(Request) Alternatives to have S4 features on S3 - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III

I am currently running MOAR rom so I know what that currently offers. And I am pretty sure air gestures isnt possible. I personally am most interested in using my S3 as a remote control, using it to track health information and the smart scrolling feature. To me google now voice search is great (unless you can make a good case to try S4 s voice) and I don't see any other currently exclusive s4 features worth mentioning. For remote control I know of logitech harmony link and the dijit app paired with beacon controller, but both apps have really medicore reviews. As fof health tracking I am clueless to how well those devices like fitband and the nike band work.
Sent from my SCH-I535

sfetaz said:
I am currently running MOAR rom so I know what that currently offers. And I am pretty sure air gestures isnt possible. I personally am most interested in using my S3 as a remote control, using it to track health information and the smart scrolling feature. To me google now voice search is great (unless you can make a good case to try S4 s voice) and I don't see any other currently exclusive s4 features worth mentioning. For remote control I know of logitech harmony link and the dijit app paired with beacon controller, but both apps have really medicore reviews. As fof health tracking I am clueless to how well those devices like fitband and the nike band work.
Sent from my SCH-I535
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are many different health tracking apps on the play store all with different features. I kinda like healthtap, its kind of a neat app. As far as using a remote, its not really possible with the S3 unless your tv is connected to wifi. One new feature in the S4 is infrared in which is the S3 does not have. If you like, you can check out the thread in my sig which containes all the currently working ports from the S4 including the television app. The app does work great but the remote part wont function. If your tv is internet connected, you can try something like this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Relmtech.Remote&feature=search_result

Related

[Q] Controlling Devices with Note 10.1

Hey All,
So I just got the Note 10.1 I want to see how many things i can control with my tablet.
I know Peel Smart Remote is already installed for some deceives. It has some really cool features but it doesn't work that great, you can't specifically make it work with your set up. Especially if you have A High End receiver that is used for each device. It wants you to configure what Input to choose for each device. Anyway So want one that is more Customizable. Also there is some devices it doesn't work for.
So I search around a bit and I found BlueputDroid to Control The PS3 and PC, But will it turn on your PS3? is there any other apps that do it and maybe can control TV's and Receivers, etc...? so you don't have to have multiple apps running?

MusicBoss Alternative?

Hi guys
Currently have a pebble, and I have been interested in the Gears for a while, however I can't seem to find out if it can control all music apps with metadata much in the same way MusicBoss does on the pebble?
It existing on the Gear would result in an insta-buy for me. You can even switch the app you're controlling direct from the watch app.
http://www.rebootsramblings.ca/n/musicbossforpebble/
fade2black101 said:
Hi guys
Currently have a pebble, and I have been interested in the Gears for a while, however I can't seem to find out if it can control all music apps with metadata much in the same way MusicBoss does on the pebble?
It existing on the Gear would result in an insta-buy for me. You can even switch the app you're controlling direct from the watch app.
http://www.rebootsramblings.ca/n/musicbossforpebble/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently running on a non sammy version of the gear but I'm pretty sure it comes with a "Music Control" app just for the stock music player. Besides that, apps are still being developed considering it hasn't been out for even a month.
CarbonWyre said:
I am currently running on a non sammy version of the gear but I'm pretty sure it comes with a "Music Control" app just for the stock music player. Besides that, apps are still being developed considering it hasn't been out for even a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, but the music control it currently offers is pretty dire in comparison to musicboss. I will probably wait and see how future development goes, also taking into account the new Android Wear devices may change the landscape somewhat going forward.

Missing features / wishlist

I like my S2 classic much mostly for it`s design and battery life, but there are features that I miss much.
Lets write down wishlist for future updates. Maybe someone makes this come true!
I will update OP periodically
Sleep tracking
Camera remote shutter
Analog tachymeter app
Shazam app to recognize music
It sucks that the S2 lacks quite a few apps I hope in the future it gains more dev support especially with iphone compatibility if Samsung make the S2 work 100% with the iphone's that is. However most of those features you can get on the S2.
For sleep tracking there is GNight costs £1.99 and for the Camera there is Camera controller which is free. This is UK market though so might be different in other countries I don't know.
I would add Samsung Pay for the UK market.
Wishlist
What I need most of all is a modified Nike+ app that shows my heart rate constantly while I'm running in big numerals. It sounds so simple. I love the Nike+ app but it just doesn't have the ability to make this simple adjustment to the settings. Not everybody is interested mainly in how FAR they run/jog.
I am far more interested in what manner I run/jog.
I'd love to see improved GPS performance. Also, would be great if Samsung allowed apps to communicate with phone apps not via Bluetooth, so that the watch can fully work when connected to the phone remotely (kinda takes the point out of the 3g version if most apps only work if the phone is around.
.
like to have more kindes of Sports, like gym, Ski for the Trainings app.
regads
mikesaa309 said:
For sleep tracking there is GNight costs £1.99 and for the Camera there is Camera controller which is free. This is UK market though so might be different in other countries I don't know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can buy Gnight for $1.99, but I need sleep tracking app with full Shealth integration.
The only thing I want is android wear with the current ui. Because the UI is literally the only good thing about tizen on a smart watch.
I would love to see Wunderlist (ToDo List App) coming to the S2. It's the only thing that I really miss.
Gesendet von meinem SM-G900F mit Tapatalk
please?
allow wake up gesture to be set to last viewed instead of always defaulting to the watchface.
PIA when using an app, like music player for example, then after a timeout the wake up gesture will show the watchface instead of the music player.
mr neutron said:
please?
allow wake up gesture to be set to last viewed instead of always defaulting to the watchface.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is in watch parameter. It is like this in Gear 1, Gear 2 and Gear S
mr neutron said:
please?
allow wake up gesture to be set to last viewed instead of always defaulting to the watchface.
PIA when using an app, like music player for example, then after a timeout the wake up gesture will show the watchface instead of the music player.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be nice to have the option indeed when needed.
Re. your example there are currently three workarounds; music widget next to WF, setting to double click, and dragging down from top of screen then clicking. Granted not as easy as raising your arm but not too bad.
I'd simply like to be able to reorder my WF's. How hard can that be!!?:silly:
dersie said:
I think this is in watch parameter. It is like this in Gear 1, Gear 2 and Gear S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope. it was available on Gear2 neo, but then i "upgraded" to Gear S2 and it it definitely missing.
---------- Post added at 06:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 AM ----------
Cryps said:
It would be nice to have the option indeed when needed.
Re. your example there are currently three workarounds; music widget next to WF, setting to double click, and dragging down from top of screen then clicking. Granted not as easy as raising your arm but not too bad.
I'd simply like to be able to reorder my WF's. How hard can that be!!?:silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am using these workarounds, but last viewed wake up gesture is preferred.
mr neutron said:
i am using these workarounds, but last viewed wake up gesture is preferred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Perhaps the attached is worth looking at (hit the store today). Just a thought.
Schnuddelbuddel44 said:
like to have more kindes of Sports, like gym, Ski for the Trainings app.
regads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strength Training app just released in the U.S. Gear store by Samsung India. Also Skimble-linked Workout trainer app, Pear Gear app, and Rossignol's Ski Pursuit are available. I don't know if they're any good, but they do exist.
I would love to have tunein. Power amp extension. hotspot and better always on watch faces
1. Enable mic for calls - I often have the phone in my pocket with headphones on.. would be nice not to have to pull out the phone just to answer a call.
2. Guitar Tuner app - I'm working on writing my own, actually. Seems an ideal use case.
3. Improved SDK and documentation for writing apps - the current SDK is rather easy to "break" and hard to install and get working and although there's some decent documentation online it's fragmented and hard to find exactly what you need.
4. Google Now app or extension.
more blue tooth setting like naming each connection and being able to use mono audio like in android to listen to tunein radio when available if ever
Oobly said:
1. Enable mic for calls - I often have the phone in my pocket with headphones on.. would be nice not to have to pull out the phone just to answer a call.
2. Guitar Tuner app - I'm working on writing my own, actually. Seems an ideal use case.
3. Improved SDK and documentation for writing apps - the current SDK is rather easy to "break" and hard to install and get working and although there's some decent documentation online it's fragmented and hard to find exactly what you need.
4. Google Now app or extension.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2's more niche, but as a guitar teacher it'd be a godsend.
Sent from my SM-N910U using Tapatalk
Avatiach said:
I'd love to see improved GPS performance. Also, would be great if Samsung allowed apps to communicate with phone apps not via Bluetooth, so that the watch can fully work when connected to the phone remotely (kinda takes the point out of the 3g version if most apps only work if the phone is around.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the watch does not have gps? it only gets the data it needs to put it in maps app from your phone (connected through bluetooth/wifi)

Aaaapps where are you?!

I would love to get a Gear 3 as it seems to be the best Smartwatch atm.
Buuuut: It's like Windows Mobile... Where are the apps?!
Lots of apps on Android Wear (no wonder as they can be ported veeeery easily)... but almost no apps for the gear...
Doesnt that bother you?
E.g. an app for Logitech Harmony would be great... Universal remote on your palm...
Gesendet von meinem SM-G935F mit Tapatalk
This is something that has and continues to plague Samsung wearable devices. I still own my Gear 2 because of the camera and IR blaster, but the App support there is very limited and I bought an S2 and returned it because of the lack of App availability . The design of the S3 along with functioning SamsungPay and my bank supporting it finally were enough for me to get an S3 and keep it. However, the availability of Apps is extremely lacking... and no wonder creating a completely custom OS is not a very good business decision by Samsung. They made promises of more Apps for the S3, but as far as I can tell they count every watch face as an "App". There are tons of useful, cool, things that these devices could support... but I don't really expect that they ever will because of the proprietary OS and lack of developer support.
Having said that, I do like paying for things with my watch and will probably keep it for that and it does look like a real watch and tells time, so that's kind of useful too.
Which kind of apps do you lack of ?
I am looking torward to the decision that coding with C# will be soon supported using Xamarin/Visual Studio...
Might attract developers... as at the Moment it's only C++ or HTML5... that's just no Good...
All.
DominikReber said:
All.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well actually everybody miss apps but we never know which kind of apps they miss.
Ketaz said:
Well actually everybody miss apps but we never know which kind of apps they miss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really complaining for the number of apps available but for me some kind of music recognition app would be nice (Shazam or Gearam Music ID, which worked on my previous Gear 2). I'm also missing some kind of Feedly RSS reader (Feedly or Palabre available on AW). That's just my 2 cents to the thread
OK Thank for your reply and what are the other apps we missed ?
Personnally, i don't use shazam and i don't need RSS reader so it's ok for me
There are some workarounds for Harmony if you're willing to tinker.
I have mine set up through TaskS2 (paid app) and Tasker (paid app), autoremote (paid app) and IFTTT (free). Agreed that there should be a native app for it though - 4 apps to do one thing?! OMGWTFBBQ!!
Task S2 lets me interact with Tasker on my phone which runs a command through Autoremote and sends it to IFTTT to run my harmony command.
DominikReber said:
I would love to get a Gear 3 as it seems to be the best Smartwatch atm.
Buuuut: It's like Windows Mobile... Where are the apps?!
Lots of apps on Android Wear (no wonder as they can be ported veeeery easily)... but almost no apps for the gear...
Doesnt that bother you?
E.g. an app for Logitech Harmony would be great... Universal remote on your palm...
Gesendet von meinem SM-G935F mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Getting a bit bored with my S3...

So, I have had this watch since late November, so, here's my honest opinion after ~7 weeks use. (I suspect I get unnecessarily flamed by Samsung Fans for this!!)
The Good
- The design, rotating bezel is the best attempt yet at a simple selection system for a smartwatch
- The battery life - I easily get 3 days
- The hardware - nice screen, snappy performance
- Answering/rejecting calls from the watch works very well and call quality is superb
- Notifications work well, but limited as to what one can do with them with non samsung phone
- Huge number of watch faces - but who needs more than one?
- When S-Voice is working (which is rarely) its handy for 'remind me to...', 'set alarm for...' requests.
- Controlling music player on phone works well enough
- Very few decent apps, but Remote Camera, Xenozu (Youtube), Gear Browser, Toggles, Flipboard work pretty well.
The Bad - (Warning - this is pretty scathing!)
- Only 1.4GB free on watch from the original 4GB
- Watch is full of junk that cannot be uninstalled (useless watch faces useless apps)
- Seriously compromised if not using with a Samsung phone (eg no email, limited sms messaging)
- No way to add SMS functionality via third party apps. Can send messages, but can not go back through old received messages.
- No Gmail/Email (pop3/imap) app, if you have a Samsung phone you get this feature, if not then tough. A stand alone imap-enabled client would have solved this.
- Often the only option in notifications is 'show on phone' eg from FB messenger/twitter notifications - where we are talking about just a few words, this defeats the purpose of the watch, I need to be able to read on watch and reply on watch. This limitation gets tiresome. 3rd parties EG FB/twitter could fix this with their own S3 app, or notifications that allow 'reply', but we all know they never will. Some other notifications (eg email are less limiting)
- Samsungs App store is god-awful - there are many poor quality, paid apps, and when one installs them and discovers they are rubbish there is NO WAY to get a refund (unlike the google play store). I have wasted £20 this way.
- Decent apps on the Samsung store are hard to come by. The (fairly pointless) Xenozu Youtube app, gear brower along with the widgets app (displays android widgets on yr watch) are about the only decent ones that exist. The latter eats battery on the phone though. One notable exception being the remote camera app which is good.
- Samsung pay still does not work in the UK, and no idea when or if it ever will.
- a good 80% of the 'apps' on the Samsung store are simply watch faces - I only need one watch face.
- What remains is an extremely poor collection of extremely buggy apps.
- The 'SMS Service is not available' response to S-Voice attempts to 'Send a text to xxx' requests is tedious. There was no need to screw the functionality up so much for non Samsung phone users.
- Very often S-Voice does not respond - just times out and gives a spoken error
- The remote connection (via wifi) when watch is not connected via bluetooth is unreliable. Its supposed to make a remote connection to phone and allow notifications/etc to still be sent to the watch. Most of the time, it does not work even where watch/phone are on same wifi network, I have never had it work when they are on different networks.
- The watch is fussy about wifi networks (it wont work at all in my workplace for instance). It connects, but no connectivity.
- S-Health is a pile of junk, it auto-detects cycling when I am doing 60MPH on the motorway for instance!!! Among many other issues. Where is the option to remove it and replace with Strava? S-Health on the phone also eats the phones battery in no time.
Samsung needs to up their game if they are serious about Tizen Smartwatches, supplying their own developers for free to the likes of facebook, twitter, whatsapp, hive, ifttt, Skitrax etc in order to ensure that apps for the watch get developed, or paying devs to develop for the platform. They also need to change their store to allow a refund window for rubbish apps.
Samsung could WRITE an IMAP app to fix the email hole on the watch (could be configured from phone, but then work without phone)
Nigel
I am a Samsung fan and I agree with a lot of your gripes, but with all Tech products the "honeymoon" period is pretty short, in other words the level of excitement wears off quickly.
But I agree, if they want Tizen to take off, they need to have major upgrades to the software side of the experience. Samsung is and always will be a great hardware manufacturer, but the software side is always a question-mark. This goes for the overloaded useless crap software on their galaxy phones to the poor software functionality of their smart tvs.
Google is releasing Android Wear upgrades so hopefully some competition outside of Apple will spruce things up, but I am not holding my breath.
BTW, I had to turn off S Voice as it would randomly turn on 2-3 times a day (I didn't even have voice recognition configured) when I was in meetings, very embarrassing. I should have the capability to uninstall it all together.
Also 100% agree on the refund period, like what the hell, in this day and age it should be an easy thing to do. Have bought so many faces and apps that look great and advertise great functionality to only be disappointed when seeing it work after installation. Money wasted.
The only reason I dont have a Samsung phone is the software. Hardware great, but why oh why do they have to mess with stock android so much!?
Sent from my SGP621 using Tapatalk
I bought the frontier to try out Tizen. The other reasons were Samsung Pay, GPS (coming from Huawei Watch) and IP68 certification. I was hoping there would be great apps to support it along the way. The watch build (minus the rotating bezel) is fantastic but Tizen and the current Gear apps are just not exciting enough and hence my feelings are similar to the OP. Maybe my expectations for a wearable are too much. However, I'm looking forward to what Under Armour has to offer since I like to track my runs. Still keeping my Huawei with latest Wear developer preview installed which I actually prefer over Tizen for its clean UI, Google search and wrist gestures. I hardly touch the Frontier's rattling bezel for the fear of it breaking loose. I wish I could tap the screen to turn on the display as with the Huawei. These are just my preferences but its good that I can have the same notifications on both watches at the same time using one phone and therefore be able to switch between the two.
I agree with the OP post plus I'm fed up with the bugs and crap altitude and barometer. Maybe I'll switch to the Fenix 5 when it's released.
I also own a Lg G watch r, and the thing i miss on Gear s3 are the lack of google`s software integration. Would like to use "ok google", by far superior to S-voice. Also google maps, with turn by turn navigation on my wrist.
The selection of watchfaces are awful on gear, and many of them does not look nice on the watch. Missing Watchmaker app, awesome selection of quality watchfaces created by users.
Like mentioned in OP, the notifications are not rich enough.. the idea of the watch making it easier is not working good enough. BUT im hoping there will be changes coming, because it an nice looking and powerful watch.
blackspp said:
I agree with the OP post plus I'm fed up with the bugs and crap altitude and barometer. Maybe I'll switch to the Fenix 5 when it's released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fully agree with you. There is no apps and Samsung does not bring much to the table. It should be improving the experience, but in place they just rotate few features between models. They don't add new features, but only remove some to replace them with others. Then next models, swap them again (e.g. IR remote).
Progress will be to keep the existing and ADD something!
The only thing I enjoy with the Gear S3 is the look. I felt an improvement in quality, but nothing else. Hope that new intersting apps will get on board soon and that firmware update will be able to correct irrealistic figures from all sensors in that watch.
I fully agree with all of you.
I can use Google maps now with Directions, but even that one I have to start manually.
Toggles was new for me. (Thanks)
But still a lot of handy things as in the first part of Nigel's story.
Quick read my mail, etc etc, coming from a ,not too bad, Sony Smartwatch, its great.
And we have this beautiful KLM airline app.
S-Voice is a drama. (no Dutch)
But this is the Tizen choice. We knew it... lets face it.
Huib
Does anyone know if android wear 2.0 will support android pay on rooted phones? The only reason I'm keeping my Gear S3 is for samsung pay. The rest is too buggy as mentioned here. The other reason is spotify, which rarely works well for me anymore.
soundneedle said:
Does anyone know if android wear 2.0 will support android pay on rooted phones? The only reason I'm keeping my Gear S3 is for samsung pay. The rest is too buggy as mentioned here. The other reason is spotify, which rarely works well for me anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There first has to be a watch that supports Android pay with nfc. Right now there isn't any and idk looks like they might not let root users unless they make a separate app for Android pay for watches like Samsung did for Samsung pay for the gear s3 on how it is separate from the Samsung pay phone version. We should know hopefully soon.
Geez!
I was tempted by the Amoled screen vs the LCD of the Moto 360 v2, but as I am an HTC phones user the limitations will be bad.
Though I see there are some custom roms, I wonder if they can fix most of the listed problems?
Samsung Pay with MST keeps me around. Truly groundbreaking on a watch. If you're not using that, then yeah I can see how you'd throw in the towel.
I'm mystified by the lack of app developers as well as Samsung's poor app offerings! I want to be able to read all Flipboard posts! I want better functionality from the calendar. I want Facebook, a better browser and a swyping keyboard! And I want them to fix the WiFi so you can connect to password protected networks!
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
kronium said:
Samsung Pay with MST keeps me around. Truly groundbreaking on a watch. If you're not using that, then yeah I can see how you'd throw in the towel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Likewise, first impression was "Wow great watch" but after a month with it, it got bland fast so I sold my Canadian version (which didn't have Samsung Pay on it). I found out through the forum that the American versions have Samsung Pay which would work in Canada and that Watchmaker could trigger Tasker so I decided to buy another one. Honestly love the watch now! Samsung Pay IS really groundbreaking and makes this watch totally worth it. (blah blah blah I know, spending money so that you can pay for more stuff you don't need...)
I use tasker to control my home automation so that's a plus too.
I am fully aware that the Gear S3 is a smartwatch first and sport tracker second. But Samsung come on, at least have Strava come -on-board with a native app, S-Health sucks big time.
Yup. It seems to work okay with cycling. Just okay.
S Health is a humongous battery hog.
And how about a Pandora native app also.
I use the watch daily. I can see my notifications (text and Gmail) on the watch without looking at my phone. I also use Samsung Pay almost daily. I have the LTE version, so it it nice to be able to have a stand-alone device if needed. There are many, many reasons I like this watch. However, I think it is obvious that there is a huge lack of usable apps for this watch. Clearly, this is mostly because of Tizen, but Samsung is to blame for that. They have taken little initiative to get real app development. They could at least create a bridge that would allow some Android apps to function on Tizen. They are very hoggish and want to control all aspects of the watch for themselves but aren't moving fast to do so. They offer a BMW app for the watch, but how many people drive a BMW? Why not offer a Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge app, etc...? The list is way too long to mention here of usable apps that need to be available for this watch. So, as I have mentioned in other threads, the watch is great...it just severely lacks app development and Samsung's weak attempts (****ty contests) to inspire development is falling way short. I can only hope they change this very soon. Google should be releasing a pretty awesome watch very soon and I'm not sure if Samsung Pay is going to be enough to keep me with the S3. Especially since I can just use my phone for the same thing.
scott14719 said:
I use the watch daily. I can see my notifications (text and Gmail) on the watch without looking at my phone. I also use Samsung Pay almost daily. I have the LTE version, so it it nice to be able to have a stand-alone device if needed. There are many, many reasons I like this watch. However, I think it is obvious that there is a huge lack of usable apps for this watch. Clearly, this is mostly because of Tizen, but Samsung is to blame for that. They have taken little initiative to get real app development. They could at least create a bridge that would allow some Android apps to function on Tizen. They are very hoggish and want to control all aspects of the watch for themselves but aren't moving fast to do so. They offer a BMW app for the watch, but how many people drive a BMW? Why not offer a Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge app, etc...? The list is way too long to mention here of usable apps that need to be available for this watch. So, as I have mentioned in other threads, the watch is great...it just severely lacks app development and Samsung's weak attempts (****ty contests) to inspire development is falling way short. I can only hope they change this very soon. Google should be releasing a pretty awesome watch very soon and I'm not sure if Samsung Pay is going to be enough to keep me with the S3. Especially since I can just use my phone for the same thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with everything you say except SPay! Amen!
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
Ditto the two above posts...
I bought the watch 2 weeks ago and I love the way it functions personally. S health got a major upgrade 2 weeks ago, and to get the most of it you need to check off the activities that you like in the S gear app. So far I have just run and walked using this app. and it gives heart rate, and let's you know your pace and calories burned. I have yet to track weight training, and such. The Under Armor apps are there, but I seem to get and invalid email error so far. One of the best keeps getting better since the last heart rate monitoring addition.

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