Are there any watch faces that keep showing the seconds ticking even in dimmed mode? Or is it a limitation in android wear?
BoatA said:
Are there any watch faces that keep showing the seconds ticking even in dimmed mode? Or is it a limitation in android wear?
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I don't know if it's allowed in the apps or not, but even if it was you're battery life would go to crap in a hurry.
I have not see one. But agree, that would be a battery hit.
Sure, but I get 2,5 days of battery (always on, using only watch faces that doesn't dim but stops the ticking, turning the watch off at night) so I'd like to test running it with the ticking and see if I got through a day. I'd say it'd be worth a try.
BoatA said:
Are there any watch faces that keep showing the seconds ticking even in dimmed mode? Or is it a limitation in android wear?
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It is not a wear limitation. I haven't see any ready-made watch faces which show the second hand ticking even in the dimmed mode. But you can use a tool like Watchmaker to create such a watchface (or use some existing Watchmaker watch face and customise it) to show the ticking second had. No idea how much of an extra drain it will be on your battery though.
smjoshi said:
It is not a wear limitation. I haven't see any ready-made watch faces which show the second hand ticking even in the dimmed mode. But you can use a tool like Watchmaker to create such a watchface (or use some existing Watchmaker watch face and customise it) to show the ticking second had. No idea how much of an extra drain it will be on your battery though.
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Are you sure you can actually customize the watch faces in Watchmaker to show the ticking of the seconds? I've done a few customizations in Watchmaker but I haven't found a way to keep showing the seconds. If you know of a way, let me know
BoatA said:
Are you sure you can actually customize the watch faces in Watchmaker to show the ticking of the seconds? I've done a few customizations in Watchmaker but I haven't found a way to keep showing the seconds. If you know of a way, let me know
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You are right. My mistake. You can make it "show" the second hand in the dim mode by setting "Always Show" but not make it tick once the dim mode kicks in. Readson I was fooled is - on your mobile where you are editing the watchface there is a button which helps you simulate the bright and dim modes to let you see what the face may look like on the watch. When you press this button to simulate teh dim mode, for the face I was working on the second hand continued to tick. but once I transfered the face to the watch it stopped ticking!
smjoshi said:
You are right. My mistake. You can make it "show" the second hand in the dim mode by setting "Always Show" but not make it tick once the dim mode kicks in. Readson I was fooled is - on your mobile where you are editing the watchface there is a button which helps you simulate the bright and dim modes to let you see what the face may look like on the watch. When you press this button to simulate teh dim mode, for the face I was working on the second hand continued to tick. but once I transfered the face to the watch it stopped ticking!
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Yes, that was the conclusion I too arrived at. It's a little surprising that Watchmaker doesn't simply have a non-dimmed mode option.
And even more surprising that Watchmaker lacks a backup option
I used Styler. They have a "full ambient" mode that displays animations and additional details. It basically is a black amd white version of the actual watch face.
Purje Black allows multiple settings for ambient mode such as high and low modes.
Related
So I've finally had the chance to play with one of these watches extensively, and I am baffled by ambient mode.
It's not that it still turns off sometimes; that makes perfect sense. What's wrong with it is that it doesn't actually update even when the screen is on.
Test it yourself. Use the default watch face, enable ambient mode, and go in a completely dark room. You can leave the watch still or move it about, just don't let it act as if you're raising your arm and brighten the display.
Watch it for two or three minutes, and you'll notice that even though the screen remains on, it never updates -- the minute hand never moves, and so it doesn't actually show the right time very quickly after it dims. (This is with the official, default watch face, a just-rest watch, the latest firmware installed, and plenty of battery remaining.)
When the screen turns on from a raise or tap in ambient mode, you can actually see the minute hand jump forward several minutes in one go. Even with ambient mode disabled, the watch still turns on automatically with the raise gesture, and it takes no longer to do so than it does in ambient mode.
That implies there is no reason to use it other than vanity. After all, in the brief time before the backlight comes on the watch shows the wrong time, and it doesn't actually show the right time any faster than it would have.
But it's not really a vanity mode either, because except in a very dark place, the dimmed screen is indistinguishable from a powered off one to those standing near you. So you're wasting power, but still look like you have a blank screen on your wrist.
So what, precisely, is the point? It seems to me to add no benefit, just to waste battery. I'm baffled.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
I played with Ambient Mode a little before the recent update, but battery life just wasn't sufficient to keep it on. After the update, battery life improved enough for Ambient Mode, so I switched it on. I dealt with it a couple days, then ultimately turned it off for this very reason. It just seemed clunky to me, and as you stated, I'd often glance at my wrist only to see the wrong time until suddenly the watch came fully on and updated.
I was excited for Ambient mode, but like you, I no longer see the point. I'd rather just have a user-controllable setting for "fully on" sensitivity. If I could make my 360 just a little more sensitive to my raising my wrist action, it'd be perfect without Ambient Mode.
I wish I could have the screen on all the time in some cases.. like if you go to someplace classy, i would have the face on all the time displaying the watch face. Thats just me.
I've seen the screen update while it was dim. I do think that it is too dim to use outside like you mentioned.
I noticed this as well. Surely just a bug or an issue with android wear that will be fixed at some point. I'm also sure they will provide a lot more features to regulate screen controls, on, off, brightness, etc in future updates. It's just a matter of time.
I look at it this way... the sensor is kind of future proof if anything. Might not be very useful now, but could have a lot of potential in the next few months or once custom ROM's start rolling out.
Android wear is still in the early stages. It can only get better. Just be patient, we are early adopters on first generation hardware.
tlxxxsracer said:
I wish I could have the screen on all the time in some cases.. like if you go to someplace classy, i would have the face on all the time displaying the watch face. Thats just me.
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Here is a way you can set the screen on all the time:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=55311726
knoxploration said:
So I've finally had the chance to play with one of these watches extensively, and I am baffled by ambient mode.
It's not that it still turns off sometimes; that makes perfect sense. What's wrong with it is that it doesn't actually update even when the screen is on.
Test it yourself. Use the default watch face, enable ambient mode, and go in a completely dark room. You can leave the watch still or move it about, just don't let it act as if you're raising your arm and brighten the display.
Watch it for two or three minutes, and you'll notice that even though the screen remains on, it never updates -- the minute hand never moves, and so it doesn't actually show the right time very quickly after it dims. (This is with the official, default watch face, a just-rest watch, the latest firmware installed, and plenty of battery remaining.)
When the screen turns on from a raise or tap in ambient mode, you can actually see the minute hand jump forward several minutes in one go. Even with ambient mode disabled, the watch still turns on automatically with the raise gesture, and it takes no longer to do so than it does in ambient mode.
That implies there is no reason to use it other than vanity. After all, in the brief time before the backlight comes on the watch shows the wrong time, and it doesn't actually show the right time any faster than it would have.
But it's not really a vanity mode either, because except in a very dark place, the dimmed screen is indistinguishable from a powered off one to those standing near you. So you're wasting power, but still look like you have a blank screen on your wrist.
So what, precisely, is the point? It seems to me to add no benefit, just to waste battery. I'm baffled.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
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Just watched mine move the minutes hand just fine in ambient mode... this is with the classic Motorola face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTpDpgYwFY
I have started using ambient mode for the first time in a bright office environment and noticed that at random times the display completely turns off. It turns back on once I move my hand ever so slightly. For me Ambient Mode should always be on regardless of lighting condition and watch orientation.
zarks said:
I have started using ambient mode for the first time in a bright office environment and noticed that at random times the display completely turns off. It turns back on once I move my hand ever so slightly. For me Ambient Mode should always be on regardless of lighting condition and watch orientation.
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I thought it would stay on the dimmed mode the whole time too... but like you said it turns on with even the slightest rotation of the wrist now, and that means we can finally glance at the watch and see the time!
:good:
The minuets do update in real time so idk what you're seeing?
This observation definitely needs to be settled because we have 2 conflicting reports here. Some of you are claiming the watch does not update the time even when the screen is on unless you fully wake the screen. Others are saying it updates just fine, so what gives?
FYI my G watch always displays the correct time, even when dimmed, so I dont think it's an Android Wear problem. Sounds kinda like additional battery conservation steps by Moto. They are essentially sleeping the CPU so that there is just enough juice remaining to keep the screen on for 16+ hours. I just dont understand how some of you are experiencing this and others are not.
for me, in ambient mode, the screen still turns off after a while. but it turns back on much quicker than with ambient mode off. it often takes an exaggerated bring-up-arm movement to turn on the screen with ambient off. i used to resort to tapping the screen instead. with ambient on the battery still last me a "work day". off charger at 7AM and dies around 10PM or so...battery lasts longer with stock faces compared to Facer faces...
Most developer purposes.
My ambient mode used to stay on all the time now it turns off the screen..
ws6kid said:
My ambient mode used to stay on all the time now it turns off the screen..
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I just started using it and noticed the screen stays on if you keep it flat horizontal, but if you turn your wrist past 45 degrees it turns off.
Maybe they added that with the update, did ambient mode used to stay on even when that watch is sideways?
Ambient is so useless for me, the screen is almost off all the time... So frustrating coming from a g watch
RunNgun42 said:
This observation definitely needs to be settled because we have 2 conflicting reports here. Some of you are claiming the watch does not update the time even when the screen is on unless you fully wake the screen. Others are saying it updates just fine, so what gives?
FYI my G watch always displays the correct time, even when dimmed, so I dont think it's an Android Wear problem. Sounds kinda like additional battery conservation steps by Moto. They are essentially sleeping the CPU so that there is just enough juice remaining to keep the screen on for 16+ hours. I just dont understand how some of you are experiencing this and others are not.
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For me, I believe I have seen my watch 'get stuck' maybe once or twice where the time on the dim screen wasn't the same as I had on my computer. This could just be a difference in the clocks, as whenever I check both my phone and my dim watch together, they are the same. Like RunNgun42 said, I think it might be a thing where the proc is in sleep mode to try and save power and isn't keeping up the time as accurately as it could. Once you shake it though and the screen lights up again, the proc will come out of sleep and maintain more accurate timekeeping.
Isn't there a screen always on option in the android wear app?
And yes ambient mode still turns off when the watch is at an angle consistent with being down at your side or is completely still.
SilentAce07 said:
Isn't there a screen always on option in the android wear app?
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No, you can't keep the screen on at all times out of the box, but some 3rd party software can do it...
Ambient mode is a lot quicker to wake up and react than non-ambient, it's a lot more accurate (non-ambient often stays off when I turn my arm to look at the time), it's easier to see what time it is, and it acts a lot more like a conventional watch- the display is on when you need it.
Battery drain is not a biggie, I get through the day, every day.
Can anyone help confirm if they see this behavior with their watch? I have always-on screen set to ON in the Android Wear app. (Tilt to wake and gestures are both OFF.) I have noticed that even on the stock Moon Phase face, if I don't touch the face for a while, the watch goes to sleep. By that I mean, the face is completely black, as if I turned off the always-on screen option.
I haven't determined yet if it's always after a specific amount of time. Seems to be at least 30 min, maybe an hour.
Is this normal behavior? I was under the impression that always on means always on, And that time in dim mode would always show.
You are correct.
bailyc said:
Can anyone help confirm if they see this behavior with their watch? I have always-on screen set to ON in the Android Wear app. (Tilt to wake and gestures are both OFF.) I have noticed that even on the stock Moon Phase face, if I don't touch the face for a while, the watch goes to sleep. By that I mean, the face is completely black, as if I turned off the always-on screen option.
I haven't determined yet if it's always after a specific amount of time. Seems to be at least 30 min, maybe an hour.
Is this normal behavior? I was under the impression that always on means always on, And that time in dim mode would always show.
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You are correct, always on means always on, the only time the watch should sleep, is when you have it on the charger. You may have a bad install or worst case scenario a bad watch.
vvveith said:
You are correct, always on means always on, the only time to watch should sleep, is when you have it on the charger. You may have a bad install or worst case scenario a bad watch.
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Ok, thanks for confirming! I definitely have something wrong, then. I've factory reset several times and even taken off most apps, and it still happens. Looks like it might be the watch.
I have similar problem - always ON, gestures off, but after about 10 seconds it changes watchface to some dark/black one.
I believe the Always on Feature is not for having your watch face on all the time, but rather it dims your watch face but you still can tell the time with just the darker screen. It's not going to keep your watch face fully lit if that option is turned on.
Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.
rbs_uk said:
Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.
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Most of the folks that make the WatchMaker faces either just dim the face, or they make a dimmed mode face that looks like it has phosphorous markings. I personally make custom dimmed modes. My favorite method is to make a blood red version of the face with just the essential features. The moon phase ones can look BAD ASS with the blood red moon phase on a pure black background. This is the only watch I have ever actually gotten comments on in public. When people see it they notice that it ain't no normal watch, and it ain't no Apple watch.
rbs_uk said:
Well, then I`m selling mine. Why would I want all them beautiful watchfaces if I can`t have them always on?! That`s just stupid.
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I think the battery life would just be too short if you left the face on all the time, all the time meaning the watch never went into dim mode. Just run tilt on, and don't wear the watch to loose. Especially at night if the watch never dimmed that would get annoying as hell it's so bright.
'god guys, really????
rbs_uk said:
I have similar problem - always ON, gestures off, but after about 10 seconds it changes watchface to some dark/black one.
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Come on guys you do understand ambient mode right? When the main screen of the watch face shuts down it goes into ambient mode, which is simply black and white. Just like any pure android device. (i.e. Nexus 6) If you do not understand of know of this behaviour please stop posting and do some research. 'The watch is acting as it is suppose to in Android Wear. Just like notifications on a Nexus device. Google is your friend.
So is YouTube and understanding the android system as of today. Come on, get a clue.
Yeah I think if it was on all the time you'd be lucky to get even a few hours of battery life out of it....
falcon26 said:
Yeah I think if it was on all the time you'd be lucky to get even a few hours of battery life out of it....
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Well, I know what I personally thought was confusing is that "always on" isn't actually always on when charging. When on the charger, display turns off completely after a time. That's different behavior from what I'm used to based on the Moto X, which has AMOLED and still displayed ambient information on the screen when charging/docked. I find it a little odd that there is no built-in charging/docked display that uses the ambient (dimmed) display mode.
But to be sure, my watch definitely had something wrong with it. I just received a replacement unit yesterday, so I'll be testing it out today to see if it's able to stay dimmed as it should when off the charger.
Be attencion with "always on" mode, this is screen after four days (contrast on level 3).
I've had the "Ranger" watch face on with a full colour ambient mode and not experiencing any burn-in. Every minute it shifts the image somewhat in order to reduce any burn in effect. See https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.smartwatchface.watch.face.ranger.military .
Just to cease any confusion. Always On means the screen is always on. After a few seconds, the screen will dim and go into a black/white ambient mode to reserve power.
The OP says his screen is turning completely off. So it seems there is a problem there. Every Watch face has a different ambient mode. Perhaps the one you are using has a broken ambient mode and not displaying data.
I found the best way to make a watch face is to build one yourself. Purje Black is awesome for this (truely amazing app). I am not going to do a full review but the transition between full on and ambient mode is animated, looks fantastic, has lots of Hotspots to launch various apps like weather, Google Fit data, etc, and displays it in a awesome format.
But the best feature is that you can customize the ambient mode separately from the actual face. They also support community made themes, so just browse their Google Plus theme page, find one you like, customize it to how you want it and save it.
Just be careful with your AMOLED screen that you don't have any information that is static in ambient mode, like numbers, hour marks, etc. I prefer a Digital clock/Calendar date on my Amoled, but have a nice looking analog with various information on my full face.
The device going to sleep is normal. It will go from full on to ambient mode and from there if the watch isn't moved for 30 minutes it will shut the screen off. See below from Google.
"You can set the display to show the time or turn off completely when you're not using the watch. If set to turn off, the screen will turn on when you turn your wrist or touch the screen.*
Tip: Letting your screen turn off when you're not using the watch will help improve battery life. If the watch hasn't moved for 30 minutes, the screen will turn off even if you have it set to remain always on. To wake your watch, tilt it or press the power button."
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Hi
I'm trying to find an App for my watch that will keep the Watchface in Ambient mode for as long as i like (more than 24Hrs) even when it's not on my hand (not being moved).
Any ideas would be appretiated.
ausi said:
Hi
I'm trying to find an App for my watch that will keep the Watchface in Ambient mode for as long as i like (more than 24Hrs) even when it's not on my hand (not being moved).
Any ideas would be appretiated.
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First off between the battery hit and possible screen damage I wouldn't recommend that. But I haven't seen any faces or apps that would accomplish this. And since that feature is inherent to wear it would probably take root to accomplish it anyway.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
crawrj said:
First off between the battery hit and possible screen damage I wouldn't recommend that. But I haven't seen any faces or apps that would accomplish this. And since that feature is inherent to wear it would probably take root to accomplish it anyway.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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Thanks, i have root..........but still cannot find an App to do this, i still would like to try.
Ho about limiting brightness to lower level than level 1. While I,m not using watch, just before it goes to ambient, I can See brightness dimmed to lower than minimum and after, ambient turns on, whitch is brighter. What can i do to use lowest levels all the time?
Stay Lit Wear
In case you haven't found it yet, search Google Play for "Stay Lit Wear."
1) Can i disable the functions of "cardiac activity" "pedometer" ?!
2) Battery life is very bad, what can I do to optimize it?
3) On reminders and alarm clocks, it doesn't vibrate, why?
nothing?
up
I just got mine and the performance was horrible. I had to let the software update to 5.x from 4.x and after that was done I deleted it from my phone and then did a factory reset on the watch. After I did all that I used a moto watchface and had 36 hours.
On optimising battery life:
Turn off gestures (tilt to wake, etc), ambient mode (the display doesn't need to be on all the time, press the side button or tap the screen), and wifi. I also turn mine off every night when I go to sleep (I never wear a watch to bed, anyway) and I can usually get 3-4 days out of mine, with decent use of the actual smartwatch features (voice texting, media control, responding to notifications).
tygerchylde said:
On optimising battery life:
Turn off gestures (tilt to wake, etc), ..........
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Click to collapse
Although it rear tilt to wake option is disabled, the watch lights up when it turned up in the display.
Probably something else causing it to light up, but I'm not sure now what.
If there is a clock faces that have settings for this, those in the WatchMaker Premium application do not have this option to turn off tilt to wake up for reduce the battery consumation.
Monipeev said:
Although it rear tilt to wake option is disabled, the watch lights up when it turned up in the display.
Probably something else causing it to light up, but I'm not sure now what.
If there is a clock faces that have settings for this, those in the WatchMaker Premium application do not have this option to turn off tilt to wake up for reduce the battery consumation.
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Click to collapse
The Android Wear app is the only place that I know of where the tilt to wake option is located.
I don't use either Facer or Watchmaker Premium, so I'm not sure about that option under either app.
Using either app can cause extra battery drain, since the watch communicates with the phone constantly (or at least frequently) to update the watch face.
tygerchylde said:
The Android Wear app is the only place that I know of where the tilt to wake option is located.
I don't use either Facer or Watchmaker Premium, so I'm not sure about that option under either app.
Using either app can cause extra battery drain, since the watch communicates with the phone constantly (or at least frequently) to update the watch face.
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You're right. I probably had in mind the possibility of stopping this option from the watch itself, which does not happen until you stop the application Android Wear, as you mentioned.
Alternatively, it is talking about is removing dim off the clock.
Thanks for your guidance.
When i use custom watchfaces that use digital clock when the watch goes on ambient mode the seconds counter freezes for some seconds then catches up repeatedly. If i tap the watch and come back at normal mode everything works normally. Is this normal? Is there a way to fix that?
I *think* that in ambient mode the screen refreshes only once a minute or something like that to save battery power.
konstantinos86 said:
When i use custom watchfaces that use digital clock when the watch goes on ambient mode the seconds counter freezes for some seconds then catches up repeatedly. If i tap the watch and come back at normal mode everything works normally. Is this normal? Is there a way to fix that?
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Click to collapse
I think it would be a mixture of how the watch face is programmed and how Ambient mode works.
If other watches act normal then one would have to believe the other watch faces are bugged or are running as expected. You could Email the watch face developer and ask him how it should act.
I dont personally use Ambient mode so I cant say.
Hi. I know that the Tomcat face that came with the watch have the second hand move in dim mode. I wonder is there any more faces that can do that. I have Watchmaker but I thing it can't be done with it. Does anybody knows other faces that have the seconds move in dim mode or knows how to make a watch face with it?
arobles said:
Hi. I know that the Tomcat face that came with the watch have the second hand move in dim mode. I wonder is there any more faces that can do that. I have Watchmaker but I thing it can't be done with it. Does anybody knows other faces that have the seconds move in dim mode or knows how to make a watch face with it?
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Click to collapse
I know a lot of the developers like using the second hand for battery level in dim mode but I don't see why it can't be made to work normally. I don't use dim mode in WatchMaker, but I'll take a look at a face and see if it's possible, although it may be next year before I do.
In dim mode the watch only update once every minute so a second hand would just stand still anyway
limduldk said:
In dim mode the watch only update once every minute so a second hand would just stand still anyway
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Click to collapse
I know but I thought that because the preloaded watch faces don't do that maybe there were more watch faces out there that have the seconds hand move in dim mode or someone knows how to make one.
My Day that comes as a default face has second hand sweeping in AOD mode. If that's what you mean.
tuckersmission said:
My Day that comes as a default face has second hand sweeping in AOD mode. If that's what you mean.
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Click to collapse
Well, I know that the preloaded watch faces have the second hand sweeping in AOD. What I have found is that maybe with Tizen Studio it is possible to design a watch face with the second hand sweeping in AOD using programming.
arobles said:
Well, I know that the preloaded watch faces have the second hand sweeping in AOD. What I have found is that maybe with Tizen Studio it is possible to design a watch face with the second hand sweeping in AOD using programming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh. Got ya. Need to try out the studio. Good luck