Samsung Galaxy Watch (Gear S)

I received my Gear S3 Frontier the Christmas holiday of 2018. I’ve loved and enjoyed it first moment I received it. Personally I would’ve gone with what was most popular at that time if I’d purchased myself (fitbit/Apple Watch etc). But it was a gift from my spouse who is one who searches and reads reviews and ratings before making a section on any purchase. About 3 weeks ago I began trying to complete the newest update. After so many unsuccessful attempts of updating I gave up and finally a couple days ago was able to complete the update successfully. I can see the difference in the look of the icons and colors on the screen. I’m not tech savvy therefore I don’t know what this new update, now with Bixby, means. Sounds like something I could really care less about. I pretty much only use it for its step count & health app and making calls here and there. Seeing as though I have an iPhone I can’t respond to messages but I can receive my texts and iMessages on my watch. I have noticed my battery life doesn’t last nearly as long. Even on the off days of working out, my battery life is at about 50% around noon and I still have a full day ahead almost. Seeing as though I charge it until it’s completely charged and only use my watch the most when I’m active my battery life should last longer it seems. Please help me figure out why my battery life is so much less since I’ve updated. Thank you!

I received a response from my earlier reviews a few days after I left the review. I had already fixed by deleting the app from my iPhone and doing a factory reset. This fresh install made everything start working again however I did lose all my watch faces that are not showing available any longer. I give a 5 star now because I love the fact that they responded and it works. Earlier review: I have had the watch for about 6 months and about a month in the raise hand gesture to wake quit working. I have it turned on in settings. I just did update where one of the changes is touch screen to wake and that doesn’t work either. Also about a month in the notifications of incoming calls and messages quit working. I get no sound or vibrations. I made sure theatre mode, do not disturb are not on. I have notifications turned on for the galaxy watch and messages. I have an iPhone 8 Plus and all software is up to date on both. I love the styling of the galaxy watch plus the personalization available over the Apple Watch but not happy with the issues I’m having. I can take a call and read messages when I see it is coming in on my phone. I used the Galaxy iOS app to ask for help several months ago but never got a response. I can’t find a number to call for text support.

Update to developer response: I was finally able to sign into the Gear app by doing it independently, without being prompted to do so from the watch and was then able to download other apps. Odd, but that worked. All is fine and have upgraded from 3 to 5 star rating. Original comments: I love this watch. It works beautifully with my iPhone 6. Fortunately, it comes with several apps and watch faces pre-loaded. My problem came when I tried to download a different watch face from the Gear S app, which requires signing in to my Samsung account. Every attempt to sign in has failed since a got the watch two weeks ago. I receive an error notice and am asked to sign in again later. The real frustration came from asking for help from the “Support Team”. On the first attempt they incorrectly assumed that I was unable to pair the watch to my phone and blew some drivel at me that was irrelevant. On my second try, more drivel - “check our website to see that the iPhone 6 I told them I was using was a compatible device” - then “check the website for other issues with my Sony” - stuff like that. They did suggest I clear and reboot both devices by following a pathway to reset the watch, a pathway that doesn’t exist. But I did reset it by finding the correct pathway on my own. Upon re-pairing, the app again asked me to sign into my account. It advised me of an error and to try again later, so I was back to where I started. I confirmed my user ID and password were correct by signing in on my PC. After wasting over two hours I have given up the idea of downloading any new apps or watch faces. I still love the watch as it is, but hope Samsung can work to improve their “support team”. Took two stars off for the frustration and the inability to download anything new.