How to Add Apps to Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (Install Third Party Apps)

Samsung has recently upgraded its smartwatch lineup with the introduction of Galaxy Watch 6 series. Similar to its last two generations, the new Galaxy Watch 6 series runs on Wear OS. This means you can add bunch of apps to your Galaxy Watch 6, including apps that are not available on Play Store.

Here In this guide, I will explain how to install any app on Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. Whether you want to install apps directly from the Play Store or use APKs, this guide will cover everything you need to know.

The Galaxy Watch 6 come with Wear OS 4 right out of the box. And if you don’t know Wear OS 4 has some different process for installing third party apps or APKs. So you will find the latest method in this guide. Additionally, you can also follow this guide if you own a Galaxy Watch 5 or Watch 4 and have upgraded them to Wear OS 4 with One UI 5 Watch.

Add Apps to Galaxy Watch 6 from Play Store

Let’s start with the simple and easy methods.

Method 1: From Galaxy Watch 6

Step 1: Make sure your Watch is either connected to your Phone or connected to WiFi.

Step 2: Swipe Up to open App drawer on your Smartwatch.

Step 3: Now look for Play Store icon and open it. It will ask for Google account if you have not logged in already.

Step 4: In the Play Store you can either explore apps, or search for apps. Tap the app from search result.

Step 5: Now tap the Install button and wait for installation. Once the app is install, you can open it from App Drawer.

Method 2: From Smartphone

Step 1: For this method make sure your Galaxy Watch 6 is connected to your Phone.

Step 2: On your phone, open Play Store.

Step 3: Now search for an app which is also available for Wear OS. For example, search for watch faces. Tap an app from the result.

Step 4: You will see an arrow next to the ‘Install’ button, it indicates that the app is available on multiple devices logged in with your account. Simply tap on the down arrow and select ‘Galaxy Watch 6’ from the list.

Step 5: Now tap the Install button and wait for Installation. Once the app is installed, it will show up on your Galaxy Watch 6 app drawer.

How to Install Any App on Galaxy Watch 6

In case if you want to Install an app which is not available on Play Store, you need to install them manually. You can use this method to install any apk on your Galaxy Watch 6. This is a long process but once you are familiar with the method, it will be quite fast.

Pre-requisites:

• Download Android SDK tool (platform tools) on your PC and extract it
• Download the APK file of the app that you want to Install
• Connect your Galaxy Watch 6 and your PC to same WiFi network
• These methods also work with Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 running Wear OS 4

Enable Developer Options

Step 1: Open Settings on your Galaxy Watch 6. Scroll down to the last and tap About Watch.

Step 2: Scroll down and open Software Information.

Step 3: Tap Software version continuously for 7 to 10 times, it will show Developer Options turned On message.

Step 4: Go back to Settings, you will see a new Developer Options below About Watch. Open Developer Options. Scroll down a bit and enable ADB Debugging.

Step 5: Scroll down more and open Wireless debugging and turn on the toggle. If you see pop up for authorization, select Allow.

Step 6: The Wireless debugging page will now show information like IP Address and port which you will need later for this guide.

Install Apps on Galaxy Watch 6 with PC

Step 1: Copy the downloaded APK file to the extracted platform tools folder. Rename the APK file to something easy that you can type without wasting time. For eg. abc.apk

Step 2: From the platforms tools location open Command Window. To do that type CMD in the location bar in platform tools folder and press enter. Alternatively, you can also navigate to platform tools location in Command Window using cd command.

Step 3: Once the CMD is open, its time to connect it your watch wirelessly. To do that, tap the Pair New device option on your Galaxy Watch 6 wireless debugging page. It will show IP address and pairing code.

Step 4: In CMD, type adb pair IPAddress:port, make sure to replace IPAddress:port with the number shown on your Watch. Then press enter. Example adb pair 192.168.1.11:55555

Step 5: It will ask for pairing code, enter the Code mentioned on your Watch.

Step 6: After pairing you now need to connect your watch. On your Watch go back to Wireless debugging page and see the IPAddress and Port.

Step 7: In CMD, enter adb connect IPAddress:port, again make sure to enter actual IPAddress:port that you checked in the last step. Example adb connect 192.168.1.11:66666

Step 8: When you press enter, the watch will be connected to your PC. Now enter command adb -s IPAddress:port install filename.apk (eg. adb -s 192.168.1.11:66666 install abc.apk)

Step 9: It will give success message after install. You can now use the app on your Watch. Turn off ADB debugging if its not required.

So this is the method to install APKs on Galaxy Watch 6, if you have PC. In case you don’t have PC, then you can follow the next method.

Install Apks on Galaxy Watch 6 with Phone

Step 1: Install Bugjaeger app on your connected Smartphone from Play Store. Make sure developer options is enabled on your Galaxy Watch 6, if not use the developer options guide above. Also Copy the downloaded APK file to your Phone storage.

Step 2: Open the Bugjaeger app on your phone and tap the plug icon available next to No device connected message. Then tap the Pair option.

Step 3: On your Watch go to Wireless debugging page followed by Pair new device. Here you will find IPaddress, port, and pairing code.

Step 4: Enter these three details on the Bugjaeger pairing page and then tap Pair button. It will give message that it is paired. Fortunately, the app already detects IP Address and port which will save your time.

Step 5: In the Wireless debugging page on your Watch, check the IP Address and Port. This will be a bit different than shown in Pairing page.

Step 6: Now in the Connect To page in Bugjaeger app, enter the IP Address and port from last step and tap the Connect button.

Step 7: Once connected, go to the Apps section (with Up arrow symbol). Tap on the + icon if you want to install apps.

Step 8: Choose Select APK file > browse and select the APK you downloaded in the beginning. Once you select the APK, it will start installing.

After installation, you will see the success message. So this is how to add any app on galaxy watch 6 without PC.

Note: You don’t need to pair your device everytime you want to install apps. Once the device is paired it is saved to your Watch, which means you can directly start with connecting the device to phone, skipping the pairing process. To remove paired device, you can go to Revoke debugging authorizations in developer options. After revoke, you need to Pair devices again if you want to connect them for ADB commands.

Also Check:

• 12 Best Watch Faces for Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
• How to Use Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic [Guide]
• Is Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Compatible with iPhone?
• What’s Inside the Galaxy Watch 6 box?