Galaxy Watch 4 Getting a Big Update, But Google Assistant is “Months” Away

As a warm-up act to Wednesday’s Unpacked event, where Samsung will show off the Galaxy S22 line, we got big Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic news to share. Both of Samsung’s new Wear OS watches are getting new features in a new software update, plus we got an update on where Google Assistant is and some other Google Play-related stuff.

Starting February 9, owners of either Galaxy Watch 4 will be able to grab this new software and experience the following new features:

• New body composition: Samsung Health will provide body composition insights from Centr, a digital fitness program from Chris Hemsworth. A free 30-day trial should be included.
• New interval targets: For runners and cyclists, there will be pre-sets for duration, distance, and number of sets for workouts.
• Sleep animals and coach: For sleep tracking, Samsung is going to start asking you to complete sleep surveys to then assign some sort of sleep animal to represent your type of sleep. It will then coach you through a 4-5 week program to help you improve your sleep.
• Sleep automations: If you own a Watch 4 and have SmartThings powered lights, your watch will recognize when you fall asleep and try to turn all of your lights off automatically.
• New watch face colors: To help you customize your watch, new colors and fonts can be found when changing up your watch face. As an added bonus, Samsung is going to start selling new watch bands to match-up to those new colors.

Alright, that out of the way, let’s talk about Google Assistant and Google Play, since these are Wear OS watches.

• YouTube Music streaming: In a “coming soon” update, YouTube Music on the Galaxy Watch 4 will soon be able to stream music over WiFi or LTE on its own without needing to be connected to a phone.
• Google Assistant is “months” away: Remember how Google Assistant was supposed to be a part of the Galaxy Watch 4 series? It’s still not and apparently won’t be for “months,” they announced today. Once they do, you’ll have access to both Bixby or Assistant, which is fun. Months, though?
• Install apps with one tap: Finally, during initial setup, Samsung and Google are making it easier to “one tap” and install favorite smartphone apps.

Again, this new update will be available on your Galaxy Watch 4 or Galaxy Watch 4 Classic as earlier as February 9, right around the time that Samsung announces the Galaxy S22.

// Samsung