Samsung officially launches Android 12L for foldables, Wear OS 3.5 for Galaxy Watch 4

Ben Schoon | Sep 4 2022 - 8:37 pm PT

Two big updates are headed out to Galaxy devices starting this week, as Samsung has just announced Android 12L for its older foldable smartphones, as well as Wear OS 3.5 for the Galaxy Watch 4 series.

Rolling out starting today, Android 12L is heading to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3. The update arrives as a part of One UI 4.1.1, the software version that runs out of the box on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4.

Beyond last year’s foldables, this update will also be heading to the Galaxy Z Fold 2, Galaxy Z Flip/5G, and the original Galaxy Fold.

Android 12L and One UI 4.1.1 bring a revamped taskbar experience to Samsung’s big-screen foldable, which really boost the experience as we explained in our Galaxy Z Fold 4 review. There’s also a pair of new gestures to quickly launch into multitasking modes, and a tweaked ability to take selfies using the cover screen.

As for the Galaxy Z Flip 3, One UI 4.1.1 brings better camera controls to the Cover Screen, as well as new quick settings and “Direct Dial” for certain contacts. We went over those new features in our review of the Galaxy Z Flip 4.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 4 series is also getting updated to Wear OS 3.5, which comes with Samsung’s One UI Watch 4.5 update. Beta testing has been ongoing for this update on the Galaxy Watch 4 series for the past few months, and it’s what the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro run out of the box.

What’s new? One big focus is accessibility, and there’s also support for a full QWERTY keyboard on Samsung’s built-in keyboard app. Samsung also notes new watch faces that started rolling out a little while ago.

While still based on Tizen, Samsung is also bringing some of these new features to its older Galaxy Watch 3 and Watch Active 2, with two new watch faces and improved snore detection.

Samsung says that all of these updates start rolling out this week, with a gradual rollout globally over the coming weeks.