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A few days back, Samsung rolled out the December security patch to the Galaxy Watch 5 series. The same update is now available for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. The rollout began recently and may take a while to reach all eligible units worldwide.
The Galaxy Watch 4 gets Samsung’s December security update
The latest update for the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup comes with the firmware build numbers R870XXU1HWL1 and R880XXU1HWL1 for the Bluetooth-only vanilla and Classic models, respectively. The LTE versions of the watches may get the December patch with an identical or slightly different build number.
Irrespective of the build number, the update contains the same changelog. “The stability has been improved,” the only entry in Samsung’s official changelog states. This means the Galaxy Watch 4 is getting new vulnerability patches that improve the security and stability of the device.
The December 2023 SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for the Korean firm’s Android-powered Galaxy devices contains fixes for more than 60 vulnerabilities, including at least seven critical ones. However, most of those only apply to smartphones and tablets. Wear OS watches usually get fewer patches with new security updates.
Nonetheless, it is important to keep your watch updated so you don’t fall prey to security attacks. If you are using a Galaxy Watch 4 or Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, go to the Settings app and tap on Software update > Download and install to check for new updates. You can also check for updates from the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected smartphone.
Note that Samsung recently started pushing the December update to the Galaxy Watch 4 series. It isn’t yet available globally. We checked on our Galaxy Watch 4 units here at Android Headlines and the update hasn’t arrived yet. You can wait a few days and check again. You might also get a notification when the update reaches your unit.
Samsung’s 2021 watches will get more feature updates
The December update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic doesn’t bring anything more than the latest security fixes. That was expected because the watches picked up the Wear OS 4-based One UI 5 Watch a few months back. It was the second major One UI upgrade for the lineup—debuted with One UI 4 Watch 4 and received One UI Watch 4.5 last year.
Samsung plans to offer four major One UI upgrades to the devices. So they are eligible for two more big feature updates. The next major update may come after the Galaxy Watch 7 launch in the second half of 2024. The company may also push minor feature updates to the devices before that, We will keep you posted accordingly.