The Galaxy Watch Active 2 finally got a feature that has been on the Apple Watch for years

by Preslav Kateliev / Aug 05, 2019, 9:29 AM

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 finally got a feature that has been on the Apple Watch for years

The usefulness of smartwatches has been debated ever since the early, boxy, and extremely geeky models hit the market. Over the years, their position became clear — they are part fitness tracker, part discrete notification providers, part remote controls for your smartphone. But some pull off remote control better than others.

Ever since the original Apple Watch, iOS and watchOS have been able to sync through a mutual Camera app. The Watch turns into a viewfinder and a remote shutter for your iPhone. Therefore, you can prop the phone up somewhere, walk around and get yourself just right into frame, and either pop a selfie or start recording a video by just tapping the watch.

For some reason, no other competitor did that for a long... long time. Yeah, it's a niche feature, but it's still a big deal — whether you are a wannabe Instagram star, a vlogger, or just like to take non-obnoxiously-looking selfies. It was especially disappointing that Samsung didn't include it on its Gear S and Galaxy Watch series, since the company likes to promote its ecosystem so much.

Well, with the Galaxy Watch Active 2, we finally have this feature. The new timepiece has just been announce by Samsung today and yes, the preliminary information says there will be a new Watch Camera Controller feature, which will allow you to control your Samsung phone's camera remotely! That's a triple "hooray" right there.

There's no word on whether or not said feature will trickle down to older models via a software update. Here's hoping that it does!

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13 Comments

1. cmdacos

Posts: 4330; Member since: Nov 01, 2016

3rd party apps have down this since 2014 at least however I don't think not having it baked in is a bad thing. This is a feature that few would use and would sit as bloatware on a limited storage device. Much smarter move imo. Hoping I will be able to delete this off of the local storage.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 9:57 AM 6

2. JamesW

Posts: 32; Member since: Jun 13, 2013

Was about to say the same. I was able to control my phone camera on the original gear model watch. Cares not if it comes standard or not. The feature has been there.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 9:59 AM 5

3. yonith

Posts: 228; Member since: Sep 11, 2012

How old is the SOC in this watch?

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 10:03 AM 0

4. ing0ram

Posts: 22; Member since: Jan 15, 2019

Almost exactly 1 year old (released august 9th 2018). Exynos 9110 if you're interested.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 10:45 AM 1

5. Critical54

Posts: 36; Member since: May 04, 2016

Honestly, The iPhone Bias on this site's articles is comical, Whenever iPhone received a feature that Android had beforehand, Not a single time does this site acknowledge that, But as soon as an Android device does the same "iPhOnE HaD tHiS fOr YeArS!" Anyways, This is the last comment I'll ever make here, Not that anyone cares but just stating my mind.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 11:39 AM 9

8. apple-rulz

Posts: 2198; Member since: Dec 27, 2016

Bye, have a nice life!

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 12:06 PM 0

13. oldskool50 unregistered

At least he has one.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 7:24 PM 4

6. sachouba

Posts: 267; Member since: Jun 08, 2014

A rotative bezel? Automatic fitness detection? Voice memos? A calculator? 1 week battery life? Interactive notifications? Oh, no. Just a useless feature that no one ever uses. :)

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 12:01 PM 6

7. MsPooks

Posts: 239; Member since: Jul 08, 2019

Been doing this for some time now, with 3rd party apps. The only news is that it's pre-loaded now.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 12:05 PM 5

10. iloveapps

Posts: 909; Member since: Mar 21, 2019

Good for Samsung copying some iPhone features. At least Android users have an option to use it. Competition is good, keep it up.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 5:18 PM 0

12. oldskool50 unregistered

How come you never complement Apple for the 100's of features they copied from Samsung and Android as a whole? We all know why. But FYI this feature was on the Galaxy Gear years ago. You are about as smart as this writer. Ad in not smart at all.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 7:23 PM 2

11. oldskool50 unregistered

The writer is wrong. The original Gear Watch not only had it's own camera, but you could also view the camera from the watch when you used the camera on the phone. But the feature did seem to ring up, so it was dropped on subsequent models. But to claim Samsung has never had this, or any Android phone to be specific. Is pure bull.... You all really need to stop acting like everything Apple does wasn't done by someone else. You guys continue to be wrong when you have the internet to verify facts.

posted on Aug 05, 2019, 7:08 PM 1

14. oldskool50 unregistered

All the Gear Watches since the Gear S2 have been able to automatically know when you are walking, running, swimming, and cycling. Can the Apple Watch do that? Lol Rotating bezel for navi vs a knob. I guess once the Apple Watch gets a camera on the band, PA will lie and claim no one else ever had that. Yet the very first 2 Samaung Gear models had camera..in fa t the original Gear had a band mount camera, while the sequel had it on the watch. Remember this post because I can bet my life PA will lie and claim Apple had it first.