Galaxy Watch update for users with tattooed wrists coming this year

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 BioActive sensor has advanced to the point where it can accurately and reliably track health data and fitness activities across the board. But virtually all smartwatches, by Samsung or other brands, seemingly have difficulties reading health and fitness data from tattooed wrists.

The ink can prevent a Galaxy Watch from figuring out when someone's wearing it on their wrist. In such cases, features like wearing detection don't function properly. Tattoos can confuse the sensor into “thinking” the watch is not worn. This can lead to other issues, such as fitness and health sensors not turning on.

Apparently, this issue concerning sensor accuracy and tattoos exists for most, if not all smartwatches. Even Apple's. But the good news is that Samsung is working on a solution.

The Galaxy Watch will get an update in the second half of 2023

The Samsung Community moderator in charge of the Galaxy Wear app recently posted a user reply on the official forums, explaining that Samsung developers are working on adding a feature that should improve wearing detection for users with tattoos on their wrists.

The Samsung moderator says the update will be released in the second half of 2023. Judging by this vague timeframe, the feature could be a part of the upcoming One UI Watch 5 and Wear OS 4 updates. The latter is supposed to debut on the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 series and later be rolled out for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 lineups after the Unpacked event. The latter should be hosted in Korea on July 27.

Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

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First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

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