Gear S3 update adds ability to answer calls by rotating the bezel

Original story follows

Samsung is rolling out a minor update to the Gear S3 today, adding a nice little use case for the rotating bezel on the watch. The update adds a new accessibility feature that will allow Gear S3 users to accept incoming calls by rotating the bezel. It's surprising the company never thought of this option before, but it has now, and we are sure Gear S3 owners will welcome the latest update with open arms.

The bezel is even more useful with the update

We haven't received the update on any of our watches yet, so we're not exactly sure where the option to answer calls using the bezel would be found. Probably in the Accessibility menu of the watch's Settings app, under the Vision submenu, since Samsung is calling it a “visual accessibility” feature. It does make sense that the option would have to be manually enabled, as otherwise you might end up accepting a call you don't want to answer if you manage to move the bezel by mistake (which would be fairly easy if your watch's bezel ring has lost some of its friction, something that can happen after a few months of regular use).

The update is going out to both the frontier and classic versions of the Gear S3, with firmware versions R770XXU2CRE3 and R760XXU2CRE3 respectively. It's a 13.65 MB update, and you should be able to download it from the Samsung Gear app on your connected phone or tablet, via the About Gear » Update Gear software menu under the app's Settings tab. If the app says you're on the latest version, try again after a little while as the update may take a while to reach all regions.