0 • Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority Add Android Authority on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover TL DR The Galaxy Watch 9 appears to be Samsung’s first smartwatch with seamless updates. The feature lets new firmware download and install in the background while you keep using the watch.
What happened
The feature lets new firmware download and install in the background while you keep using the watch. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 may also support seamless updates. This is still a developing thread, so the useful part is knowing which source signals are hardening and which ones still need caution. With devices, practical impact usually shows up in battery life, heat, stability, and long-term usability rather than in a few flashy headline numbers.
Where the sources line up
Seamless updates arrived with Android Nougat , but Samsung took years to adopt the technology. The Galaxy A55 was the first Samsung phone to support it, before the Galaxy S25 extended it to the flagship lineup. Now, the company appears to be expanding the same convenience to its wearables, with the Galaxy Watch 9 becoming the first Galaxy smartwatch to support seamless updates.
Practical impact for readers
Several X users (h/t: SammyGuru ) spotted the feature with the Watch 9’s first software update since its launch. The roughly 193MB update carries the August 5, 2026 security patch, and users installing it have seen the seamless update process in action. Rather than taking the watch completely offline, the new firmware can be downloaded and installed in the background while the watch is in use.
Who should pay attention now
Salian / X That’s a small change, but it could make a noticeable difference every time an update arrives. With conventional updates, you typically have to wait while the device installs the new firmware and restarts. Seamless updates shift most of that process into the background, leaving only a short restart before you can start using the updated software. The next step is to see whether the current signals harden into a durable change or fade as a short-lived experiment. That is why the useful reading move is not to stop at the headline, but to compare the promise, the workflow change, and the likely cost before deciding anything.
What is still unclear
Samsung hasn’t made much noise about the feature, either. It isn’t listed among the Watch 9’s headline specifications or called out in the update’s changelog. Instead, users evidently discovered it while installing the watch’s first firmware update. That is why the useful reading move is not to stop at the headline, but to compare the promise, the workflow change, and the likely cost before deciding anything.
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