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Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 offers many different features from fitness tracking to smartphone notifications, with many of its best features being available through the use of apps. Which you can download directly to the watch from the watch using the Play Store. While users still wait on the arrival of things like Google Assistant, the Galaxy Watch 4 still has loads of apps available to use, but which are the best ones worth your time?
With so many different apps to choose from, you might be wondering which ones you should install and which ones are safe to avoid. This handy guide should help you narrow down your choices and get you up and running with the best apps to help make the most of the watch.
If you’ve had a Galaxy Watch 4 for a while, you might even already have some favorites. Either way, this list is comprised of the best apps that the Galaxy Watch 4 has to offer.
Best Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Apps
| App | Download Cost | In-app cost (per item) |
| Spotify | Free | $9.99 Per Month |
| Google Maps | Free | $0 |
| Calm | Free | $14.99 Per Month |
| Google Pay | Free | $0 |
| Facer | Free | $0.49 – $39.99 |
| Messages | Free | $0 |
| Google Keep | Free | $0 |
| SmartThings | Free | $0 |
| YouTube Music | Free | $9.99 Per Month |
| Multi Calculator | Free | $3.99 |
Spotify
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $9.99 per month subscription
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.4
Just about everyone knows about Spotify these days. It’s the go-to music streaming app for hundreds of millions of users. Featuring extensive playlists from nearly every genre of music, podcasts, full discographies of numerous bands and artists, and much more.
With Spotify on your Galaxy Watch 4, you can use the app as a controller for music streaming on your phone or you can choose to download your music to the watch. Thus turning it into a music player for a pair of connected Bluetooth headphones or earbuds.
Without a doubt this is one of the best apps to have on your Galaxy Watch 4. Though it does require a subscription if you want Spotify Premium, you can use the app without a monthly cost if you’re willing to listen to periodic ads.
Google Maps
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 3.9
Everyone needs a little help getting around now and again. And whether you constantly struggle with directions or just aren’t familiar with a new city, Google Maps on your Galaxy Watch 4 is one of the best apps to have around. While you could easily whip out your phone and get more features, using the app on your watch is a little more convenient and efficient. Not to mention it might be your only option if you have your hands full.
You can simply launch the app with a tap of your finger then tap the mic button to speak any commands for directions. Sure the screen is small. But if you’re in a pinch and need a quick hit of information on where to go, this can be an invaluable tool.
Calm
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $14.99 per month subscription
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.3
Calm is a great app for meditation, sleep and just general improved mindfulness. You’ll need a pair of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds connected to the watch to use this app. Or, connected to your phone if you’re using the Calm Wear OS app as a controller.
The Wear OS app also features a Calm breathing tile and the ability to view your daily meditation minutes. If you use Calm on your smartphone or tablet, then you will definitely want to use it on your watch as well.
Google Pay
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.1
Google Pay wasn’t available on the Galaxy Watch 4 at launch. Once it made its way to the device though, users who prefer it over Samsung Pay can now use the Galaxy Watch 4 to pay for goods and services with a tap of their wrist.
You’ll still need to unlock the screen to finalize payment. But you’ll need to do the same thing using your phone. So this saves you the step of having to pull your phone out of your pocket.
If you’re a Google Pay user, this is definitely one of the best apps to have on the Galaxy Watch 4. Especially now with how many places accept contactless payments these days.
Facer
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0.49 – $39.99
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.2
The quintessential app for installing new watch faces on your Galaxy Watch 4. Facer is a massive library of watch faces for smartwatches and contains both free and paid options. It also has a huge community of users with many of the designs being user-created.
Additionally, there’s a good chance you’ll find something that fits your personal tastes. As we’ve found it to be pretty difficult to come across a particular watch face theme that the app didn’t have. Love anime? There’s plenty of cool anime watch faces on Facer.
There’s also a ton of functional ones that can integrate well with installed apps and features. You’ll also find watch faces with animated backgrounds and more. If you’re using a Galaxy Watch 4, you want this app.
Messages
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.2
If you’re like us, you probably aren’t typing or responding to messages on your smartwatch a whole lot. But that doesn’t mean you won’t ever use it. Messages lets you easily see incoming notifications of texts you get on your smartphone. You can then reply to those messages right from the watch if you don’t feel like pulling your phone out.
Whether you want to type out the message using taps on the keyboard (don’t do this, it’s a pain), or use the mic button to speak your response, the Messages app can handle it. All directly on the watch. Then all you have to do is hit send, and boom. Done.
Google Keep
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.2
Have you ever been out and about and needed to jot down a quick note or reminder to pick something up or do something before you head home? Google Keep is the perfect tool for making little notes like this and ensuring you don’t forget.
It’s also a great way to save links, and my personal favorite, for creating shopping lists. In fact, the shopping list feature might be the best possible use case scenario. Thanks to the little check boxes that pop up which you can tap and mark off once you’ve placed the item in your cart.
Best of all is you can view and create lists on the watch as well. So there’s really no limitations to this version of the app. Which is great because viewing and interacting with a list on the watch is insanely convenient. Naturally, Google Keep on the Galaxy Watch 4 supports voice typing and tap typing. Though if you’re not going to speak your notes, we’d suggest using the gesture typing instead. It’s easier than using the on-screen keyboard.
SmartThings
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $0
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.4
It wouldn’t feel quite like a Samsung smartwatch without the inclusion of SmartThings. The SmartThings app is an easy way to control all of your smart home devices that are compatible with the SmartThings platform. Whether it’s turning on or off your lights, starting a load of laundry, or seeing who’s at the door using your smart doorbell, SmarThings makes it easy to manage smart devices around the home.
Like other platforms, you can also use it away from home as long as you’re connected to the internet. And chances are your watch will be connected most of the time. You can also use the app to configure device settings. Overall, it’s a pretty useful app. And like the rest of the apps on this list, it’s one of the best ones to have on your Galaxy Watch 4 if your smartphone either isn’t nearby or you just don’t want to pull it out of your pocket.
YouTube Music
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $9.99 per month subscription
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.5
YouTube Music is a decent alternative for a music streaming app on your watch if you aren’t a Spotify user. And it may be the only worthwhile option for people who want to bundle their YouTube Music Premium subscription with a YouTube Premium subscription.
Like with Spotify, you can use the app on your watch to manage playback of songs that are streaming from the app on your smartphone. Or if you prefer to keep your phone at home while you’re out exercising, you can download your YouTube Music playlists and songs to the watch for offline playback instead.
Multi Calculator
- Price: Free to download
- In-app purchases: $3.99
- Size: Varies with device
- Google Play rating: 4.6
This is one of our favorite apps on this list. The Samsung Calculator is already pre-installed on the Galaxy Watch 4. But we like this better because of an additional useful feature. The currency conversion calculator which is extremely useful if you’re traveling.
Now the smartphone version of the app has a lot more features than the Wear OS version. But you can still use the currency converter on the watch app. And that’s one thing the pre-installed calculator app can’t do. So if you travel a lot and could use that sort of feature at your fingertips, definitely pick up this app for your Galaxy Watch 4.