Don't update to Pie if you own a Samsung wearable (Update: Fix and app name change)

Update, August 14, 2018 (11:15AM EST): Samsung has fixed the problem listed below with Samsung-branded wearables not linking correctly with the Samsung Gear Android app. Along with the fix, Samsung also rebranded the app to Galaxy Wearable, furthering the company’s ambitions to do away with the Gear branding.

After updating to the new Galaxy Wearable app, you will finally be able to use your Samsung smartwatches, headphones, and fitness bands with your Android 9.0 Pie device. Other than the rebrand (and the inclusion of the new Samsung Galaxy Watch), the app appears to function in much the same way as it did when it was Samsung Gear.

Click the button below to update your app:

Original Article, August 9, 2018 (01:21PM EST): While there aren’t too many phones out there that are currently capable of updating to Android 9.0 Pie, you should know that updating to the latest version of Android might cause some problems for your Samsung wearables.

According to users on Reddit, the Samsung Gear app won’t connect to your wearable if you are running Android Pie. The Gear app will work on the phone just fine, and the smartwatch, headset, or fitness tracker will be fine on its own, but the two devices will not be able to communicate.

If you attempt to connect a wearable with the Samsung Gear app on an Android Pie device, the process begins but then crashes before completion.

While we don’t have an exact list of the affected wearables, the Reddit thread makes it seem that this is a Samsung Gear-wide issue, not a problem with specific wearables.

Users are already complaining in the Google Play Store listing for the Samsung Gear app, and Samsung reps have chimed in to say that the company is aware of the issue. However, we don’t know a timeline yet for the fix.

Hopefully, the fix comes soon as Samsung just launched the newest wearable in its roster: the Samsung Galaxy Watch. Read more about that here, and also check out our info on the other device Samsung announced today: the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

NEXT: Samsung announces Galaxy Home smart speaker and big Bixby improvements