Samsung today revealed the first details of its next major software update for its Galaxy Watch smartwatches.
In the third quarter of this year, Galaxy Watch4, Galaxy Watch4 Classic, and upcoming Galaxy Watch Series devices will receive the One UI Watch 4.5 update. Samsung says it offers "a more complete watch experience" built on top of Wear OS 3.5.
There's four key feature updates Galaxy Watch owners can look forward to. The first is a full typing experience on the screen. Samsung squeezed a new QWERTY keyboard with Swype on to the tiny touch screen and combined it with dictating and handwriting options. It's possible to quickly switch between the three methods of input as you're writing a message.
If your Watch is paired with a Galaxy smartphone, it will be possible to set a preferred SIM card on your phone and have your Watch automatically use it once this update is installed. The interface makes it clear which SIM is being used when initiating a call, but also makes it easy to switch SIMs from the Watch.
The available accessibility features are being improved. For users who find it difficult to distinguish between colors, it will be possible to adjust the display hue and increase contrast to make reading fonts easier. Transparency and blur effects can be reduced, animations removed, and auditory assistance allows the sound balance to be adjusted from the left and right audio for connected Bluetooth headsets.
Samsung is also making it possible to extend the touch input duration for screen taps and disable repeated touch inputs for easier control. Add to that the ability to adjust how long temporary functions (volume, notifications, etc.) remain visible.
Finally, Galaxy Watch owners will have access to more watch face customizations so your smartwatch "better compliments whatever you’re wearing." Each watch face can be added to your favorite list multiple times with different colors and complications. Selected watch faces are saved for quick access meaning you don't need to cycle through the entire collection to find them again.
Samsung is promising to reveal more new features as we draw closer to the One UI Watch 4.5 update being released in Q3.