Hi all,
I hope that these are valid questions and someone may be able to answer them for me.
I am in the market for a smart watch but have some trouble finding out what these watches can ACTUALLY do.
Let me give you a scenario. I currently use my phone when i go out on the MTB (for health and fitness) with headphones.
I use MapMyRide cycling app to track and record my cycling sessions etc. I also listen to music and take txt's or calls from time to time whilst out.
Now I was REALLY impressed by the looks of the Moto 360 and I would love to be able to leave the phone at home and just take out the watch with me, but can I???
I had previously an i'm watch from Italy (nice smart watch) and although the watch, apps and everything was sweet i had some serious issues with it.
Anyway thats another story but I would like to be able to store music on the watch and listen to it vie corded or BluTooth headphones. Is there an app for this or does it have to use the phone??? i.e. the watch is merely a phone controller.
I would also like to use something like MapMyRide with GPS tracking etc and sync that to my phone when i get back home, so that the phone and watch are both up to date.
Are the above possible or do i need to look at other devices??
I await in anticipation as i like the Moto360 but just not sure if it right for me??
Thanks
Kev
Not quite yet. You can view your progress on your Moto360 (I use Runkeeper, but Mapmyrun/walk/ride work with it too), but you'll need your phone with you for the GPS.
I think the only Android Wear watch with built in GPS is the Asus (or Sony - I'm not sure). With those you'll be able to track your location and rides.
You can (as of this recent software update) have music saved to your Moto 360 and listen to it via a bluetooth headset.
The lifelog app doesn't work in my Nexus 5 with Lollipop, someone that have the same problem?
I can not even upload images of the issue :/
Bye
Mine is working fine. Nexus 5 + Lollipop+SW3.
What is the issue?
Hello,
I'm testing lifelog with my Nexus5 and Swmartwatch3 and it doesn not log when I sleep or listen music with Google Play Music.
And it cannot make the diffenrence between transporting in car or bus or cycle...
Do you know how to make it work right away ?
Flav106 said:
Hello,
I'm testing lifelog with my Nexus5 and Swmartwatch3 and it doesn not log when I sleep or listen music with Google Play Music.
And it cannot make the diffenrence between transporting in car or bus or cycle...
Do you know how to make it work right away ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem... :/
Me too!
Lifelog works for me partially, it shows the steps i taken, but i can't get it to recognize when i sleep
I really dont understand, why is this function so big problem for so big companies as Google and Sony. My 20USD Xiaomi Mi band has no problem with counting steps and monitoring sleep. And even another great function - I can set different number of vibrations for Whattsup, SMS, Skype atc...
Why this is not basic function of Google Wear and 280USD Sony SW3??? Google Wear for me is still "early beta"... Tizen on Samsung Smartwatches and even some cheap chinese watches are much more usable for now...
Keep contemplating this to replace my TomTom Multisport. Really miss the motoactiv when it worked, and it would be nice to transfer a Playlist, pop on the bt headphones and go. Will I regret the purchase? I have some amazon points and a gift card I can get it for about $80 or so.
I use mine mainly as a GPS device to keep track of my tracks. Ghostrunner is great for mapping your runs. GPS is very quick and accurate in my opninion (owner for 3 weeks, bought it for the GPS)
Overall i'm happy, used it with Ghostracer, Strava & Runkeeper some of the apps can be flakey but other than that i love it.
Love it! Ghostracer / endomondo to track runs while listening to music with Google play music - works very very well.
Good to hear. I just want to transfer a playlist to the watch and be able to go... 128gb card on the phone so I can store quite a bit.
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Golf and running watch
Hi. I just bought the SW3 for running and golf. Was tired of lugging my phone along to listen to music. I tried Runkeeper but it stopped working a few times in the middle of a run. Have switched to Ghostracer and it has performed flawlessly. I put some music on the SW3 and it worked well with my Plantronics BT earbuds. I wasn't so happy yesterday on the golf course as the SW3 ran out of battery on the back 9. Could have been because I was using Golfshot and the SW3 was connected to my phone the whole time. I might try Hole 19 and put the SW3 into Airplane Mode. Still early days for me though. I rooted the SW3 yesterday and put on crpalmer's tetra kernel to see if that will help out with battery life.
Yes overall the GPS on this device has been great, especially with the Ghostracer app others mentioned. The only challenge comes in when the metal backplate gets really wet from a lot of sweat or if you get stuck running in a good rain. I had a 7 mile run in September that stopped logging at 4.1 miles when the drizzle coming down became a solid downpour. Ghostracer kept tracking time, but GPS coordinates gave up. It seems to be a known issue to many users.
Wifey has one and it's complete garbage. You have to start music and running app in a particular order, it takes forever to get a GPS fix and it invariably either loses GPS or freezes/crashes mid run. Sony don't even seem to have bothered to make a GPS tracking app, so users had to wait for the rest of the developers to catch up.
I normally take my phone with me when I walk or run so I can stream Pandora and, thus, use the phone's GPS. But a couple of days ago I decided to leave my phone behind and listen to the music I had downloaded to my watch. I had a big problem getting the music (Play Music) and tracking (Ghostracer) to stay on. I started with the Ghostracer and then turned on the Play Music, but the play music stopped the Ghostracer. Then I restarted the Ghostracer (which began recording as a new run), but this stopped the Play Music. I went back and forth a few times before I was able to get them both to stay on. It seems like everytime I left the Ghostracer display, it would stop the current run. Runkeeper (which I normally use when I am running with my phone) does not do this. For this reason, once I got them both to stay on, I left the display on the Ghostracer app.
Once I got them both to stay on, everything was fine, but this was almost a quarter of a mile into my run (which was supposed to be 5 miles). So I ended up going somewhat over 5 miles for my total run that day. I think the trick is to start the Play Music first, but I'm not sure. If anyone has any advice on this, please let us know.
As for the GPS, once I got Ghostracer to stay on, it worked flawlessly. It was at least as accurate as my phone's GPS is.
I should also point out that I was using Jabra Sport Pulse BTLE earbuds. I like it that the Ghostracer app displays both the average and current heartrate from the Jabra Sport Pulse on my watch along with the pace, distance, and time.
I don't like it that I can hear each step reverberate in the Jabra Sport Pulse earbuds as a heavy background BLOOMP, BLOOMP, BLOOMP... sound. The SMS BioSport earbuds that I use with Runkeeper when I run with my phone do not have this problem (and they don't have to be recharged).
So for now, I'll continue running with my phone, streaming Pandora thru the SMS BioSport earbuds, using the Runkeeper app on my watch to display the time, distance and pace, viewing the Pandora notifications on my watch for the artist and song title (and to control volume and skip tracks), and listening for the Runkeeper audio cues on my earbuds that give me my current and average heart rate (along with pace, distance, and time) every 5 minutes. This is not an ideal arrangement, but the best one available for now.
Strange about the Play music and Ghostracer interfering - I use both of those for each run and don't have any issues... Chrisinleedsuk - I do start Ghostracer about 2 minutes before running to get a good signal without the phone.
I have a pair of BT headphones but I usually use this BT adapter so I can use my nicer Dunu headphones:
http://www.myblueant.com/products/headphones/ribbon/
Cheers.
JavaGP said:
I normally take my phone with me when I walk or run so I can stream Pandora and, thus, use the phone's GPS. But a couple of days ago I decided to leave my phone behind and listen to the music I had downloaded to my watch. I had a big problem getting the music (Play Music) and tracking (Ghostracer) to stay on. I started with the Ghostracer and then turned on the Play Music, but the play music stopped the Ghostracer. Then I restarted the Ghostracer (which began recording as a new run), but this stopped the Play Music. I went back and forth a few times before I was able to get them both to stay on. It seems like everytime I left the Ghostracer display, it would stop the current run. Runkeeper (which I normally use when I am running with my phone) does not do this. For this reason, once I got them both to stay on, I left the display on the Ghostracer app.
Once I got them both to stay on, everything was fine, but this was almost a quarter of a mile into my run (which was supposed to be 5 miles). So I ended up going somewhat over 5 miles for my total run that day. I think the trick is to start the Play Music first, but I'm not sure. If anyone has any advice on this, please let us know.
As for the GPS, once I got Ghostracer to stay on, it worked flawlessly. It was at least as accurate as my phone's GPS is.
I should also point out that I was using Jabra Sport Pulse BTLE earbuds. I like it that the Ghostracer app displays both the average and current heartrate from the Jabra Sport Pulse on my watch along with the pace, distance, and time.
I don't like it that I can hear each step reverberate in the Jabra Sport Pulse earbuds as a heavy background BLOOMP, BLOOMP, BLOOMP... sound. The SMS BioSport earbuds that I use with Runkeeper when I run with my phone do not have this problem (and they don't have to be recharged).
So for now, I'll continue running with my phone, streaming Pandora thru the SMS BioSport earbuds, using the Runkeeper app on my watch to display the time, distance and pace, viewing the Pandora notifications on my watch for the artist and song title (and to control volume and skip tracks), and listening for the Runkeeper audio cues on my earbuds that give me my current and average heart rate (along with pace, distance, and time) every 5 minutes. This is not an ideal arrangement, but the best one available for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I'm looking to snatch up a smartwatch on BF or maybe treat myself this xmas if nothing goes on sale. But I don't see the point of a smartwatch if it can't track my runs with an independent gps to save me from running with my note 5 ( no armband in the world can stop it from rubbing my underarm) . Looks like I have to choose between the urbane 2 and the Sony smartwatch 3? Also, does anyone know do I have to have a cellular plan to use the urbane 2's gps?
Just wanted to make sure these are the only two choices so I can make an informed decision.
I'm not seeing gps on the urbane 2.
http://www.lg.com/us/smart-watches/lg-W200-Opal-Blue-lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition
ConnectivityLTE / 3G, Bluetooth® Version 4.1; Wi-Fi® Connectivity and Offline Music Play
Sensor9-Axis (Gyro/Accelerometer/Compass) / Barometer / PPG (Heart Rate Sensor)
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dbpaddler said:
I'm not seeing gps on the urbane 2.
http://www.lg.com/us/smart-watches/lg-W200-Opal-Blue-lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition
ConnectivityLTE / 3G, Bluetooth® Version 4.1; Wi-Fi® Connectivity and Offline Music Play
Sensor9-Axis (Gyro/Accelerometer/Compass) / Barometer / PPG (Heart Rate Sensor)
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have read on androidcentral and https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidWear/comments/3ss9lf/lg_urbane_2_does_it_actually_have_gps/ states that it does. Forums have confirmed that even without cellular activation that they can get GPs lock. So I guess that means these are the 2 devices I should look at
Not seeing where anyone confirms it has gps. The 2nd guy says yes to a video of gps in action, but that doesn't tell me squat. And there's no proof. The last guy owns one and can't tell if it has standalone gps because it makes him turn on his phone to use maps.
So what are you reading that I'm not?
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dbpaddler said:
Not seeing where anyone confirms it has gps. The 2nd guy says yes to a video of gps in action, but that doesn't tell me squat. And there's no proof. The last guy owns one and can't tell if it has standalone gps because it makes him turn on his phone to use maps.
So what are you reading that I'm not?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://m.androidcentral.com/first-five-things-know-about-lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-lte
Ctrl+f gps
Edit: after some googling looks like moto 360 sport has gps too. Something to consider.
People confirm it in this thread...
http://www.androidcentral.com/first-five-things-know-about-lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-lte
Seems like android wear needs an update though to fully take advantage of it all. I'll wait for a deal to pick one up, and I'm sure by then someone will have tried it with ghost racer and posted results.
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dbpaddler said:
People confirm it in this thread...
http://www.androidcentral.com/first-five-things-know-about-lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-lte
Seems like android wear needs an update though to fully take advantage of it all. I'll wait for a deal to pick one up, and I'm sure by then someone will have tried it with ghost racer and posted results.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol identical post times. But yeah I'm with you. I am looking for something with better battery life and screen based on common complaints from the sm3. Independent gps is a must to justify androidwear for me tho.
Yeah. I'm trying to avoid getting the Garmin, and I don't really "need" a smartwatch. Living with my TomTom multisport and carrying my Sansa clip with wired buds. Would love to ditch the combo. Not as concerned about battery life. Just want a seamless experience.
And with the way they update androidwear, I think it's the time to jump in with this generation of devices.
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I'm happy user of SW3. As many people here, I use Ghostracer for GPS tracking. It 's not perfect, but quite good. Battery life may be an issue for long runs. GPS fix sometimes takes a long time, but otherwise GPS is quite accurate.
Do you get a GPS signal without connecting the watch to your phone? I am testing a smartwatch 3 and it need to be connected to my phone to find the place where I am. I am testing with Maps and Viewranger and none of them finds a signal.
So I'm thinking about picking up a galaxy watch today. I have been a long time wear os user. My current watch is the Ticwatch E.
Im a guy with smaller wrists, the ticwatch e 43mm case fits me pretty well so I was thinking about getting the 42mm galaxy watch, but the larger battery is in the 46mm is really appealing. For anyone who has seen them side by side in person, does the 46mm look that much larger?
How is Bixby on the watch for doing basic things like setting timers and sending texts? I have seen the reviews where it is bad at some more advanced tasks but I just use my Google assistant for basic things.
I also use Google play music, I know there is no stand alone app for the watch but is there at least a basic play/pause, next track option on the watch when playing something through play music?
I can answer the first point.
My wrists are 5.9 inches around, but when I tried the 46mm it looked absolutely fine to me, so that's what I have ordered.
The 42mm didn't seem that much smaller, but the screen was notable smaller.
Try it in a store, to know how you think it looks on your wrist.
There is play, pause and next and previous track options with name of song and album artwork on the music app. I use the widget to easily skip a track. Its not bad. The only downside compared to wear os is that you cant use google play music as a standalone app to play music without your phone.
brownpm85 said:
So I'm thinking about picking up a galaxy watch today. I have been a long time wear os user. My current watch is the Ticwatch E.
Im a guy with smaller wrists, the ticwatch e 43mm case fits me pretty well so I was thinking about getting the 42mm galaxy watch, but the larger battery is in the 46mm is really appealing. For anyone who has seen them side by side in person, does the 46mm look that much larger?
How is Bixby on the watch for doing basic things like setting timers and sending texts? I have seen the reviews where it is bad at some more advanced tasks but I just use my Google assistant for basic things.
I also use Google play music, I know there is no stand alone app for the watch but is there at least a basic play/pause, next track option on the watch when playing something through play music?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say that the watch is not a huge difference from any 42mm watches, but it will look big if the 43mm watch was already a perfect or a large fit on you. I don't think bixby on the watch is anything you could use. I've tried it several times and it appears to do the bare minimum of tasks. Like how you'd ask S Voice back in the day. It can set reminders, send texts and make calls and alarms, but it can struggle sometimes and hang for some time. However, I don't think you'll need any assisstant as the rotating dial and the smooth experience can help you accomplish tasks fast enough.
As for the music, you have spotify to install as a standalone app or as a remote for your phone. The Music app on the watch is set to work as a remote with play / pause, volume up / down and skip tracks forward or backward. You can also send tracks to your watch and use the watch alone with the onboard storage with a bluetooth headset or from the watch speakers. I mainly use it as a remote for the large amount of music on my phone, but you could probably fit some music on the watch.
The verdict is: if you're looking for a smartwatch that looks cool and elegant and has good functionality, the Galaxy watch is for you. If you're the kond of person who wants the watch for apps and all that stuff, you will find some on this watch, but it's not as versatile as Wear OS. I personally like Tizen and the look of the watch plus the battery life.
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Oh, and the watch has Uber (for me with a galaxy phone) if you want to catch a ride. I used to call ubers with google assisstant as my previous watch didn't have uber. It doesn't have Google maps (or pay extra for a third party app), but you can download Here maps (or Here WeGo as it's named) and it's really nice with offline maps on the watch.