Three nights of sleep data in the past two weeks is now enough to start Samsung Health Sleep Coaching, down from seven nights within a month. Samsung announced the change on October 13, 2026. The same Samsung Health update adds two higher Running Coach levels, imports Strava routes and opens a US beta of Scan Meal, a meal logger that reads a photo of your plate. The features arrive through Samsung Health app updates starting in October. Sleep Coaching still needs a Samsung Galaxy phone, so a Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Ring paired with another Android phone stays without it.
Three nights to a sleep plan
Sleep Coaching works with the Galaxy Watch4 and every later Galaxy Watch, the Galaxy Fit3 and later Fit bands, and the Galaxy Ring. It needs Samsung Health 6.24 or later on a Galaxy phone running Android 11 or newer.
Setup starts with a survey about how regular your sleep is, how often you wake, how much alcohol and caffeine you have and how satisfied you are with your sleep. With those answers and three nights of data, the app assigns one of its Sleep Animal types. It then builds a four- to eight-week program that changes its weekly recommendations as your sleep changes. The daily checklist items Samsung lists are plain habits: no screens in the hour before bed, no late caffeine, a stretch outdoors after waking.
A new owner who wears the watch or ring to bed three nights in a row qualifies. The old rule meant a full week of nights first. Someone who has worn one to bed three times in the past two weeks qualifies as soon as the update lands. The footnote puts the window a little differently, as “three days of sleep data tracked within a seven-to-14-day period.”
The program also gets a five-sided Sleep Balance chart that plots sleep time, regularity, time awake at night, your own satisfaction rating and Samsung’s Energy Score. Morning messages review the night before and feed the weekly and final reports.
Samsung’s US page for the app still listed the old requirement on October 15: seven days of sleep data with at least one workday and one day off. The new rule comes with an app update, and Samsung says availability and timing may vary by model.
Which phone gets which part
Sleep Coaching has the same Galaxy phone requirement as Samsung Health Monitor, the app that runs ECG and sleep apnea screening, which is why a Galaxy Watch7 paired with a Pixel gets neither. On that pairing, the three-night start does not apply because the coaching itself is unavailable.
For Running Coach, the announcement lists a compatible Galaxy Watch on One UI 8 or later, any phone on Android 10 or newer, and Samsung Health 6.30.2. The Watch7 got One UI 8 in October 2025, and that update is what brought Running Coach to it in the first place. Wareable’s report on the update lists the new levels for the Galaxy Watch8 series and later, and Samsung’s own announcement names no models. Neither says whether a Watch7 or an older watch gets the two new levels.
Scan Meal runs only on the Galaxy S24, S25 and S26 series and on the Z Fold6, Fold7, Fold8, Z Flip6, Flip7 and Flip8. It is open to people in the US aged 19 and older. A Galaxy S23 owner gets the rest of the update and no Scan Meal.
Two more Running Coach levels and Strava routes
Running Coach grows from 10 training levels to 12, and the two new ones are aimed at intermediate and advanced runners. Your plan still comes from a 12-minute test run with GPS on or from your past runs, and it works only for outdoor running.
You can now import saved Strava Routes for running, trail running and cycling into Samsung Health. A new sharing option turns a finished workout into ready-made images for social media.
Scan Meal may not stay free
Scan Meal returns calories, ingredients and other nutrition details from a photo. Your logged meals feed a Diet Score in four tiers (Needs Attention, Fair, Good and Excellent), built from seven aspects of what and how you eat. A separate nutrition program runs eight to 14 weeks with four or five activities a week and does not require logging every meal.
Samsung’s footnote says the beta’s terms may change, “including potentially transitioning to a paid feature.” The same footnote reserves the right to turn any of its advanced intelligence features into subscription features with prior notice, and to limit how much each person can use them. Samsung has not said when the beta ends or what Scan Meal would cost after it.
