If you’re only using a smartwatch to get the time, you’re missing out on a lot of the capabilities you paid for. You don’t need to use 50 apps all the time, but just a few key apps can help you day-to-day and make you feel like you’re living in the future.
These apps are compatible with the Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Fit, Gear S3, Gear S2, and Gear Sport. Learn how to add apps to your Galaxy Watch if this is your first time.
What We Don’t Like
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Many features require internet access.
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Can drain the watch battery.
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May not last your entire run.
Map My Run is offered as a standalone app from Outside. It’s a useful app for tracking and logging your running sessions, with very little effort.
With a Galaxy Watch, you can install the Map My Run app on your watch and leave your phone in the car while you head out on your run. To use the app on your phone for logging a run, you’ll need to turn on Location in your watch settings.
Once you do, you can start the run from your watch. It logs the following:
- Distance
- Calories burned
- Pace (including max and average)
- Duration
- Heart rate (including average)
- Max pace
- Location and path of run
Once you return to wherever you left your phone, you can save the logged running session to your phone and then to your cloud Map My Run account.
What We Don’t Like
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Very short heart rate log.
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Simple app with only one purpose.
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Not 100% medically accurate.
There are a number of heart rate monitoring apps available for the Galaxy Watch, but one of the best is the Heart Rate Graphic app.
It’s one of the few that offers not just your present active heart rate, but also a log of your heart rate over the last 240 seconds (four minutes).
The app displays your active heart rate and the total time the app has been logging your heart rate. Under this is the screen-wide chart that displays the four-minute log of your heart rate.
It’s a useful way to make sure your heart rate stays in a target zone during your workouts.
What We Like
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Extremely useful.
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Never get lost.
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Accurate directions.
This navigation app is probably one of the most useful Galaxy Watch apps. It’s especially helpful when you need an easy way to navigate to a new location when walking city streets.
It works in concert with the Gear Navigator app installed on your phone and is especially helpful while using walking navigation mode in Google Maps. Your watch will provide you with turn-by-turn directions at every street corner.
What We Don’t Like
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Limited calendar features.
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Awkward to type events on watch.
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Difficult to read events on watch.
The Calendar app that comes with the Galaxy Watch is an absolute necessity. It syncs with your Google Calendar so that you can have your daily schedule easily within reach, even when your phone isn’t.
Tap on any of the calendar days to view the daily agenda. You can scroll up and down through your schedule by swiping your finger up or down on the watch face. Then you can tap on the event to view the details.
What We Like
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Quick to log exercise.
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Long-term log.
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Built-in timer.
The GymRun smartphone app is great all on its own. It lets you quickly log your gym workouts, regardless of the exercise.
The companion GymRun Workout Diary app for your Galaxy Watch is a useful add-on to the app. It lets you leave your phone in your gym bag, and you can log your entire workout right on your watch.
The main screen offers families of exercises to choose from, including chest, shoulders, and biceps. When you tap on any one of these categories, you can swipe your finger across the watch screen to scroll through the available exercises. You can also create customized workouts.
Once you choose the exercise, you can set the weight and number of reps you’d like to do. Set the length of time per exercise, and the watch will count down the time as you exercise and vibrate when you’re done.
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