in 2021.
It is to be noted that the company’s smartwatches do not run the stock version of the WearOS platform; instead, they run a software skin called One UI Watch on top of the base software. This gives Galaxy Watch 6 a unique set of features and enables it to connect seamlessly with Samsung’s ecosystem.
Now, the company has announced that it will soon release the next iteration of this platform, One UI 6 Watch, for all eligible Galaxy smartwatches.
This One UI 6 Watch beta update will be based on top of the new Wear OS 5 platform, which was announced at Google I/O recently, and will be available for the following models:
- Galaxy Watch 4
- Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
- Galaxy Watch 5
- Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
- Galaxy Watch 6
- Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
The update is initially meant to be rolled out to only a limited number of United States and South Korean users, who are expected to report bugs and give feedback to improve the software in time for the stable rollout.
Interested users in the US and Korea can apply for the beta update via the Samsung Members app once applications begin sometime next month (June 2024).
It is to be noted that this is only the first beta build of One UI 6 Watch. It is expected to go into stable rollout later in the year, presumably after the software ships on the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 series. Hence, users who are waiting for the official update still have to wait for a while.
In related news, Samsung has also announced that a few AI features will debut on One UI 6 Watch in the initial beta phase next month. These include the following new features:
- Energy Score: Analyses the overall health metrics (sleep, heart rate) to summarize the user’s current condition.
- Wellness Tips: Gives insights and motivational tips based on health data to help achieve goals.
- Sleep Indicators: A new addition to Sleep Score to give precise analysis of sleep (including sleep movement, heart rate, respiratory rate, and sleep latency)
- Workout Routine:Â Use health data to combine exercises to cater to a specific user’s health needs and goals.
- Race:Â Offers motivation when comparing outdoor runs or bike rides on the same paths.
- Aerobic/Anaerobic Threshold Zone Rate Metrics and Functional Power Threshold to analyze the user’s performance quickly.
These new features will enter into beta testing when One UI 6 Watch rolls out to the limited beta users and will arrive for all the users with the inevitable stable rollout of the software later in the year.
