Samsung Will Retire Its Old Tizen-Based Smartwatches

howtogeek.com:

Samsung is currently one of the biggest sellers of Android-based Wear OS smartwatches, but there was a time a few years ago when Samsung completely pretended Wear OS didn't exist. The Galaxy Watch range, when it was first conceived, used Samsung's in-house Tizen operating system. Now, Samsung has been using Wear OS for a few generations now, and with Tizen watches getting older, Samsung is taking the step to kill off the operating system for good.

Samsung is set to discontinue its Tizen operating system for smartwatches by the end of 2025. This move comes after the company switched to Wear OS, in partnership with Google, for its flagship wearables starting with the Galaxy Watch 4. The sunsetting of Tizen OS will begin with the blocking of new Tizen Watch content from the Galaxy Store starting today. While existing downloads will remain on devices, purchased watch faces for older models like the Galaxy Watch 3 will no longer be available for download after September 30, 2025. After this point, your smartwatch won't suddenly become a paperweight, but you'll be seriously compelled to upgrade to a newer watch eventually.

It's rather easy to do so, given how Galaxy Watches are frequently offered as bonuses on top of larger hardware launches (such as a new flagship phone), but still, the original Tizen-powered Galaxy Watches were bought by a lot of people and they're probably still used today. They're compatible with iPhones, for one, unlike the newer Wear OS models. The Galaxy Watch 3, the last Tizen-powered smartwatch, was released in 2020, just a year before Samsung switched to Wear OS again with the Galaxy Watch 4. Samsung also briefly tried to make Tizen-powered smartphones.

This decision comes as no surprise, as Samsung no longer sells smartwatches with Tizen OS and has already exceeded its promised support schedule for older devices. From this point onward, the only smartwatch operating system Samsung supports is Wear OS. Samsung's decision to use Tizen as