During the Galaxy Unpacked event early last month, Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Watch 3. The latest wearable from the company packed in a host of new hardware and software features for fitness enthusiasts, including ECG and blood pressure monitoring, post-run coaching and analysis, automatic fall detection, etc. Now, Samsung has announced a software update for the older Galaxy Watch Active 2, which brings some of these new software features to the smartwatch and much more.

The latest software update for the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 has already started rolling out to users, and it brings new health, communication, and connectivity features. Here's everything new in the latest Galaxy Watch Active 2 update:

Running Analysis

The update brings a standalone Running Analysis feature to help users improve their running performance, improve their form, and prevent injuries. The feature also provides a variety of detailed metrics like asymmetry, regularity, stiffness, vertical oscillation, and ground contact time.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Following the update, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 will also be able to provide VO2 max readings. For the unaware, VO2 max is a common measurement used to determine an athlete's fitness and performance capacity. Using this metric, users will be able to track the progress of their training routines and improve their endurance.

Fall Detection

The update also brings the new Fall Detection feature from the Galaxy Watch 3 to the older smartwatch. The feature will allow the smartwatch to detect when the wearer is about to fall and it will automatically present an option to send an SOS notification to up to four pre-designated contacts.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

To enable fall detection on the Galaxy Watch Active 2, users will have to navigate to the SOS section on the Galaxy Wearable app and turn on 'Detect falls'. In the following step, users will have to add the contact details for the SOS notification.

Communication improvements

The update also brings emoji and image support to the Galaxy Watch Active 2, which will allow users to view emoticons and photos right on their wrist. On top of that, the watch is getting a Smart Reply feature, which will provide suggested responses for incoming messages and images. At launch, the Smart Reply feature will be available for 9 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Ukrainian.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Additionally, incoming messages will now automatically bring up the respective chat history instead of just showing a single message. This will let users easily pick up their conversation wherever they left off. Users will now also be able to send AR Emoji stickers and Bitmoji stickers from the smartwatch.

However, in order to share AR Emoji stickers, users will have to update their devices to One UI 2.5, and their devices should support the AR Emoji camera. The feature will support a maximum of 45 stickers — three AR Emoji avatars, with a maximum of 15 stickers each. To share Bitmoji stickers, users will need a Galaxy device with the Bitmoji app and it will support a maximum of 30 stickers.

Seamless mobile experience

Lastly, the update includes a few changes that are designed to improve the mobile experience. These include instant access to music playlists saved on your phone and support for a new scroll capture feature.

The scroll capture feature will help users capture scrolling screenshots on their smartwatch and it will automatically send it to the connected device for easier access. Using the feature, users will be able to capture message threads and workout information on the smartwatch and save them on their device for future reference.

The latest Galaxy Watch Active 2 update will initially be available on Bluetooth versions of the smartwatch and it will roll out to the LTE versions shortly thereafter. To utilize the new features introduced in the update, users will have to update to the latest version of the Galaxy Wearable app and install the latest Galaxy Watch Active 2 plugin.


Source: Samsung Mobile Press