Samsung announces new app partnerships for Gear S3

The Gear S3 is Samsung’s current flagship smartwatch: it’s gorgeous, it’s creative, and it’s long-lasting. One thing that you may have noticed though is that it runs on Tizen, not Android Wear. So unfortunately, the Gear S3 doesn’t have the same array of apps and support that Google’s platform has. Well, that’s slowly changing it seems. Samsung just announced its app partnerships with a variety of companies to bring new functions to their smartwatch, from fitness to music.

First is Samsung’s collaboration with Under Armour: Samsung has always kept a close relationship with the fitness company, and after endless rumors, they’ve finally announced an official partnership during CES 2017. As Samsung explains, this new partnership will bring the Under Armour Connected Fitness suite to Gear S3 devices, including apps like UA Record, MapMyRun, Endomondo, and MyFitnessPal. As you may know, these are some of the most popular fitness apps around, helping you track your workouts, share your progress, and even access the world’s largest nutritional database.

To differentiate itself, however, Samsung says that with the purchase of a new Gear S3, users will get 12 months of complimentary access to these apps’ premium services. Not only that, each app will have unique features available exclusively for Samsung Gear devices, such as the ability to log water consumption or participate in fun “Challenges.”

Now on to music. Gear S2 and S3 users finally got Spotify on their smartwatches at the end of last year, and Samsung is making that experience a bit better. Not only can you stream music via Wi-Fi or LTE, the Gear S3 Spotify app will soon support offline playback, meaning Spotify Premium users will be able to play their favorite music even without any Internet connection. The company says that this feature will roll out some time in April.

The Gear S3’s HERE WeGo app will also be getting an update to make it even easier for users to see real-time updates on public transit options, and it will also add an option to send directions straight to your Galaxy smartphone. New Yorkers, there is a transportation app specifically designed for you guys – the NYC Transit app allows you to see bus and subway schedules, see where they are, and find nearby stations.

In addition to all this, the BMW Connected app is now available for all compatible connected BMW vehicles, and you can even control your home temperature with the new Gear for Nest app.

Do you own a Gear S3? Which app do you use the most, and which app do you wish you had? Let us know by leaving a comment below!