Andy Walker / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Galaxy Watch owners have been experiencing issues when attempting to use their wearable with a device running any version of the Android 16 QPR1 beta.
- Reports say the issue results in connection drops, compatibility problems, and crashes.
- The recently released Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3 update appears to fix the bug.
As with beta, there’s always the threat of running into a bug. That’s exactly what happened recently to some Android 16 beta testers who own a Samsung smartwatch. Thankfully, a recent update seems to have fixed the issue.
There have been a growing number of reports of Samsung’s smartwatches not playing well with devices running on any version of the Android 16 QPR1 beta. Specifically, the bug would cause problems like connection drops, crashes, and compatibility issues. The problem is said to be related to the connected phone trying to download Samsung’s Watch Manager plugin and failing. At the time, the only fix was to go back to a stable version of Android 16.
If your Galaxy Watch was affected by this bug, there’s now another solution to fix the problem. Google released Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3 last week, which includes the July 2025 security patch and several bug fixes. According to 9to5Google, this rollout solves the issue blocking the Galaxy Watch Manager plugin from installing. The outlet states that after installing the update, their Pixel 9 Pro Fold was able to switch a Galaxy Watch 8 Classic paired on a Galaxy S25 over, without resetting.
So if you don’t want to go back to the stable channel, you’ll want to make sure to download Android 16 QPR1 Beta 3. Once it’s installed, your smartwatch should start working like normal again.
