Galaxy Watch 8 owners in the US can now take One UI 9 Watch for a spin

The Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 come preloaded with Wear OS 7-based One UI 9 Watch. Samsung already started rolling out the beta for its older devices, beginning with the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic in South Korea earlier this week. Now the company is bringing the beta to users stateside.

A Reddit post by a Galaxy Watch 8 owner confirms the expansion of the One UI 9 Watch beta program to the US. We also have access to the full changelog in English here, detailing every new feature introduced with the software. Much like the company’s other betas, users should be able to access it via the banner in the Samsung Members app.

Among the highlights of One UI 9 Watch for Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic is the redesigned Galaxy Wearable app, along with improved watch face discovery, recommendations, and customization. Some Samsung Health upgrades are on board as well, including an updated design for health metrics like Heart health and Sleep, as well as upgraded workout controls, like the ability to pause or end workouts using the back button.

One UI 9 Watch also introduces the ability to track your cardio load, and it can spot changes in your sleep vitals as well. Additionally, the new software lets you set waypoints at any location via Trackback, particularly outdoors, to help find your way back. Meanwhile, people who frequently use their Galaxy Watch as a remote for their smartphone’s camera will find new options such as food, portrait video, slow motion, and hyperlapse modes, according to the changelog.

The countdown now begins for the One UI 9 Watch beta to start rolling out to older smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch 7. Samsung hasn’t specified when that will happen, but with Galaxy Watch 8 models getting the beta, older models hopefully won’t be far behind.

We still don’t know when the stable version of One UI 9 Watch will roll out to the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Watch 8 Classic, but the beta’s arrival is certainly a welcome start. In the meantime, the only smartwatches that currently offer the stable One UI 9 Watch experience are the recently released Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.