The biggest Samsung Gear S3 update is rolling out now
Earlier today we learned that AT&T would begin offering the Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch starting this Friday. There may be some of you that aren’t too keen on picking up a smartwatch that isn’t powered by Android Wear, but there’s an update rolling out to the smartwatch that may help change your mind.
The update brings many new features to the Gear S3 while fulfilling some promises that were made at launch in regards to partner applications. Before jumping too far ahead, the update comes with a build number of 2.3.2.3 for TizenOS on the Gear S3.
There are some minor bug fix updates included to improve stability, but users will now be able to do things such as add date and music complications to watch faces. This essentially means that you can add widgets to your watch face, making it easier to access your favorite apps and change the way you view the date from your wrist.
Without going into a description of each new feature all the way, here’s the list of new changes coming to your Gear S3 in the coming days:
- Watch Faces – You can now add new Date and Music complications to selected Watch faces.
- Alti-Barometer – An altitude auto refresh feature has been added.
- Samsung Health – Customizable pace-coaching feature and HR Zone information for Running have been added.
- S Voice – You can now set a date and time when creating a reminder.
- News Briefing – With the improved UI, you can read the news more conveniently via the widget.
- Settings – A TTS option has been to the Input menu. (Additional languages are available to download.)
- Find My Device – A new feature to display your contact information on your Gear if it gets lost has been added.
- Accessibility – New features have been added to Direct access menu including Screen Reader, Accessibility, Dark screen, Greyscale, and Negative colors.
- iOS Support – UX enhancements and bug fixes (S Voice recognition rate, Connection Stability, and Music Transfer from PC.)
- Samsung Gear – An Auto Switch feature has been added that supports Gear S3, S2, and Fit 2, which automatically connects the Gear device being worn to the paired smartphone.
- Stop Watch – Max time increased to 3 hours.
- Updated application: DIRECTV
- New Partner Apps available for download in the Galaxy Apps Store.
- Spotify – A global music streaming service
- BMW Connected – The BMW ConnectedDrive service for controlling a BMW vehicle
- Gear for Nest – The Nest Thermostat controller
- Facer – Over 15,000 premium watch faces available
- NYC Transit – Real-time New York City public transit information
I don’t know about you, but it seems that many of these features should have been included alongside the launch of the Gear S3. But as the old saying goes – “better late than never”. Regardless, this update may have finally convinced me to get the Gear S3 Frontier instead of the LG Watch Sport.
Let us know what you think about this update and if it has swayed you to go pick up a Gear S3 for yourself or for your loved ones.