Last week, Samsung announced that it would roll out an update to the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 4 that would allow the watches to remotely control the zoom on a paired smartphone’s camera. The software update has now started rolling out to the Galaxy Watch 5 in the US.
The latest update comes with firmware version R900XXU1AWA3. According to the changelog, it brings a new Camera Controller to the Galaxy Watch 5. Now, when you open the Camera Controller on your smartwatch, it will not only show you the camera preview from the phone and allow you to tap the shutter button, but it will also enable you to control the zoom level. You can do that by pinching in or out on the screen or rotating the (virtual) bezel.
According to Samsung, this feature will only work with Galaxy smartphones, which means that if you are using the Galaxy Watch 5 with a Pixel or OnePlus smartphone, you will not be able to access this feature. The update also adds a ‘Connected Device Diagnostics’ option to the Samsung Members app, which will allow you to check if the hardware of your Galaxy Watch 5 is working correctly. It will also show you information like the watch’s battery health.
While the latest update is currently rolling out only to the Galaxy Watch 5 in the US, it should become available for the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Galaxy Watch 4, and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic across the globe over the next few days. Samsung’s Wear OS smartwatches have also recently received phoneless Google Maps.
