Galaxy Watch 9 HMG Edition watch faces found in app code
An APK teardown of the Galaxy Wearable app turned up code referencing two HMG Edition watch faces for the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 that Samsung has never announced. The strings are named "Ultra Performance HMG Edition" and "Analog Balance HMG Edition" (Android Authority, today).
The strings sit directly inside the app's resource files, next to entries for the standard Ultra Performance and Analog Balance faces. Gadgets360 reports the same discovery, naming the matching options the Analogue Balance HMG Edition watch face and the Ultra Performance HMG Edition watch face (Gadgets360, today).
Neither report describes an official announcement, confirms what "HMG" stands for, or says who could ever access these faces. That gap matters more than the discovery itself for anyone weighing a purchase of either watch right now.
What the Galaxy Wearable app code reveals about HMG Edition watch faces
Android Authority's teardown found two paired entries in the app's string resources. The standard names read "watchface_ultra" (Ultra Performance) and "watchface_base_clock" (Analog Balance); the HMG variants read "watchface_ultra_hmg" (Ultra Performance HMG Edition) and "watchface_base_clock_hmg" (Analog Balance HMG Edition) (Android Authority, today).
A string like this is just a display label, the text an app shows a user, tied to an internal identifier that code elsewhere might reference to load a watch face package, an asset, or an entitlement check. Finding the label confirms Samsung typed that name into the app. It says nothing about whether the thing behind the label is finished, loaded, or reachable by anyone outside Samsung.
That's the frame to hold onto here. The findings indicate Samsung could introduce customized versions of two existing watch faces, according to Gadgets360's reporting, which deliberately hedges with "could" rather than stating the faces are built or ready (Gadgets360, today).
Readers may notice a spelling shift between outlets. Android Authority's code reference reads "Analog Balance," while Gadgets360's report reads "Analogue Balance." That likely comes down to regional spelling convention rather than two different faces, since both outlets describe the same string tied to the same base design.
On sourcing: Android Authority pulled the strings directly from the APK, making it the source with the actual code evidence. Gadgets360's reporting covers the same find and adds the Hyundai Motor Group context below, rather than independently verifying the code itself.
What the teardown does and doesn't prove
The reports tie the strings to the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. That's a narrower claim than it might sound. A resource string can establish:
- that the name exists in the app's code
- that Samsung tied it to these two models in that code
It cannot establish:
- what the face looks like on a watch screen
- whether a finished watch-side software package exists to render it
- whether Samsung's servers would grant any account entitlement to use it
- whether there's a supported route for a retail device to ever receive it
An app string doesn't tell anyone when, or whether, the feature behind it will ship. That's a real caveat for a story built entirely on code found inside an app that's already public and installed on millions of phones.
A Galaxy Wearable update from earlier this year also referenced support for the then-unannounced Watch 9 and Ultra 2, days before Samsung revealed them (SamMobile). That earlier case doesn't set a pattern for what Samsung does with the HMG entries now. It just shows app code can precede a public reveal in at least one instance, with no bearing on timing here.
The Hyundai Motor Group theory behind "HMG"
Gadgets360's reporting points to one explanation: "HMG" likely refers to Hyundai Motor Group, though Samsung hasn't confirmed that reading (Gadgets360, today).
The outlet's context for that theory centers on a reported high-level meeting between Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group about a technology partnership, during which Samsung reportedly presented customized Galaxy devices to HMG executives, including a Galaxy Z Fold 8, Galaxy Buds 4, and Galaxy Watch models (Gadgets360, today). Gadgets360 frames the HMG Edition watch face discovery as likely connected to those customized devices, describing HMG Edition hardware as intended primarily for corporate gifting rather than retail sale (Gadgets360, today).
That meeting and gift exchange comes from Gadgets360's reporting alone. No cited source includes a statement from Samsung or Hyundai Motor Group confirming the partnership meeting, the gifted devices, or the HMG abbreviation itself. The Hyundai read stands as the leading reported explanation, not a settled one.
Even if HMG does turn out to mean Hyundai Motor Group, that doesn't rule out other paths forward. The faces could still arrive through a future Galaxy Wearable update, a region- or account-limited release, or dedicated special-edition hardware down the road. Gadgets360's corporate-gift theory explains why the strings might exist. It doesn't tell readers what Samsung decides to do with them next, if anything.
Can you get the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 HMG Edition watch faces now?
Android Authority says there is currently no indication that Samsung plans to release these faces to the general public (Android Authority, today).
Neither cited report identifies a public installation route or a settings path. Owners have no documented way to check for or unlock these faces on a retail Watch 9 or Ultra 2 today.
Android Authority raises one narrow possibility: employees who received HMG-packaged devices as gifts could eventually resell them secondhand (Android Authority, today). That's a conditional, recipient-driven scenario tied to individual choices, not a confirmed distribution channel, and it says nothing about whether the watch faces themselves would transfer or function outside that specific hardware.
Because neither report identifies a public release or a supported installation method, buyers shouldn't factor these faces into a Watch 9 or Ultra 2 purchase decision. Don't go looking for sideloaded APKs or unofficial mods to force them onto a retail unit, either. There's no evidence that would even work.
The move for current owners and prospective buyers alike is to watch Samsung's official Galaxy Wearable changelogs, Galaxy Store listings, and newsroom posts for a named HMG Edition release. Until one of those shows up, this stays a code discovery, not a feature anyone can use.
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