Samsung admits One UI 8 broke Galaxy Watch 4 sensors; patch in development

It has been a frustrating few weeks for owners of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic. After installing the latest One UI 8 Watch software update, many users found their trusty smartwatches suddenly losing their smarts, with core health features failing left and right.

The complaints have been popping up on Reddit and Samsung’s own community forums since the update went live. Users reported (1,2,3) that their watches were no longer tracking sleep, which is a major feature for any wearable.

Others (1,2,3,4) noticed a more annoying problem: the wrist detection feature was broken, causing the watch to constantly lock itself, even while being worn. This also meant that features like the Always On Display were acting up. Moreover, it’s even speculated that since wrist detection is broken, the watch likely isn’t able to detect that it’s on the wrist, which could explain the sleep tracking complaints too.

The heart rate monitor was not spared either, with many people seeing inconsistent or completely failed readings, essentially turning their health-focused device into a simple digital clock.

The folks over at SamMobile highlighted these reports back in December, particularly mentioning the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. But at the time, there was no official acknowledgment or statement from the company’s support team regarding the problems.

Now, the company has finally stepped in with an official acknowledgment, confirming what users had suspected: the software update is indeed the culprit.

A Samsung Customer Support representative responded to multiple complaints (1,2,3) on the Samsung Community forum, stating that the issue occurs because “the sensor-related internal values are not properly reflected in the latest software (One UI 8.0 Watch) for the Galaxy Watch4 series device”.

The good news is that Samsung is already working on a fix. The same representative confirmed that the company is “preparing a SW patch version for the Watch to address this issue.”

This lines up with previous reports that highlighted a South Korean user’s statement claiming they were told that a fix would be released on January 12. But clearly, that software update is still not out.

However, the rollout will be gradual, meaning the exact timing and version number will vary depending on your region and which carrier you use.

While the wait for the software patch continues, the word from Samsung should offer a huge sigh of relief for those who were worried their Galaxy Watch 4 was permanently damaged. It looks like the popular wearable will be back to tracking sleep, heart rate, and wrist movement correctly in the near future.

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