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[Q] International Messaging Solution on Android

Okay, I've been looking for a good solution and haven't found one yet. I'm hoping some of the creative minds out here in the community can help me out.
I'm from the States, and I'm currently working in China. I'll be here for another 5 months or so. I'm a Nexus devotee, so I've got my Nexus 4 and my Nexus 7 here with me. The N4 goes everywhere with me, and the N7 is more of a couch/bed companion and a travel reader/movie player. I'm trying to find a good integrated messaging solution for communicating both with my colleagues and friends here in China as well as my friends and family back home.
When I first moved here, my plan was for Google Voice to be my solution. I had my cell number ported to Voice, and I have continued to use that for texts, voicemail, and VOIP calls using Groove IP. That has been a pretty handy solution, and it's nice that I can also access my messages when I'm sitting at my laptop through the Chrome extension. There are a couple of downsides to Voice though. The first is that it's kind of a clunky piece of software. It's certainly not sleek, and the syncing between devices can be a little hairy. I haven't figured out how to get a nicely functional inbox either. Google refuses to accept my China Mobile number for some reason, so I have to activate the app by using another friend's US number and then deactivating messages to her phone. Also, my friends and family members who are Apple users complain about the app being really poorly designed on Apple products. They don't actually need it of course (the reason I set it up was so my phone number would continue to work for everyone), but I can't control their end of it.
GChat/Talk is one option that I like quite a bit. It syncs really well between devices, and it's really clean and sleek. One issue I have with it is that, when my internet gets spotty at work (which is far too frequently), a message will sometimes arrive on my N7 at home, and I won't see it until I get home from work later that night. Also, once again, the Apple users hate this option because of the terrible choices on iOS.
In doing some research on some other options, I came across Kik, and I instantly fell in love. It's sleek like Talk with quick messaging, but it's more comprehensive with additional features and a better implementation of read/unread messages. I got it all set up on my N7 and was ready to tell everyone to sign up when I installed it on my N4. I looked at my N7, and I was back at the login screen. I logged in again and saw the screen pop up on my N4. The software does not support multiple devices. That's unfortunately a deal-breaker. Unless they fix that flaw, Kik is out the window.
I'm using mysms right now, and it's got potential, but I'm still not completely sure. I haven't really figured out the best settings to get it most effectively working with my China Mobile number and my Google Voice number. It's not as sleek and fast as Kik or Talk, and I've gotten some complaints from the Apple crowd about it not being very intuitive. But it does sync pretty well between devices, and I can access it easily on my Windows 7 laptop. So far, though, I'm not thrilled with it.
I would like to hear from the community any tricks with settings, additional apps to try, or other creative solutions to this. All ideas are welcome, and I'll be happy to try anything out to see how it works, so please don't be shy about any ideas. Thanks in advance for your help.

My iPhone 5S and my Gear 2

Ok, so after having worked with this for a while, I thought it was time to share my findings
I love the idea of a smart watch and a smart phone working together
I've had a Pebble with my iPhone, but for me, there were a few things missing,
YouTube has had some great videos and on the back of these, I've found that the iPhone can in fact do quite a few things with the Gear 2
After first pairing the watch with the iPhone (turn off and then on the Bluetooth option, and then check the box marked 'Make visable', then your iPhone can find the device.
So, with that done:-
Phone calls work between the devices ( find someone with a Samsung device, ensure your contacts etc are on that device, even temporarily, and you'll get your contacts and contact photos on your Gear2)
Notifications unfortunately don't work....BUT, Siri does...kind of!
If the devices are connected and Siri is activated, the sound comes through the Gear speaker.
So, with the new 'Hey Siri' feature, you can activate Siri by speaking into your watch and using it that way.
I find that I can ask Siri to read my text messages, send text messages etc etc etc. now bear in mind, 'hey Siri' only works if there's power to your iPhone, and I have a juice-pack and so my device has power. Yes, a long winded way of using it, but it works for me.
I use my gear 2 for all the fitness elements and heart rate, and it works for me.
Also, The official Google app works through the watch, Google Maps reads out your directions to the gear 2 too.
Now you may say that Apple are making a watch, and you'd be right....but I don't want to pay £300 for a watch!. I was lucky enough to get a mint condition gear2 for £70, and the added bonus is the battery is getting me a good 2 days battery life.
So, if you're interested in having a go, all this also works with the Gear 1 which can be picked up even cheaper.
I'd welcome your comments

Ok....you sold me on it. I too, have and iPhone 5S and was considering a Gear 2.

Nice one
Let me know how it goes
You can, of course, always sell it!
One thing I meant to add was that I use the camera an awful lot too.
Yes, again there's lots said about cameras and mega pixels etc etc blah blah, but, I find it very handy for 'quick' pictures, and the 720p videos cool!
I periodically connect it to my computer to put/change music etc and that's when I drag the pics & videos of it.
They then automatically fly upto to Dropbox ready for distribution whenever I wish.
I use the Dropbox Carousel app for photos ( just can't get on with Apples Photos Cloud thing...it's still too flaky for me), and so I've got pictures wherever I need them!
I was even on the Samsung website today looking at the additional watch bands and picked me up a bargain strap for just £14!!
They have some nice designer ones too
So for me, it's working nicely right now

pglandscapes said:
Nice one
Let me know how it goes
You can, of course, always sell it!
One thing I meant to add was that I use the camera an awful lot too.
Yes, again there's lots said about cameras and mega pixels etc etc blah blah, but, I find it very handy for 'quick' pictures, and the 720p videos cool!
I periodically connect it to my computer to put/change music etc and that's when I drag the pics & videos of it.
They then automatically fly upto to Dropbox ready for distribution whenever I wish.
I use the Dropbox Carousel app for photos ( just can't get on with Apples Photos Cloud thing...it's still too flaky for me), and so I've got pictures wherever I need them!
I was even on the Samsung website today looking at the additional watch bands and picked me up a bargain strap for just £14!!
They have some nice designer ones too
So for me, it's working nicely right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love it but it is a pain in a way because when I pair it with my iPhone using the bluetooth tap trick, the time zone is always 2 hours ahead of my time zone ( I am in the Eastern Time Zone )
Other than that, besides the limited functionality due to me having an iPhone 5S, I still love it. Hope someone figures out how to make them talk to each other in the near future. :highfive:

Hmmm not sure in the time zone thing
I'm in the UK and all I did was ask someone to pair the gear initially to get the right time
As daft as it may sound, you could always pick up a beat up old S3 to use as a'hub' for your gear..

Well there is always this thread here...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-2/help/tizen-mod-3-time-zone-option-t2989414
Maybe we can figure out how to get it working for each other. LOL!!!!!!

Others have said that they have gotten the gear to work with Caller ID with their iPhones but I have not figured it out. Any ideas PG?

My Gear S2 Classic verdict after 1 month every day usage

My Gear S2 Classic verdict after 1 month every day use:
Pros:
- Absolutely office compatible, looks great, really nice to wear and not too big for slim-wristed people like me
- Great battery time, runs in between 36h and 48h (I use it for time, notifications from 11 apps and 30 min sport recording every day)
- Excellent display (its AMOLED after all), even in strong daylight
- Probably the very best user interface, the bezel/lunette with the two buttons makes it very intuitive and easy to operate
- Thanks to MRTIMEMAKER endless watch faces (you basically don’t have to buy any…)
- Sturdy build (but also see cons for screen)
- Easy to connect and to administrate via GEAR App on my Samsung S6 edge
- All the apps shipping with it cover all my everyday’s needs
Neutral
- No speaker, I don’t really need it but the alarm clock is a bit lame using vibrations only
- Vibrations are quite weak (had to set it to strong and long duration to surely recognize them)
- HERE maps directions are not always distinct, so I have to look at my phone from time-to-time
- Built-in keyboard is hard to use and not really adapted to a round watch-face
- Currently very few applications in store (but it is getting a bit better everyday)
Cons
- S Voice is inferior to OK Google or Siri but it is needed due to mediocre keyboard
- No integration of Google Maps, Voice Search and only partly support of Google Now notifications (only first notification is displayed)
- Screen is only Gorilla glass, competition uses sapphire glass
- Notifications get overwritten by newer ones if they come from a different app (except for emails and SMS)
- Only the original charger (which is very pricey) works with this smartwatch, even that it seems to use wireless charging standards...
So at a scale from 1 to 10 (10 is best) I would give this watch an 8. With more apps to come it will get a straight 10!
My wishes for apps would be:
- Integration of Google Maps and Voice
- Keyboard alternatives
- Displaying (and editing to some extend) of notes apps like Google Notes, MS Notes etc
- A (working!) sleep tracker
- More information (tags) on currently played music in music app
- A simple(!) stock ticker

Thanks for the review. Min shows up tonight and I am particularly interested in your experience with other chargers. What did you try?
Thanks,
Fred

I totally agree with your review. I bought both S2's. For me, the classic was a little smaller than the 'sport'. The classic should have been larger to justify the $50 extra.

Uses Google Maps.. just a heads up...

Great review and very true. I used the gear s2 (non-classic) for a few weeks before I returned it. I will be getting the 3g version from verizon.
a huge upgrade for me would be the google now notifications all showing. In addition, the sleep tracking option would be great (which apparently will be available at some point based on other discussions online). The no speaker is a bit annoying, and I refuse to walk around with a bluetooth headset just so that I don't have to take my phone out of my pocket. Overall it seems that Samsung did a great job with this watch, and should be able to make it close to a "10" with a few further updates. I did find that the battery life could have been stronger too.
My desires for Samsung would be:
Full view of google now notifications (so basically pulling everything from my google now even if it wasn't a recent notification)
Sleep tracking (with the option of shutting everything on the watch aside from the time and the tracking items)
Customizable "sleep mode" (as opposed to only do not disturb and battery saving mode)
"watch only" mode (it would be nice to have my watch only without any notifications or anything else at times while saving battery-which would turn off all the "ometers", bluetooth, vibration, etc. and just give me the time)
Fast charging (this could hurt battery life, but it would be nice instead of the 2:15 it took to charge from 0-100% even if it's only to get a 25% boost in 10 minutes or whatever on a 250 mah battery... my notes 4 with off 300mah takes an hour to charge)
Overall... GREAT job samsung... really loved the watch. And looking forward to receipt of my 3g version

I have a sport but agree with most of this. I also have a moto 360, and save for the lack of Google maps and s voice instead of Google now, I find the s2 more powerful and enjoyable.
I also find the ui a lot more intuitive. Android wear you just need to memorize which swipe does what, there's nothing to clue you in. On the s2, it is apparent just by looking at it how to do most things.
They have really delivered on this, great first showing for this update to tizen and ui paradigm.
Swap google now for s voice, get Google maps going, offer a larger size, and they have a pretty compelling case to ditch android wear.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Great review, thanks. Any updates since last written? The Gear S2 classic grabbed my attention and since my pebble steel is having issues with it's screen I figure it's time to start shopping. I have a note 5 and don't use S-voice as I find OK google works better, getting the S2 I assume I can't use that. So that brings me over to android wear.

sapphire crystal glass is fare more reflective than gorilla glass, so using it will also make the watch less visible under sunlight.
Mr.time maker is really ****ty it doesn't support anything other than watch face + 2 hands, might as well use the stock watch faces.

jacobgong said:
sapphire crystal glass is fare more reflective than gorilla glass, so using it will also make the watch less visible under sunlight.
Mr.time maker is really ****ty it doesn't support anything other than watch face + 2 hands, might as well use the stock watch faces.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be fair, Mr timemaker also supports something like three or four complications as well as many cool faces -- all for free. Nice change from stock faces without breaking the bank. For something more complex, then samsung gear watch designer software is a good bet.

sefrcoko said:
To be fair, Mr timemaker also supports something like three or four complications as well as many cool faces -- all for free. Nice change from stock faces without breaking the bank. For something more complex, then samsung gear watch designer software is a good bet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but the complication support is useless because you can't customise it so it never fits with the rest of the watch face.
it disgusts me to see a "tourbillon" watch that just has a Google image of a fixed tourbillon, or a white "complication" that doesn't even fit into the slot of where the complication is supposed to go on the watch face.

jacobgong said:
Yes but the complication support is useless because you can't customise it so it never fits with the rest of the watch face.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works fine with many faces but I agree the lack of customization isn't ideal and doesn't fit well with some designs. If you're looking for something more robust I suggest using Gear Watch Designer.

After 2 months of use, my review of my G2 Classic:
1-Overall a good watch. Looks good, works well enough. I'll keep it.
2-POOR ALARM!! The main reason I use a smart watch is to get notifications and if this is so weak it does not wake me up in the morning or alert me of an email then it is a major fail for the watch.
3-Once I turn off those apps and functions I simply do not need or use (wifi, NFC, etc.) I get 2 days of battery life.
4-Screen is bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight - a major requirement for me.
5-The watch is waterproof - a major requirement for me.
6- The watch works with multiple email programs - a major requirement for me.
7-The watch functions are easy to work with in the most part.
8-Weather and Step Count are poor. The weather doesn't update hourly when you select that option. Only updates when I force it. Steps are off by several hundred from my phone. Not show stoppers, but poor. ((UPDATE - I just deleted all my non-stock Note 4 weather programs and used the one that came with the phone. Lo and behold it now updates hourly. So... use the stock weather app. Problem solved.)) ((CHANGE 2 24 Jan - now it doesn't work. Not sure why.))
9-Samsung Customer Service on this watch sucks. I called a couple of times and got people in India who obviously never heard of the watch and had nothing to offer.
What I"d like to see:
1-Get the damn update out! It's been a couple months and nothing in the US. I hear some of my criticisms will be answer by that.
2-Make the Weather and Step functions work as advertised.
3-FIX THE DAMN VIBRATION!! This is a major fail for the watch and the one reason why I do not recommend it to other professionals. It simply does not help me manage my time and, though I like the watch, had I suspected this I probably would have kept my Pebble. It woke me up in the morning.
4-The ability to set reminders by voice with Google Now off the watch. This is a function I use extensively on my phone and it would be better off my watch. Pebble actually has a separate app that does this as well and that would work too.
Some want more watch faces, more apps, etc. But since I'm not launching nuclear missiles from my watch I really don't want that much functionality. I don't need to see my photos on my watch, control my music, navigate, or many of the other things this watch does. I want some simple health functions, trustworthy notifications, and that's about it. I have one or two watch faces I use and I'm happy with that.

I've had my S2 Classic for 3 days now and I have no issues with notifications. What did you mean by the notifications getting over written? I've not yet had this issue. I can have notifications from sms, google+, facebook etc and can easily act upon them like comment on a google+ post. Unless you meant the same app it'll over write the notification or maybe I miss read. The keyboard I guess is mediocre but isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Is annoying that if you use made up words like nicknames for example you have no option but to press and hold the keys to choose individual specific letters but once you do that once you can save a word and I'm pretty impressed with the text prediction on it. Other than that I can type relatively quickly on it just having to get used to wear all the letters are now I'm used to using a qwerty keyboard on my phone lol.
S-voice is a little bit of a let down and would prefer the option to have google now but again it works better than expected seems to recognize what I say most of the time although is a little slow especially compared to google now. The only real massive fault I don't like about it is the lack of apps but this may improve with time and I hope it does because the bezel feature is pretty cool and it has potential just hope Samsung do all they can to get devs to make apps for it. The watch is smaller than I thought after looking at videos and pictures online but content is still readable and I compared it to my dad's wrist watch and the S2 is slightly bigger but is roughly the same size so helps give the look of an ordinary wrist watch which I like. Plus isn't bulky unlike my sony smart watch first gen.

I keep reading about weak vibrations which is strange. I set my Classic to long/strong vibration settings and always feel the vibration when it goes off. Maybe different on the sporty gear s2? Or just personal preference perhaps.

sefrcoko said:
I keep reading about weak vibrations which is strange. I set my Classic to long/strong vibration settings and always feel the vibration when it goes off. Maybe different on the sporty gear s2? Or just personal preference perhaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Pebble and the vibration was strong enough to wake me from a deep sleep. The one on my S2 Classic is hard to feel when I'm awake, much less asleep. It's subtle enough that I have missed calls and calendar notifications. Glad it works for you but it sure doesn't work for me. Its several magnitudes weaker than Pebble.

rogerperk said:
I had a Pebble and the vibration was strong enough to wake me from a deep sleep. The one on my S2 Classic is hard to feel when I'm awake, much less asleep. It's subtle enough that I have missed calls and calendar notifications. Glad it works for you but it sure doesn't work for me. Its several magnitudes weaker than Pebble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah that makes sense... I never owned a pebble but I can see how going from one device with much stronger vibrations to another one with weaker vibrations might be a problem. I don't use my Classic's alarm for sleep either (although I am a light sleeper anyhow so I imagine it would be ok for me there too lol). Ok, thanks for clearing it up for me. Hopefully samsung pushes out a future update that allows for greater vibration intensity (if the hardware supports it, that is). Personally I wish every smartwatch had a speaker too, so we wouldn't be forced to rely on vibrations all the time

sefrcoko said:
I keep reading about weak vibrations which is strange. I set my Classic to long/strong vibration settings and always feel the vibration when it goes off. Maybe different on the sporty gear s2? Or just personal preference perhaps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

After one month...
CONS
- I want SLEEP TRACKING!!!
- The bug of the alarm HAS TO BE FIXED asap
- There is no sound alarm (very bad)
PRO
- I don't use notification, so my watch is rarely connected, so my battery life is 4 days long (UAU!!!)
- Great screen
- Great usability
- Very elegant (I have the classic)
- Great designer for the watchfaces (attached my own face...)
- For my needs the APPs are sufficent
Final vote: 8 (it will become 9 with the Sleep Tracking)

Harmon Rabb said:
I have a sport but agree with most of this. I also have a moto 360, and save for the lack of Google maps and s voice instead of Google now, I find the s2 more powerful and enjoyable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Huawei Android Wear, and my opinion is the same as yours.
I went back and forth between the two for several weeks, and eventually just accepted the few limitations of the S2 3G vs. AW, and haven't had the Huawei on my wrist now for 3 weeks or so.
I'm a weather buff, so the one thing in addition to OK Google that I missed was the InstaWeather watch faces. They are absolutely awesome, with a really good animated radar face, and several others that are great.
I simply had to wean myself from glancing at my watch to see what's going on weatherwise (animated radar!), what was coming in terms of forecast, etc. It was painful, but not too much, and I found what I feel is among the best weather apps for Android out there, MyWeather. That helped a lot -- incredible graphical information, forecasts, etc.
If you like weather, download this app now, and have fun watching what's going on on the west coast right now as I type this
As for the rest, I really value the ability to make/receive calls, so the speaker is a big plus. The standalone 3G was a great bonus, but now that I've had it a while I'm find it far more valuable as a feature than I initially thought.
So, at this point the only thing I really have as a significant complaint is the poor performance of S-Voice. I've learned (and am still learning) the quirks of the program so that I can make it as successful for me as possible, but it falls far short of Google's voice recognition servers.

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.
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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.
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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.

I don't get it, what is Samsung thinking

First let me say this is a very fine piece of Hardware and I have been researching it these last few days and got nowhere, yes I see the demo's and reviews and it's all great but...………………………… and it is a big but
and please correct me if I am wrong and take it as a question more than a statement
- I cannot get access to view the available apps unless I have a Samsung phone - which I don't
- I have done numerous searches to find what I want and come up with near enough nothing
Currently I have a Smartwatch with a single watchface that is giving me all this when I look at it
Time Day and date at my location
Time at another location
Watch Batt Status
Phone Batt Status
Weather today temp hi/lo with pic
Currency conversion of my choosing (set on phone) realtime
It shows me all messages from all my messaging apps on my phone with the text, sms, line, FBmessenger WhatsApp etc.
Incoming calls with contact details or number etc
I can set my phone on the other side of the room and fully control my music player (poweramp) with album art etc, my music is stored as mp3 on the phone so is there even a music player app for the Gear S3 that can access the music on my phone and play it controlling the phone and playing from the phone ?
I really would like to buy this watch but can it do all that, can it even do all that with separate apps if want to scroll through to get there for stuff like currency and media control (Sony Phone)
can someone please confirm
Yes I get that I am not going to get a watch face that will show me what my current one does but is it even possible using apps widgets downloaded to the phone and/or watch to at least give me the functionality I have now
And I stress I am not being critical of the Gear S3 because I really like it and I want one provided it can tick all the boxes

Probably with a Wear OS watch

dersie said:
Probably with a Wear OS watch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes I agree, I've been doing a lot of reading up these last few days and the Samsung Gear S3 is the best watch on the market but it fails miserably because they opted to break from Android OS (Wear), I think they were trying to become Brand Specific like Apple but that is never going to work on Android - very foolish
I have narrowed my choices down to 3, Ticwatch Pro, LG and Fossil, Ticwatch is slightly in the lead, but I have decided that it must be Android OS, just a pity Samsung S3 went a different direction, I am not going to buy a watch that only functions for 50% of what I want no matter how good the Hardware is, to me it is a fail and wouldn't take it at half the price

Geoffxx said:
yes I agree, I've been doing a lot of reading up these last few days and the Samsung Gear S3 is the best watch on the market but it fails miserably because they opted to break from Android OS (Wear), I think they were trying to become Brand Specific like Apple but that is never going to work on Android - very foolish
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the Gear S3 is the best watch at this time.
Wear watch are really horrible. Very bad battery life (sometime not last the day), a lot of bug and hang, often the watch take long seconds to respond (when it works, often not works but do not know why ???) ..... apps are very rare do not mistake I have G-Watch, R-Watch, LG-Sport, Sony SW3, Asus ZW2, Ticwatch E) all are almost unusables. You must install app (and often faces) with the phone AND AFTER use the watch (with tiny screen) to go on Playstore WITH the watch (when it works).
With Tizen you have the "Watchmaker" app (same as Wear OS) and you can have advanced watch face. On Tizen I have note app, Google Task app, evernote app..... nothing for Wear and almost none of this kind

dersie said:
I think the Gear S3 is the best watch at this time.
Wear watch are really horrible. Very bad battery life (sometime not last the day), a lot of bug and hang, often the watch take long seconds to respond (when it works, often not works but do not know why ???) ..... apps are very rare do not mistake I have G-Watch, R-Watch, LG-Sport, Sony SW3, Asus ZW2, Ticwatch E) all are almost unusables. You must install app (and often faces) with the phone AND AFTER use the watch (with tiny screen) to go on Playstore WITH the watch (when it works).
With Tizen you have the "Watchmaker" app (same as Wear OS) and you can have advanced watch face. On Tizen I have note app, Google Task app, evernote app..... nothing for Wear and almost none of this kind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not address my first post and tell me exactly (from my requirements) what the S3 can and cannot do
lets start with a live exchange rate widget or even stock quotes, I am still using a Sony Sw2 and it does everything I want it too, I actually just bought an LG Watch Urbane 2 nd Edition LTE Unlocked for 100GBP brand new, very cheap IMO
also if I buy and Samsung Gear S3 I lose 50% of the functionality because I don't have a Samsung phone and never will have

And what we lost with a no Samsung phone ? The only thing is, maybe, the Samsung Email app wich works with Samsung watch. But even with a Samsung phone I use Aquamail and not the Samsung mail. All others things works same with samsung and other phone since the S2 serie.

dersie said:
And what we lost with a no Samsung phone ? The only thing is, maybe, the Samsung Email app wich works with Samsung watch. But even with a Samsung phone I use Aquamail and not the Samsung mail. All others things works same with samsung and other phone since the S2 serie.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you are wrong about that
Remember I don't have one and was unable to look at apps because I don't have Samsung phone.....but here is what I have read
- messaging doesn't work properly
- music player (control) extremely limited
- email
- calling functionality
- limited apps but I honestly don't know this for sure because I can't access the app store to look, what I do know is that AW is 100% supported with apps for absolutely everything I would ever need
like I mentioned - stuff like currency/stock tracking doesn't exist, XE is AW enabled but doesn't exist on S3
I use Poweramp as my music player on my phone and can completely control it from my ancient Sony SW2 - go figure, this is extremely useful if I am out and want to hook my phone up to an external sound system - my phone sits meters away and I can control everything from SW from my seat, does Samsung S3 support Poweramp ?? well I don't know because I cannot access the secret Samsung app store without a Samsung Phone or SW - maybe they are hiding it
The list my friend is endless, like I said in my OP - the Gear S3 is IMO the best hardware out there but is unusable on a none Samsung setup and even if you have Samsung phone it is still limited because of lack of app support
IMO Samsung made an error not adopting Android Wear and would have dominated the market it they had

Like said, since Gear S2 Samsung apps works on all Android phone with 1.5Go RAM. Works also on IOS but limited for app wich have an android compagnon app. Messaging is like all others apps and works same way on Wear OS or Tizen OS.
Email ? wear has not really an email app, works just with notification system like Tizen OS. Same for all

Geoffxx said:
I believe you are wrong about that
Remember I don't have one and was unable to look at apps because I don't have Samsung phone.....but here is what I have read
- messaging doesn't work properly
- music player (control) extremely limited
- email
- calling functionality
- limited apps but I honestly don't know this for sure because I can't access the app store to look, what I do know is that AW is 100% supported with apps for absolutely everything I would ever need
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a OnePlus 6 and a S9+, currently my Gear S3 is paired with my OnePlus.
I get my messages through Google voice and Facebook messenger, both work well. The random text messages work too. With all of these I get notifications but don't have the history, which is fine IMO, I can see and reply to messages, but I don't need to start a conversation from my watch in my usage.
I can play/pause/fast forward/rewind/adjust volume. It works for what is playing already, so I can't start my podcast unless it is 'ready' in the Android system (ie, if I press the play button on my headphones and it would play the podcast/music).
Email, I get notifications for Gmail, can't start a conversation on the watch though.
I can call and recieve calls.
The apps appear to be the same.
I tried the TicWatch pro, it was good, but the health features were crap compared to the S3, plus no MST and slightly worse battery life made me go back to the S3.
Edit: I'm not sure about the watch face thing..... Maybe later this week I can set up the watch designer from Samsung and see if some/all can be added to a watch face.

_Dennis_ said:
I have a OnePlus 6 and a S9+, currently my Gear S3 is paired with my OnePlus.
I get my messages through Google voice and Facebook messenger, both work well. The random text messages work too. With all of these I get notifications but don't have the history, which is fine IMO, I can see and reply to messages, but I don't need to start a conversation from my watch in my usage.
I can play/pause/fast forward/rewind/adjust volume. It works for what is playing already, so I can't start my podcast unless it is 'ready' in the Android system (ie, if I press the play button on my headphones and it would play the podcast/music).
Email, I get notifications for Gmail, can't start a conversation on the watch though.
I can call and recieve calls.
The apps appear to be the same.
I tried the TicWatch pro, it was good, but the health features were crap compared to the S3, plus no MST and slightly worse battery life made me go back to the S3.
Edit: I'm not sure about the watch face thing..... Maybe later this week I can set up the watch designer from Samsung and see if some/all can be added to a watch face.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like I said - 50 functionality, I want something that will work and is fully supported not something that is going to be hit and miss, but it is by far the best in terms of HW.
Over that last few days I have come across many people saying the same thing "I wish it was Android OS" even on this forum where one of the longest threads is about exactly that - porting AW

Geoffxx said:
like I said - 50 functionality, I want something that will work and is fully supported not something that is going to be hit and miss, but it is by far the best in terms of HW.
Over that last few days I have come across many people saying the same thing "I wish it was Android OS" even on this forum where one of the longest threads is about exactly that - porting AW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had WearOS, the only thing that was better (and not by much) was side loading Facebook messenger lite. Otherwise, IMO, Tizen and WearOS are very close in functionality, with WearOS winning in apps and Tizen in hardware. WearOS had more apps, but most aren't very useful, and I can program watchface in Tizen easier then WearOS. Tizen had more built in (probably do to the lack of third party apps) so things like sleep tracking works better.
Honestly, but a watch from somewhere with a good return policy and try it out, it's the only way you'll know if it works for you. I'd do this with both watches and see which works better in your specific use case.
I'm honestly not trying to persuade you one way or the other, just having used both OS's recently I want to give an accurate description as to their strengths and weaknesses.

_Dennis_ said:
I've had WearOS, the only thing that was better (and not by much) was side loading Facebook messenger lite. Otherwise, IMO, Tizen and WearOS are very close in functionality, with WearOS winning in apps and Tizen in hardware. WearOS had more apps, but most aren't very useful, and I can program watchface in Tizen easier then WearOS. Tizen had more built in (probably do to the lack of third party apps) so things like sleep tracking works better.
Honestly, but a watch from somewhere with a good return policy and try it out, it's the only way you'll know if it works for you. I'd do this with both watches and see which works better in your specific use case.
I'm honestly not trying to persuade you one way or the other, just having used both OS's recently I want to give an accurate description as to their strengths and weaknesses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply and I do understand, I'm in buying mode and have been reading and looking for hours upon hours just absorbing info on all the options, I started this thread for that exact purpose and it is turning out the way I wanted - input from experienced people that is helping me get through the clutter, I have order a watch that I managed to get at a reasonable price 100 sterling for an LG Urbane 2nd addition so no huge investment, the LG sport is a better watch but 2-3 times the price, so I will get it in a couple of days and see how I go with that, unfortunately I won't have my new phone until Sept (Xperia XZ2 Premium) so I will have to manage with my dated Xperia Z1 but it should give me an idea of what I'm dealing with
again thx for taking an interest in my thread you have been very helpful

had my first day with the LG and wow absolutely superb, helped along with the App watchfaces which is also superb
funny I set the watch up and charged it and went out, I actually thought there was something wrong when it showed 100% battery for 2 hours and then started to very slowly drop, I am now 8hrs in and still have 67% battery which I think is impressive, and I had an always on face with lots of widgets, very impressed