Here’s Wear OS running on 2016’s Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch [Gallery] - 9to5Google

However, a clever developer has been able to install Wear OS on the Gear S3, Samsung’s 2016 smartwatch.

Samsung has been using “Galaxy Watch” as the branding for its smartwatch lineup since 2018, but before that was the “Gear” line, which consists primarily of two smartwatches, 2015’s Gear S2 which introduced the iconic rotating bezel, and 2016’s Gear S3, which really dialed in Samsung’s smartwatch prowess in the Android world.

Back in 2016, our review of the Gear S3 praised its build and health features, calling it the “smartwatch of the future.” We were pretty happy with the product overall, but even back then we noted how bad the “app gap” between Tizen and what was then Android Wear had been, not knowing that Samsung would eventually swap out the OS entirely as a result of that ongoing problem.

Fast forward to today, and a developer has successfully solved the problems that Tizen presented the Gear S3 by just installing Wear OS on it?

As detailed in an XDA forum thread, this custom ROM for the Gear S3 delivers the latest form of Wear OS 2, the H MR3 update.

With Wear OS on a Gear S3, Samsung’s smartwatch picks up support for Google Assistant, the Play Store and its plethora of apps and watchfaces, and more.

The Wear OS app sees this custom ROM as a TicWatch Pro 3 instead of a Gear S3, which isn’t really a problem as much as something you’ll need to know during setup.

The Gear S3 was a great smartwatch, and Wear OS might just make it even better for some folks.