What you need to know
- Samsung's latest Galaxy Watch 4 Plugin update appears to have a serious bug.
- Galaxy Watch 4 users are no longer able to connect the smartwatch to non-Samsung phones.
- It is likely that the issue will be fixed with the next update.
Earlier this month, Samsung rolled out a new update to its Galaxy Watch 4 Plugin app, adding notice for "Holiday watchface" and fixing runtime exception. Unfortunately, however, it looks the update has made it impossible for Galaxy Watch 4 owners to connect the watch to non-Samsung phones. Android Central reached out to Samsung regarding the issue but did not receive a comment in time for publication.
Going by recent reviews on the Play Store, the app asks users to update to continue using it — even though a newer update isn't available yet. Disappointingly, there's no workaround either.
Even if you try uninstalling and reinstalling the app, it remains stuck on the same "update" screen. This also means that if you recently ordered a Galaxy Watch 4, you'll have to wait until Samsung rolls out a fix to be able to start using it with a non-Galaxy phone.
Needless to say, it is quite disappointing to see Samsung releasing an update that makes its best Android smartwatches unusable when paired with phones from other manufacturers. What is also disappointing is that the company is yet to acknowledge the issue.
Seeing how there are several one-star reviews complaining about the latest update on the Google Play Store, there's a good chance that Samsung is aware of the issue and is working on a fix. The next update for the Galaxy Watch 4 Plugin, which will likely arrive within the next few weeks, should bring a fix for the issue.
