Although slightly delayed, the One UI Watch 5 beta update based on Wear OS 4 is now out, and it's already changing how users interact with their Galaxy smartwatches. New fitness tracking and sleep features are getting tested, and so is one of the biggest under-the-hood changes in Wear OS 4.
Specifically, Wear OS 4 and One UI Watch 5 allow Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series users to connect their wearables to a new phone without resetting them.
This has been an issue since before Samsung switched from Tizen OS to Wear OS. It seemed to be a shortcoming concerning smartwatches, in general, regardless of brand and OS. However, Wear OS 4 and One UI Watch 5 are finally making this highly anticipated change wherein users no longer have to reset their smartwatches when transferring to a new phone.
Resetting your Galaxy Watch when switching phones is no longer required
This change has been a long time coming. Back in 2020, we were hoping that Samsung would eventually make pairing smartwatches to new phones easier by ditching this unusual factory reset requirement. A few years later, Samsung, with the release of One UI Watch 5 beta, or rather Google, with the release of Wear OS 4, did just that.
We confirmed this change in early May. Now, it's been spotted on the beta firmware by 9to5Google, and as per Samsung's One UI Watch 5 changelog: if you are a Galaxy Watch 4 or Watch 5 user participating in the beta program, you can now “switch your watch to a new phone, but keep your apps, watch faces, and more. You can get started in the general settings for your watch in the Galaxy Wearable app.”
Samsung has made the One UI Watch 5 beta update available for Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 users in the USA and South Korea. The first public release could happen in many more markets next month at Unpacked. The upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 series might debut with this new OS version, and older Wear OS Galaxy smartwatches should get the live update after that.
