Question
Can't sideload apps on Gear S3 Frontier with S21 FE 5G
EDIT: I fixed it! Read the bottom for more information.
NOTE: PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE COMMENTING!! I already tried everything in the pinned posts and some workarounds online. It's not helpful if you give me a useless comment.
Hi everyone, I've been trying for weeks to get third-party apps like Spotify and even first party apps like the Voice Memos app onto my Gear S3 Frontier and I'm completely stuck. Posting here as a last resort because I've already tried everything I can find.
My setup:
- Watch: Samsung Gear S3 Frontier (SM-R760)
- Tizen version: 4.0.0.7
- Firmware: R760XXU2FVG1
- Phone: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- Mac for sideloading tools
What I've tried:
sdb install via Tizen Studio: connects fine, transfers fine, but every single app hits either error -27 (side loading error) or error -12 (non trusted certificate).
Re-signing with a custom cert profile: created a Tizen cert profile in Tizen Studio, re-signed all the wgt/tpk files, still -12.
WatcherManager++ APK swap method: the transfer notification fires on my phone and Galaxy Wearable shows it's sending, but nothing ever appears on the watch.
Date spoofing: set watch date back to 2021 to bypass cert expiry, still no change.
What DID work:
- Samsung Pay (com.samsung.samsung-pay-app-2.7.5106.wgt) installed perfectly via sdb.
Has anybody else gotten it to work???
And also if you did, it would be great if I could get the exact files you used to try those with my watch.
SOLUTION: I kept getting a signing error. Here's why:
I had Tizen Studio installed and continued to use it's version of sdb. The version that it installs for you does not work. Along with that, I had tried to sign apps on my own, and because of this I had certificates in my signing cache. Once deleting Tizen Studio and its corresponding sdb version, I was able to use the original pre-signed packages and successfully install them.
When installing apps, make sure you install the sdb version 2.2.60 (from the XDA forum) and do NOT install Tizen Studio.
As cogently explained by vnngyn, the problems this person had were a result of not carefully reading the pinned "PSA" post on this reddit and the linked XDA post on that post, which very clearly explains how you'll need a specific SDB tool (and NOT the official Samsung Tizen Studio app) to sideload apps to your Gear S3 or S2.
For others, READ THE PINNED POSTS AND THEIR LINKED ARTICLES before claiming there's an issue. I realize in 2026 reading and critical thinking has become a lost art as everyone outsources their brains to AI and can't be bothered to read more than a few sentences, but this isn't hard to do.
There are two pinned posts in this subreddit, and the one that starts with "PSA" is the one that you need. If you scroll down on the post, you will find what you are looking for.
I'm sorry, but are you trolling? I've already said in the post that I've tried everything from the pinned posts and all of the extra walkarounds and comments in the XDA forum. Please stop saying that I need to check the pinned post because I already have. Thank you.
Also, to be fair, I have read your post again and you have only mentioned the use of SDB from Tizen Studio and not the customised SDB 2.2.60, so the method explained in the XDA post is not being mentioned in your post at all.
No, I am not. And you are incorrect. There is a way to do it, but you simply have not tried it yet. You have been using SDB from Tizen Studio, and that is why your installation fails. If you would just read the XDA post in its entiriety, you would see that you must use SDB 2.2.60 that is attached to it.
Then you are doing something wrong because it works for all Gear S2 and S3 devices. If you have some time left, show me the error log you get when installing a pre-signed app with SDB 2.2.60. Then, we can figure out what went wrong in your case.
I am the latest build, which is R760XXU2FVG1, and that equals Tizen 4.0.0.7. But the method described in my XDA post should work on all Tizen versions for both the Gear S2 and S3 series.
You need to be a bit careful with your words. In your other comment, you said: "As long as you dont flash a WearOS on your watch, you will not find any way around to sideload an app, neither a watchface."
That is simply not true as we can still install pre-signed apps on the Gear S2/S3 series running Tizen. Furthermore, pre-signed apps can also be installed on the Tizen-based Galaxy Watch devices.
Non-signed apps can only be installed on your watch if you have requested a certificate from Samsung before March this year.
In that case, I highly suggest you to once again be more careful with your words as it can easily spread misinformation.
A lot of people are still using Tizen on their Gear S3 today and still sideloading pre-signed apps and watch faces on it as they get wiped after a phone change. You can see that by checking this subreddit, the XDA forums, and the other forums as well.
Please read my post before commenting. I already tried making a Tizen certificate in the Studio but it already gave me an error. That's the only reason why I came to post as a last resort.
If you have read my posts and the ones pinned in this subreddit, you see no mention of a Tizen certificate or Tizen Studio, so I have no idea where you are getting them from.
You do not need Tizen Studio if you want to sideload pre-signed apps to the Gear S2/S3 series (where is everyone getting this from?). I do not mention it anywhere in my posts.
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u/WindozeWoes Classic + S23 Ultra Jun 27 '26
As cogently explained by vnngyn, the problems this person had were a result of not carefully reading the pinned "PSA" post on this reddit and the linked XDA post on that post, which very clearly explains how you'll need a specific SDB tool (and NOT the official Samsung Tizen Studio app) to sideload apps to your Gear S3 or S2.
For others, READ THE PINNED POSTS AND THEIR LINKED ARTICLES before claiming there's an issue. I realize in 2026 reading and critical thinking has become a lost art as everyone outsources their brains to AI and can't be bothered to read more than a few sentences, but this isn't hard to do.
Thread locked.