The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro are two of the best smartwatches on the market. Both work great right out of the box, but we have some simple tweaks you’ll want to do before you get too used to the default settings. Wearables are fun and super convenient. Let’s look at some of the best ways to customize your new watch.
1. Set your watch orientation
The Galaxy Watch 5 lets you select whether you wear your watch on your right or left wrist, but did you know you can also change the position you like the keys facing? To get started, follow these steps:
-
Head to the
Settings
menu by swiping down from the top. -
Select the
settings gear icon
.- You can also swipe up from the bottom to get to the app menu and open the settings app.
-
Scroll down and enter the
General settings
list. -
You’ll find
Orientation
about halfway down. Click on
Orientation,
located about halfway down, to immediately see bullet toggles for which wrist you prefer.
Under the wrist settings, you can also change your Key Position, which lets you choose whether you want your home and back keys to be on the left or right side of the watch. The watch defaults to the right, but if you prefer to have your keys on the left, tap the left toggle, and it will flip the screen 180 degrees.
2. Setup Google Assistant
Your watch comes with Bixby enabled, but if you want to use Google Assistant, you’ll need to download and install the app. Although none of the Android Police team members have run into any issues, there have been a few reported problems setting it up. If you already have Google Assistant installed, scroll down, tap on My Apps, and then tap on Assistant to update the app. To set up Google Assistant for the first time, go to your App menu and follow these steps:
-
Open the
Google Play Store
. -
Tap in the
search box
and type in Google Assistant. - You’ll see Google Assistant at the top; tap to install it.
Now that Google Assistant is ready to use on your Galaxy Watch, it’s time to set it up. By default, long pressing the home key will open Bixby. If you’d rather have that open up Google Assistant, head back to your Settings.
-
Scroll down until you see
Advanced Features
. -
Tap on
Customize keys
.
There are a few different configuration options here. Both the home key and back key can be customized, so let’s take a look at what your options are.
3. Customize what your buttons do
You can set custom actions for your Home key’s double press and press and hold functions and your Back Key’s short press.
For example, in the Settings → Advanced features → Customize keys menu that we entered, you can change the Press and hold shortcut from Bixby to Google Assistant. You can also change the Double press shortcut. By default, a quick double press will open your most recent application. You can choose to change this to Accessibility shortcuts, or you can set it to open up any application on your watch. If you want, you can change it to Bixby and have both Bixby and Google Assistant mapped to your home key.
The back key performs the same function as swiping from the left. This is kind of redundant, so if you want to, you can change it to show recent apps instead.
4. Reorder Quick Toggles
Quick toggles are a quick and convenient way to perform various functions on your watch. There are so many ways to use your smartwatch, so you’ll probably want to reorder your Quick toggles, so the ones you use the most are easier to get to. To set the order of your Quick toggles:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen.
-
Swipe to the end of the list and tap the
+ icon
to enter
Edit mode
. -
Once in edit mode, you can add any toggles you want that aren’t already showing, delete toggles that you never use, and long press the toggles you use the most to drag them back to the first screen.
5. Set up the Quick Launch gesture
Samsung introduced a new gesture called Quick launch, which is like a knocking motion. You can open an app or use a feature like the flashlight with a simple gesture by moving your wrist up and down a few times. Quick launch needs to be enabled before you can use it, and you can follow these steps to get it set up:
-
Head to
Settings >
Advanced Features
again. -
Scroll down to the
Gestures
section and tap on
Quick launch
. -
To use this gesture, first, you’ll need to turn the toggle to the
On
position. -
Next, choose
Select an option
to pick which app to open or which feature to use.
This is handy for doing things like turning your flashlight on in the dark when your hands are full. Under the option you select is a little animation showing you how to use the gesture.
6. Customize your emergency SOS message
Whenever you get a new device, it’s always important to customize your emergency SOS message, so it will reach the right person when you need it the most. SOS mode is activated by tapping your home key several times. If you’re the type of person who accidentally tap your home key way too many times when you’re just trying to double tap, you can adjust your cancelation countdown window.
This option is customized in the Samsung Wearable app on your paired phone. Make sure you’ve downloaded and installed the app from the Google Play Store and open it, then follow these steps:
-
Select your watch and tap on
Watch settings
. -
Scroll down until you see
Safety and emergency
and tap on it. -
Toggle on
SOS with Home key
to get started. - Choose whether you need to press the home key 3 or 4 times to enable SOS mode.
-
Count down before sending
sets your watch to wait 5 seconds before sending SOS messages and calls, allowing you to cancel them.
You can set SOS mode to send messages and calls to one or multiple recipients. It’s important to note that the Galaxy Watch 5 does not call 911 by default, and there isn’t a specific option to turn this on. Instead, you can add 911 as a contact and choose it as one of the recipients.
We don’t know how well this works, so we recommend adding your local emergency services phone number as a contact. Also, make sure you are sending messages and calls to at least one other person.
7. Your watch has other options besides Do Not Disturb mode
There are three other silent mode options other than Do Not Disturb. To enable any mode, swipe down from the top to open up the Quick settings panel. Next, tap on the icon for the mode you want to activate, choose how long you want to enable it, and tap on OK. So, what do the modes do?
-
Do Not Disturb Mode
– All notifications are turned off, except Alarms. -
Goodnight mode
– Silences all notifications, except Alarms. -
Theater mode
– Silences all notifications, Alarms, and Wake-up gestures. -
Water Lock mode
– Switches off all the watch’s sensors and displays only the time. To disable this mode, press and hold the home button.
There are some other uses for these modes that you may not have thought of:
-
Tasks with repetitive hand motions
– If you have gestures enabled, you’ll definitely want to use
Theater mode
for some tasks. Doing chores or other tasks that look anything like the gestures will trigger them and can be very distracting. -
Doing the laundry
– You can use
Water Lock mode
to keep your wet clothes from turning on your screen, turning off your music, or performing other functions you don’t want. -
Driving
– Use
Theater Mode
to guarantee you’re distraction-free and keep your eyes on the road. -
Concerts, dance parties, and other crowded spaces
– Pretty much anytime you’re in a crowd, anyone you bump into can activate your phone. Who knows the havoc so much activity can wreak? Random calls and messages, missed notifications, or any number of things — think butt dialing but on your wrist. Using
Theater mode
or
Water Lock mode
will save you the headache.
. Customize watch faces from the Galaxy Store
If you’re not fond of Samsung’s default watch face, head to the Galaxy Store in the Galaxy Wearable app or the Google Play Store app and search for galaxy watch faces. If you go straight to the Play Store, look for the featured Wear OS banner to open the Watch Face category, or look for it under the Categories tab. The quickest way to get there is to follow these steps:
-
Press and hold
your current watch face. -
Swipe from the
left edge
to bring up the menu. -
Tap on
More watch faces
to see your options.
After you’ve chosen a new watch face, you can simply press and hold your current watch face again and swipe to the right to see all the watch faces you have installed. Some watch faces also allow you to customize system-wide background styles by heading to Display in your Settings app.
9. Control your Galaxy phone’s camera remotely with your watch
Although the Galaxy Watch 5 is compatible with many Android phones, it works best when paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone. No surprise there, but what can you do with a Galaxy phone that you can’t do with other phones? One of the best features of your Galaxy pair is controlling your phone’s camera from your watch.
Setting up your phone in one place and then remotely triggering a photo from across the room opens up many new photo possibilities. You’ll want to ensure you have the latest version of Samsung’s Camera Control app installed. When you open the app, you can tap to focus, take a photo, or set a timer. The image is then saved to the gallery of your phone.
Enjoy your Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
Now that you’re all set up and ready to go, we hope you enjoy your new watch. Customization doesn’t have to stop at button preferences. There are plenty of great watch bands if you want to switch up your look.
