The end is finally here for Samsung's Tizen OS smartwatches, and it's happening faster than many users expected. Samsung has confirmed that support for its Tizen-powered smartwatches will officially end in September 2025, marking the conclusion of an era that began with the original Galaxy Watch. The phase-out started on September 30, 2024, when the Galaxy Store stopped offering paid content for Tizen devices. Samsung cited their "internal service operational policy" as the reason, noting "We are no longer applying Tizen OS to watches after Galaxy Watch3 in 2020."
What makes this transition particularly revealing is how it exposes Samsung's broader strategic priorities. This methodical shutdown isn't just about winding down an old platform—it signals Samsung's recognition that the smartwatch market has evolved beyond what proprietary systems can effectively compete with. Unlike other tech companies that might simply flip a switch, Samsung's deliberate phase-out approach reflects both respect for their existing user base and a calculated business decision to minimize support costs while encouraging ecosystem migration.
What exactly is Samsung shutting down?
Let's break down the timeline, because this isn't happening all at once. Samsung's Galaxy Store Operations team laid out a detailed termination schedule in a notice dated May 31, 2024. The Galaxy Store ceased selling paid Tizen watch content on September 30, 2024, followed by the discontinuation of free downloads on May 31, 2025. By September 30, 2025, even re-downloads from the "My Apps" section will be impossible, effectively closing the door on access to new or existing Tizen content.
Think of it like a controlled demolition of the Tizen ecosystem. First, they cut off new paid content – no more premium watch faces or apps. Then they'll stop free downloads entirely, meaning if you haven't grabbed that free fitness app or watch face by May 2025, you never will. The final blow comes in September 2025 when even your previously purchased content becomes inaccessible for re-download.
This staged approach reveals something crucial about the true cost of maintaining legacy systems. Each phase represents a different layer of infrastructure Samsung can decommission – from payment processing systems to content delivery networks to user account management. By mapping out these specific dates, Samsung is essentially telegraphing which backend services cost the most to maintain and providing a roadmap for other companies facing similar legacy platform decisions.
Which watches are getting the axe?
Here's what you need to know: this affects all Samsung Gear smartwatches and Galaxy-branded Tizen watches, including the Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Watch Active, and Galaxy Watch Active 2. The cessation of support will affect all Samsung Gear devices, Samsung Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch3. However, devices launched after the Galaxy Watch3, including the Galaxy Watch4 series and subsequent models, remain unaffected as they are built on Wear OS.
What makes this particularly striking is that some of these "sunset" devices were genuine technological achievements in their time. The Galaxy Watch 3, for instance, offered rotating bezel navigation, comprehensive health tracking, and multi-day battery life that put it ahead of many competitors just a few years ago. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 introduced touch-sensitive bezels and ECG monitoring when these features were still cutting-edge. These weren't budget devices limping toward obsolescence – they were Samsung's flagship wearables representing millions in R&D investment.
The inclusion of these relatively recent and capable devices in the shutdown demonstrates just how dramatically the competitive landscape has shifted. It's not about hardware limitations; it's about Samsung's calculation that maintaining parallel development paths for Tizen and Wear OS has become strategically untenable in a market increasingly dominated by ecosystem integration rather than standalone innovation.
Why Samsung is pulling the plug now
Bottom line: Samsung made a strategic shift to Wear OS starting with the Galaxy Watch 4, and they're not looking back. Samsung stopped utilizing Tizen OS when it released the Galaxy Watch 4, which carried a hybrid OS in partnership with Google. The company has remained on the Android-powered platform since switching, and Samsung no longer sells smartwatches with Tizen OS.
From a business standpoint, this represents a fundamental shift in how Samsung views platform strategy. Maintaining dual operating systems isn't just about doubling development costs – it fragments user experience, splits developer attention, and creates internal competition for resources. Every security update, every new feature, every compatibility fix has to be developed twice, tested twice, and supported twice. When you're competing with Apple Watch's seamless ecosystem integration, that kind of resource division becomes a competitive liability.
What's particularly telling is Samsung's selective approach to Tizen abandonment. While they're shuttering Tizen on watches, they're not planning to switch their TVs to Google TV; they still come with Tizen OS and offer seven years of support. This reveals Samsung's market-by-market strategic thinking: in TV, they have the scale and market position to sustain a proprietary platform, but in wearables, partnership with Google offers better long-term prospects than going it alone against Apple's ecosystem dominance.
What this means for your daily routine
If you're still rocking a Tizen watch, your device won't suddenly stop working, but the experience will become increasingly limited. Samsung has indicated that "core services" for Tizen watches will be discontinued after May 2025, although the Galaxy Store itself will remain operational. Existing downloads will remain on devices, so your current apps and watch faces won't disappear overnight. The Tizen developer portal also no longer accepts new watch apps or updates, meaning the ecosystem is already stagnating.
Think about what this controlled demolition means in practical terms. Your favorite fitness tracking app might stop syncing properly with Samsung's servers as backend resources get reallocated. Weather updates could become unreliable when API access gets deprioritized. Even basic functions like notifications might start acting up as Samsung's infrastructure support shifts entirely to Wear OS devices.
The developer portal closure is particularly concerning because it creates a cascading effect of ecosystem decay. Without new app submissions or updates, existing bugs won't get fixed, security vulnerabilities won't be patched, and compatibility with evolving smartphone features will gradually break down. Your watch essentially becomes frozen in time – not just unable to evolve, but slowly becoming less compatible with the rapidly changing digital world around it. This kind of managed obsolescence will accelerate as Samsung redirects engineering resources toward their Wear OS platform, making the upgrade decision increasingly urgent for daily functionality rather than just feature enhancement.
Time to make the switch?
Samsung clearly wants you to upgrade, and they're sweetening the deal to make it happen. In an effort to get Tizen-powered watch owners to upgrade, Samsung has boosted trade-in offers for the old watches, as highlighted by 9to5Google. You can get up to $100 for your Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active 2, and Galaxy Watch Active towards a new Galaxy Watch 6 which runs on the improved One UI Watch system. This is a significant jump from the $5 you'd normally get and is much better than trade-in offers from other retailers. The latest iteration of the Galaxy Watch is the Galaxy Watch 6, which runs Wear OS 4 and has a sticker price of $300.
Here's what makes this $100 trade-in offer strategically brilliant: Samsung is essentially subsidizing user migration at the exact moment when the value proposition is strongest. They're capturing users before the inevitable frustration of declining Tizen functionality drives them to consider non-Samsung alternatives like Apple Watch or other Wear OS manufacturers. By timing this enhanced trade-in with the service shutdown announcement, Samsung transforms what could be a customer retention crisis into a controlled ecosystem upgrade.
From a strategic standpoint, this timing also reveals Samsung's confidence in their Wear OS transition. The enhanced trade-in values represent Samsung betting that Wear OS devices will provide sufficient user satisfaction to maintain brand loyalty. It's a calculated risk – spending more on customer acquisition now to prevent ecosystem defection later. For users, this creates a narrow window of maximum value extraction: you're getting peak trade-in pricing while avoiding the declining user experience of a sunset platform, plus accessing a mature Wear OS ecosystem that has evolved considerably since Samsung's initial transition with the Galaxy Watch 4.
While this transition might feel abrupt, Samsung's move away from Tizen on smartwatches was inevitable. The company has clearly committed to Wear OS as their smartwatch platform of choice, and maintaining two separate ecosystems was never going to be sustainable long-term. If you're still using a Tizen watch, now's the time to start planning your upgrade – especially with those enhanced trade-in values making the switch more affordable than ever.
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