Nobody likes to deal with bugs that disrupt the normal functioning of an app. Especially the ones that we use daily. It seems Samsung Galaxy Watch users are facing something even worse, as a Wear OS 6 bug reportedly won’t even launch the app itself. But the good news is that a fix may already be available.
Samsung Galaxy Watch users report a Wear OS 6 bug that won’t launch certain apps
Going into details, some Galaxy Watch owners have reported facing issues when apps are not opening. There are complaints on platforms like Reddit. One Galaxy Watch 8 Classic user reports that they are unable to launch apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, or WhatsApp. Apparently, tapping on these apps shows a splash screen briefly before going back to the app drawer.
Multiple users voice out facing a similar experience with their Galaxy Watches. Being unable to open apps can get really frustrating at times. However, one user in the comments claims that they may have found the root cause of the problem.
May 2026 update reportedly fixes it
According to the Galaxy Watch owner, the problem is a Wear OS 6 bug where a “zombie process” (a process that has completed execution but still has an entry in the process table) is causing a deadlock caused by an OS-level kernel glitch. They explain that when an app tries to close or sync in the background, a “ghost” thread gets stuck in the smartwatch’s memory. So when you try to reopen the app later, the OS sees the old stuck process and aborts the launch because the process can’t be killed.
But the good news is there may be a fix available if you’re facing the issue. The same user claims that the recent May 2026 security update fixed the issue on their Galaxy Watch 7. Since installing the update, there haven’t been any app crashes. If that’s indeed true, it’s good news for Galaxy Watch users.
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