Samsung rebrands Gear app as ‘Galaxy Wearables,’ supports Android 9.0 Pie

By Brenda Stolyar August 14, 2018

Samsung wearable — Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Samsung Gear owners were experiencing issues pairing their Gear S3 with their smartphone after downloading Android 9.o Pie in early August, Digital Trends previously reported. Since then, Samsung has responded with a solution. First spotted by Android Central, the company has officially rolled out an update for its Gear wearables.

Samsung was aware of the problem Gear S3 users were having — a spokesperson had even responded to related comments in Play Store reviews. The company made it clear that an update would be released for Android Pie as soon as possible.

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The fix is part of the v2.2.21.18080361 update, and can be downloaded via the Google Play Store. Users will notice that in addition to releasing an update, the company also rebranded its Samsung Gear app to Galaxy Wearable — which is more in line with Galaxy Watch branding. For those who already have the app, make sure you’ve updated it to the latest version.

According to a thread on Reddit, one user wasn’t running into any issues until they tried to pair and use their Samsung Gear S3 with a Pixel after upgrading to Android Pie. Apparently, the Samsung Gear app will not connect to the wearable once the phone is running the new OS.

While attention was drawn to the issue the same day as Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in Brooklyn, New York, one of our readers, known as “techiekeki,” pointed out the connectivity problems have existed for a while now. According to a thread on XDA-Developer’s forum, a user who goes by the name “skersh” reported the problem on July 7 after signing up for the Android P beta program.

A user on Reddit experienced the same issue — explaining that there weren’t any issues with the Gear S3 until after having upgraded to Android Pie. The Samsung Gear app wouldn’t connect to the wearable once the phone was running the new OS.

The app would open and begin to load, but would then crash a little while later. Even if your device was already connected prior to the update, Android P reportedly broke the connection.

Google launched Android 9.0 Pie on August 9. For now, the new operating system is only available on the Pixel, Pixel 2, and the Essential Phone, but will be released on additional devices in the near future. The OS comes with a slew of new features from improvements to Do Not Disturb to new gesture features, and more.

In addition to products like the Galaxy Note 9, Wireless Charger Duo, and more, Samsung also announced its Galaxy Watch at the event. The new smartwatch happens to be the successor to the Gear S3 and Gear Sport.

Updated August 14: Samsung rolls out a fix for its Gear wearables.

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