A week of leaks and APK teardowns has potentially spoiled Samsung's would-be surprises for the Galaxy Watch 8. Where One UI 6 Watch felt relatively minor, One UI 8 Watch already feels like it's packing two years' worth of changes into one, and it has me really excited about what's to come for Samsung's Galaxy smartwatches.
While we can probably look forward to some alleged design changes for the Galaxy Watch 8 series, Samsung may be focusing as much effort on software to help give its watches an edge this year. And after a relatively safe One UI 6 Watch update, this feels like the push it needs to shake things up..
Here's a relatively brief rundown of everything that has been rumored or leaked thus far regarding One UI 8 Watch:
What we know so far about One UI 8 Watch
My weekly column focuses on the state of Wear OS, from new developments and updates to the latest apps and features we want to highlight.
First, SamMobile reported that we'd skip from One UI 6 Watch, which focused on AI and health tools but made very few system-level changes, to One UI 8 Watch to align it with Galaxy phones' One UI 8.
Then we started seeing the real meat of the update. We knew Gemini was coming to Wear OS, but a leaked One UI 8 Watch build showed the option to add Gemini actions linked to other apps like Gmail, Calendar, and Weather — beyond Assistant's current capabilities.
After that, Android Authority dove into this build's AFK and found evidence of the Now Bar and Now Brief coming to Wear OS. It would default as a blank placeholder icon on your watch face until you use a "double-pinch" gesture to expand it.
According to the code, the Now Bar on Wear OS can specifically show contextual suggestions, directions, media controls, the Now Brief, sports scores, and health updates. Just like the Now Bar on Galaxy phones, you'll be able to personalize it.
The Now Brief mention makes me wonder if we'll get a Wear OS-specific version of the current daily report on Galaxy phones when we wake up, similar to the Morning Report on Garmin watches or Morning Brief on Pixel smartwatches.
Beyond that, the APK teardown showed a new Shortcuts function that lets you see two or four app icons directly on the One UI 8 Watch home screen. This seems a bit clunky compared to just swiping down for the app drawer, but some people will appreciate the immediate access.
On a more fun note, the Shuffle Watch Face tool will swap between your saved favorites, while the "Recommend watch face" option finds one with a "similar style to the watch face you're using" to try out. Samsung's watch faces beat the other Wear OS brands for quality and quantity, so any excuse to try out more faces is a good one.
There's probably even more data hidden in the code to uncover. The APK teardown even showed an adaptive charging tool that freezes your Galaxy Watch battery at a custom percentage (like 95%) and then waits to restart charging until another custom value (like 50%).
Pixel Watches are also supposed to get adaptive charging soon, so both brands' batteries will last longer without overcharging.
Stirring software for a safe release year
Even if we assume the dataminers have found everything hidden, there's still the official Samsung Health AI tools coming to Galaxy Watches this year, from Vascular Load and an AI Health Coach to the new antioxidant index and mood check-ins.
It's a relief to see Samsung going all-out on software because, so far, the Galaxy Watch 8 may not change much internally when compared to the Watch 7.
We don't have fully leaked renders yet, but the Galaxy Watch 8 has already passed through the FCC and Korean battery certification. All the publicly available data shows that the charging speed and Wi-Fi connectivity are unchanged, while the battery capacity has barely increased.
Samsung promised that its next Galaxy Watch will have an "innovative design" during its latest earnings call, so it's possible the Watch 8 will have a brand new look to go with the new software. Leaks are pointing to a squircle design on both the standard and Classic models to match the Galaxy Watch Ultra, which is nice to see after getting the same Galaxy Watch design over the last four generations.
Fortunately, if you're really excited about a Galaxy Watch 8 Classic bringing back the rotating bezel and retro Samsung style, the leaks suggest this is something we can probably look forward to! However, aside from the facelift, Classic watches typically have the same hardware as the base model.
Generally speaking, Samsung's One UI Watch is designed to mirror the phone software in looks and actions, like swiping to access the app drawer and quick settings. Where stock Wear OS is intentionally clean and simplified, Samsung's version sticks to what Android fans know.
I'm not sure how much of One UI 7's personality made its way into last year's Wear OS update. Stylistically, it didn't seem that different. And of course, nothing is official yet, and we'll have to wait and see what we get when Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 are officially announced. Still, it's a relief to see Samsung cramming so many familiar phone tools into its watch to bring them into closer sync.
For more news and information on Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch, check out our Ultimate Guide.
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