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Hand Wash app for Samsung Galaxy smartwatches provides reminders, timer

Aaron Mamiit
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Samsung Galaxy Watch owners should take time to download the Hand Wash app, which provides reminders and a timer to make sure that smartwatch wearers are able to keep their hands clean.

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Frequent hand washing for at least 20 seconds is one of the most recommended measures by the World Health Organization (WHO) in helping prevent the spread of the disease caused by the new coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19.

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The Hand Wash app, which was created by a small group of designers and developers from Samsung Research Institute-Bangalore, aims to help keep Galaxy Watch owners safe by following the WHO’s directive. The app periodically issues reminders for wearers to wash their hands, with preset notifications that may be customized depending on a person’s needs and schedule. It also shows how much time has elapsed since the last hand wash, and how many times the wearer has used the timer throughout the week.

Each time Galaxy Watch owners start washing their hands, the app tracks the time and will provide haptic feedback after 25 seconds. The extra 5 seconds on top of the WHO’s recommended 20 seconds are for turning on the water and applying soap to the hands.

Samsung’s Hand Wash app follows Google’s v5.4.0 update for the Clock app of Wear OS, which added periodic alerts for washing hands and a longer timer of 40 seconds. Unlike Google’s version, Samsung’s app needs to be manually installed from the Galaxy Store, but because it is a stand-alone app, it was able to include more features.

The Hand Wash app was officially announced by Samsung in India, but it is now available for all Samsung smartwatches on the Galaxy Store.

Wash your hands

The importance of washing hands to stay safe amid the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in various projects to support the activity, including a Wash Your Lyrics tool that creates an infographic that replaces the Happy Birthday song with a person’s personal choice of music. Also coming to light is the PathSpot hand scanner, which was invented in 2017 to detect the amount of contaminants on a person’s hands.

In addition to washing hands, the WHO recommended the general public to wear homemade face masks, which should also be cleaned and sterilized.

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Aaron Mamiit
Aaron Mamiit
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