Samsung has added a hand-washing app to its Galaxy smartwatches that can send you reminders to wash your hands and time you while you do so (via SamMoblie). Google added similar features to Wear OS on April 14th.
Samsung’s smartwatches get a hand-washing reminder and timer app
The app counts down for 25 seconds while you wash your hands
The app counts down for 25 seconds while you wash your hands
Image: Samsung
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
The app, called “Hand Wash,” offers a 25-second timer for hand-washing. Samsung wants you to use the first five seconds of that timer to turn on the faucet and apply soap to your hands, and then use the next 20 seconds for the actual washing of your hands under the water. Twenty seconds for hand-washing is in line with the World Health Organization’s recommendation of how long to wash your hands. (Google’s timer for Wear OS, by contrast, counts down from 40 seconds.)
Hand Wash also has preset reminders to wash your hands that you can customize, Samsung says. Samsung has only announced Hand Wash on its press website for India, but the app is now live for Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active users in the US, according to 9to5Google.
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