Wear OS 4 beta lets users switch phones without resetting watch

Wear OS 4 may get the option to pair the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 with a new phone, without having to reset the watch to factory settings. This is evident from the One UI Watch 5 beta, which is based on Wear OS 4.

9to5Google discovered the new beta feature and shared photos of how it works. This shows that it is possible to connect the smartwatch to a new phone, without having to reset the watch to factory settings, as was previously the case. Users of Samsung watches were still able to save their data in the cloud and retrieve it that way after the reset, but now this should be easier and faster.

The transfer procedure must be initiated via the watch. This requires the Google account to be the same on both phones. Users will then receive a pop-up on their new phone that will allow them to start the process. This preserves, among other things, the apps and digital watch faces.

It is unclear whether this feature will be added to all watches with Wear OS 4, as One UI Watch 5 is only available for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and 5. The Wear OS 4 operating system should be available to all users later this year.