The battery charge-eating bug that’s been haunting Samsung smartwatches just doesn’t seem to go away. The Gear S3, in particular, has had battery drain issues for quite some time, since the Tizen 3.0 roll-out, to be precise. Samsung has subsequently released multiple updates to fix the issue and has been quite successful as well. But it seems the problem has returned. Even the Gear Sport seems to be affected by the bug now, so it’s likely an effect of one of those updates.
While Samsung’s yet to figure out the problem, here’s a temporary solution (hat tip to Raphael Esparza) that can stop your watch from draining the battery charge so rapidly.
How to stop battery drain issue on Samsung smartwatches?
While this has worked for most of the users so far, you must know that what you do will be in your own risk and some users have had issues.
Before you proceed, note that this temporary solution will work only if your watch is paired with an Android smartphone (Samsung Galaxy for better results). So if you have an iPhone, you’re out of luck and will have to wait longer, until Samsung comes up with a permanent fix.
Now if you’re ready, follow these steps:
- Download and install this Gear S Plugin APK in your Android smartphone.
- Reboot the phone and the watch.
- Pair your Samsung smartwatch with your phone.
The massive battery drain will hopefully stop. You don’t need to change any settings. However, if the issues still exist, you may try resetting your watch. And if it still continues, you’re probably out of luck and you’ll have to wait for Samsung to fix the issue. Meanwhile, you can uninstall the Gear S Plugin from your phone and roll back to the official version available in the Play Store.
Have you been facing heavy battery drain on your Gear S3 or the Gear Sport? Did this temporary solution work for you? Do let us know in the comments section below.
