Skip to main content

15 handy Gear S3 tips and tricks you’ll want to know about

Samung
With a stylish look, that clever rotating bezel, decent battery life, and Samsung Pay support, the Gear S3 smartwatch is one of the best options for Android phone owners right now. Because it runs Samsung’s Tizen OS, there’s a bit of a learning curve, so we have a fresh batch of Gear S3 tips and tricks to help ease you in. The Classic and the Frontier sport slightly different designs, but underneath, they’re exactly the same, so these tips will work regardless of the model you have.

How to change watch faces

All you need to do to browse your watch face options is long press on your current watch face and swipe left or right. Some of the watch faces have a Stylize option that you can tap for color variations and other customizations. You can also browse your watch face options and make selections in the app on your Android phone.

How to access quick settings

If you swipe down from the top on your watch face, then you’ll find the quick settings menu where you can quickly access the music app, airplane mode, do not disturb, volume, and brightness.

How to reboot

You may find that your Gear S3 locks up from time to time and the screen just freezes on you. Don’t panic! All you need to do is hold down the Home button for a few seconds, and you’ll see the watch reboot, after which it should be back to normal.

How to uninstall and organize apps

You can open your Apps by pressing the Home button when you’re on your watch face. Press and hold on the center to open Edit mode. You can rotate the bezel to select a page. Rearranging is easy, simply tap and hold on an app and drag it where you want it. If you want to change pages, drag it onto the multicolored next page icon at the top left. If you’re able to uninstall an app, then you’ll see a red minus symbol on it and you can tap that and confirm the uninstall. When you’re done in Edit mode, press the Back button to get out of it.

How to change and organize widgets

Simply rotate the bezel clockwise to check out your widgets. Press and hold on the screen if you want to edit one of them. You can tap the minus sign to remove one, or tap and hold on it to move it to a new position in the list. Rotate all the way to the end to find the Add widget option.

How to set Home key shortcut

By default, a double press of the Home key is going to launch S Voice on your Gear S3, but not everyone likes Samsung’s voice assistant. Thankfully, you can change what that double tap does. Go to Settings > Device on your Gear S3 and tap where it says Double press Home key to get a list of alternative shortcut options including Music player, Contacts, and Recent apps.

How to quickly load apps

Normally when you go into Apps on your Gear S3, you highlight apps by spinning the bezel and then load an app by tapping on the screen, but there’s a faster way. Go into Settings > Device, scroll down and tap on Auto open apps to turn it on. Now, when you highlight an app and pause for a second, it will automatically load up.

How to schedule Do not disturb

You can toggle Do not disturb on and off easily, but did you know that you can set up a schedule? This way your Gear S3 will automatically refrain from disturbing you during the hours you specify, which is especially useful for getting a good night’s sleep. To set your schedule go to Settings > Device > Do not disturb and scroll down to Turn on as scheduled and pick the days and times you don’t want to be disturbed.

How to use your Gear S3 with gloves

If it gets cold where you live, then you might be interested to know that you can use your Gear S3 with gloves on. Go to Settings > Device > Touch sensitivity and turn it on to increase the sensitivity so you can swipe and tap with gloves on. You can also toggle it on and off by holding down the Home button and scrolling down once to Touch sensitivity.

How to stop S Health bugging you

It’s designed to help you get healthy, but if you find that your Gear S3 is bugging you because it’s nudging you for being inactive, or notifying you about Steps or Sleep, you can turn that off. Go to S Health and swipe or rotate your way to Settings > Health nudges and you can turn off anything you don’t want to be bothered about.

How to pair Bluetooth headphones

If you want to stream some music from your Gear S3, then you’ll need to pair some headphones. Go to Settings > Connections > Bluetooth > BT headset and it will scan for nearby options.

How to send an S.O.S.

Your Gear S3 could be a lifeline in an emergency. Tap the Home key three times and you can trigger an SOS message that will share your position. To set it up, open the Gear app on your phone and go to Settings > Send SOS requests and you can specify what it does. We recommend adding a countdown so you can prevent accidental emergency messages being sent.

How to turn on power saving mode

If you want to make sure your Gear S3 doesn’t run out of juice before you can get to an outlet, then consider using power saving mode. Press and hold the Home button, then rotate or swipe down from Power off to find Power saving mode. It will turn off a bunch of features and connectivity, but you’ll still get calls, messages, and notifications.

How to keep your watch face on

By default, your Gear S3 will turn off the watch face after a few seconds, but you can set it to stay on all the time. Go to Settings > Style and scroll down to Watch always on and tap to toggle it on, but be warned it will drain your battery much faster.

How to take a screenshot

If you want to capture your Gear S3 screen, then you can take a screenshot by holding down the Home button and simultaneously swiping left to right. You’ll see a wee animation if it worked properly and you’ll find the screenshots in Apps > Gallery.

Editors' Recommendations

Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…
I compared Google and Samsung’s AI photo-editing tools. It’s not even close
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Google Pixel 8 Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra (left) and Google Pixel 8 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Most phones nowadays are equipped with dual lens or triple lens camera systems and have powerful photo-editing tools baked natively into the software. This means most people have a compact photo-editing suite in their pocket every day.

Read more
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 release date just leaked
Two Galaxy Z Fold 5 phones next to each other -- one is open and one is closed.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (left) and Galaxy Z Flip 5 Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

Samsung is just months away from its next Unpacked event, where it will announce the previously teased Galaxy Ring alongside the next Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip phones. The event, which could have the most number of devices launching at one Samsung event, is set a couple weeks ahead of last year's event.

Read more
Forget about the TikTok ban; now the U.S. might ban DJI
The DJI Mavic 3 Classic top view in flight

The specter of a U.S. market ban is once again looming over DJI, the biggest drone camera maker in the world. “DJI is on a Defense Department list of Chinese military companies whose products the U.S. armed forces will be prohibited from purchasing in the future,” reports The New York Times.

The defense budget for 2024 mentions a possible ban on importing DJI camera gear for federal agencies and government-funded programs. In 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department put DJI on a list of companies suspected of having ties to the Chinese military and alleged complicity in the surveillance of a minority group, culminating in investment and export restrictions.

Read more