Issues
[Updated] Latest Wear OS update damaged ‘raise to wake’ feature for Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, Watch 4
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 have recently got the feature-packed January 2023 update that made the wearables more useful. But for some users, the update has damaged the performance of the wearables. Various users of Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4 are reporting about the faulty “raise to wake” feature.
The raise to wake gesture of wearables is a fairly valuable feature for customers. It is smart enough to know when to turn the watch on and off. It allows users to view time, date, or notifications just by simply raising their wrist, making it handly while driving, etc.
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But multiple users of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5 are complaining about the erratic behavior of the raise to wake gesture (via PiunikaWeb). Many users have mentioned that the issue is occurring only after the latest software update, before that it was working fine.
According to users’ reports, every time they lift their wrist to wake up the watch, the screen turns off almost immediately. It only stays on for a couple of seconds, leaving users unable to see the time properly. Some customers even tried full diagnostics on the watch but everything appeared fine there.
I believe that a smartwatch should go to sleep shortly after a wake-up gesture unless further tasks are performed on it so that it can save the battery of the watch. But the watchful time these Galaxy watches are giving after raise to wake is performed is too less, and it should be resolved soon.
There are various reports on the Samsung members community and Reddit platforms that talks about the mentioned problem. However, Samsung is silent, maybe it is addressing the issue before saying anything to the users.
Updated on February 8:
The Galaxy Watch users are still encountering problems with the raise to wake gestures on their wearables. A user living in India said he recently got an update on his Watch 4 LTE that adds a Bluetooth toggle to the Quick panel. At the same time, he expressed that this update has still not fixed the broken raise-to-wake gesture.
There’s a weird bug in One UI 7 Beta’s lock screen blur engine. Samsung has recently started the Public Beta Program and released the first Beta. While performance is decent, the lock screen issue needs to be fixed in the next Beta build.
IceUniverse is on a mission to help Samsung evolve the latest iteration of One UI. Recently, the tipster posted a screenshot, showcasing the bug in the blur engine of the lock screen in Samsung’s One UI 7 Beta software.
The lock screen brings a cool Now Bar feature and stunning widgets. The blur control is comparable to Apple’s iOS 18 operating system. Meanwhile, Samsung seemingly overlooked optimizing the blur system for the lock screen notification aspect.
As you can see in the screenshot below, the notification that appears on the lock screen has a nearly transparent overlay. It’s a whitish card that has the same shape as the primary notifications window but lacks proper blur application.
The card seems to have entirely skipped the blur application and the transparent white overlay differentiating the notifications from the lock screen wallpaper. It looks quite weird but it will be addressed in the second Beta firmware.
One UI 7 Lock Screen Notification Blur | Image: IceUniverse
One UI 7 Beta Now Bar
Samsung’s Android 15 software is loaded with cool new features and UI tweaks. The Now Bar is a unique addition that makes it easier to operate running apps and services right from the lock screen on your Galaxy.
It’s not a static function but it packs dynamic optimization capabilities. It expands to a large card on the lock screen and when impended, it takes little space between the two lock screen shortcuts at the bottom of the screen.
Here’s a detailed post on the Now Bar, which you can access here.
Android Auto app lets users use apps and read messages while keeping their hands on the wheel. It offers a useful feature of having incoming messages read out loud. However, some users have recently noticed an issue where WhatsApp messages are being read with an unexpected “oh” added to the end.
Several Android Auto users have reported that when WhatsApp messages are read aloud, an extra “oh” is added at the end. This “oh” doesn’t appear in the original message at all, which makes it seem like a random glitch. Many people have shared their experiences on Reddit, describing the same issue.
While the exact cause of this bug is still unclear, it seems to be connected to Google Assistant, which reads the messages aloud in Android Auto. The strange part is that this issue only happens with WhatsApp only, other messaging apps don’t seem to be affected.
This weird bug doesn’t have any functional impact on Android Auto or WhatsApp, it’s just a bit confusing and funny too. At the moment, there’s no word on when a fix will be available, but it’s something many users hope will be addressed in a future update.
If you’re using Android Auto, have you encountered this strange bug, or are you one of the lucky ones who hasn’t been affected? Stay tuned with us for more updates.
WhatsApp now allows you to add custom message to forwarded content
Some Samsung users have reported an issue where text in photos appears with a shadow when viewed in the Gallery app. This issue makes it harder to read or view certain images clearly. It is mainly affecting Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition users.
Notably, this text shadow issue occurs on Samsung devices when the Super HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature is enabled, particularly with high-resolution images (50MP/200MP) containing text on bright backgrounds.
Samsung has acknowledged the issue and identified the cause of it, which is related to the Super HDR setting. Fortunately, there is an easy way to temporarily fix the issue while waiting for a permanent fix.
For that, you just need to disable Super HDR mode. Just open the Gallery app >> tap on the More icon at the bottom right >> go to Settings >> turn off the Super HDR option.
Moreover, Samsung is also working on a software update to fix this issue permanently. Once the update is available, the issue should be resolved, and you will be able to re-enable Super HDR without experiencing text display issues.
To check the update, open Settings >> Software Update >> Download and Install option. Keep an eye out for the software update notification, and make sure to install it as soon as it becomes available.