The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 tipped to have gesture controls

Samsung Galaxy Watch
The original Galaxy Watch. (Image credit: Future)

We know Samsung is poised to unveil a whole host of hardware devices over the next few days, and after some comprehensive Galaxy Buds Live leaks, it's now the turn of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 to have some of its features revealed ahead of time.

 As leaks go, ones that come straight from the manufacturer are the most reliable, and as XDA Developers has spotted, Samsung has decided to put the Galaxy Watch 3 plug-in companion app live on the Android app store.

The most interesting revelation from a dig through the app code is support for gestures: you'll be able to clench and unclench your fist to answer a call, or shake your wrist to reject it, for example.

Fall detection is going to be included with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, it would seem. If the wearable thinks that you've fallen over, you'll be asked to confirm you're okay – if you don't respond, your emergency contacts or the emergency services get a call.

Watch out for updates

XDA Developers has also been able to establish that the way of taking screenshots on your Samsung watch is changing with the Galaxy Watch 3: you need to press both side buttons at the same time to capture whatever's on the screen.

A host of wallpaper options have also been revealed, including ones that match the wallpapers arriving with the Galaxy Note 20 line of phones. Both the phones and the wearable are expected to break cover at an official online Samsung event on August 5.

9to5Google was able to tease out a few more details from the app, including a wrist rotation gesture that lets you mute alarms, and a way of opening your hand to take a photo on your connected smartphone.

You haven't missed the Galaxy Watch 2 by the way – this is the direct successor to the original Galaxy Watch from 2018. We've already had the name, the sizes and the materials of the wearable leaked via a Samsung support page online.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.