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Hi!
It may look strange, but I really would like to keep the screen of the gear watch always on, at the lowest possible light setting and that when the watch detects the wrist movement, the light settings come back to the normal one.
I'm sure this will add up to very low battrey life. But if I can get a day like this, it would be great!
Thanks!
I wanted this at first, because coming from the Pebble -it's just so convenient having the screen accessible all the time and the gesture doesn't always register.My idea was that it should just be a very minimal screen in terms of pixel use to leverage the power saving qualities of the AMOLED tech. Problem is, the AMOLED screen is also known for burn-in on the phones, so I'm afraid even if we set this it would damage the watch screen in the long run (and I would be ok if I only got a day of use also, as I'm fine charging every night anyways).
There is a watchface called "AlwaysWatch" in the Samsung Gear store that's supposed to give you an always on face until the battery runs out. Problem is, it runs as an app instead of the default face and of course I'm afraid to try it due to the burn-in issue. I sent the developer a note saying make the watchface a small, but still legible digital font instead of analog and float the time around the screen periodically would get around this burn-in risk, we'll see if he adds the option.
Thanks for the info on this app (I also have a pebble ).
In order not to burn the screen, it would be preferable to change the watchface form time to time and put it in the lowet light possible...
FixB said:
Thanks for the info on this app (I also have a pebble ).
In order not to burn the screen, it would be preferable to change the watchface form time to time and put it in the lowet light possible...
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One of my disappointments besides the flaky gesture wake up is that there doesn't seem to be an ambient light sensor to trigger screen brightness changes. I would have thought that would be a no brainer for a device such as this by now.
rEVOLVE said:
One of my disappointments besides the flaky gesture wake up is that there doesn't seem to be an ambient light sensor to trigger screen brightness changes. I would have thought that would be a no brainer for a device such as this by now.
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Maybe the camera light sensor in the Gear 2 could be used for that purpose?
what is the difference between smartwatch 1 and smartwatch 2?
Thealshear said:
what is the difference between smartwatch 1 and smartwatch 2?
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Huge difference.
- SW1 smaller and display always OFF with TFT screen not readable on Sun. Just power button and other function with swipe and pinch. So no really watchface, just basic because always OFF. Not usable without connected to a phone, no hour if not first connected. Nothing work if lost connection -> zero app.
SW2 always ON better screen resolution tranflective display with monochrome mode readable in full sun. Power button and 3 tactile button for Menu, Back, Home. Works without phone for Time, Alarm, Stopwatch, Timer, Calculator and all note/memo app.
As said about sunlight readability the mn2 was very hard to read in even the slightest bit of sun.
The sw2 is great in any light.
As mentioned I know it has been said already but this was the biggest issue for me with the mn2
I just got the Gear S2 - I've been using the LG Urbane and wanted to try Tizen.
One thing I've noticed is that on the Urbane and Android wear - the Ambient mode is the exact same as the active mode - just a bit dimmer but looks the exact same at all times.
I can't seem to find very many faces through Tizen with anything other that two black and white hands in ambient mode or just a basic look.
Is there an issue with Tizen not being able to offer this ?
I want my watch face to be seen by other people looking down at my watch when I don't know they're looking.
I don't want the face to be shown just when I lift my arm - I want the look always.
This "always on" option will also make developers created faces then seen by others with the same watch in passing and they'll ask what that watch face is leading to potentially more purchases and downloads. -- grass roots marketing
I love the watch so far, but the lack of ambient mode looking just like active mode is about a deal breaker for me.
Any thoughts or suggestions here, before I return it and stick with my Urbane and having the watch face I choose always on ?
I've only been able to find about six (6) faces that have a similar look to the active mode when in ambient and it's still no where near as good as Android Wear's look with the Ambient mode option.
The Tizen ambient is only similar -
With all the face options to choose from when we decide on one for the day as watch owners - we want the face to be there always not just when I lift my wrist - I want to show off the look I decided to use.
This bother anyone else ?
jabakerman said:
I just got the Gear S2 - I've been using the LG Urbane and wanted to try Tizen.
One thing I've noticed is that on the Urbane and Android wear - the Ambient mode is the exact same as the active mode - just a bit dimmer but looks the exact same at all times.
I can't seem to find very many faces through Tizen with anything other that two black and white hands in ambient mode or just a basic look.
Is there an issue with Tizen not being able to offer this ?
I want my watch face to be seen by other people looking down at my watch when I don't know they're looking.
I don't want the face to be shown just when I lift my arm - I want the look always.
This "always on" option will also make developers created faces then seen by others with the same watch in passing and they'll ask what that watch face is leading to potentially more purchases and downloads. -- grass roots marketing
I love the watch so far, but the lack of ambient mode looking just like active mode is about a deal breaker for me.
Any thoughts or suggestions here, before I return it and stick with my Urbane and having the watch face I choose always on ?
I've only been able to find about six (6) faces that have a similar look to the active mode when in ambient and it's still no where near as good as Android Wear's look with the Ambient mode option.
The Tizen ambient is only similar -
With all the face options to choose from when we decide on one for the day as watch owners - we want the face to be there always not just when I lift my wrist - I want to show off the look I decided to use.
This bother anyone else ?
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Click to collapse
There are several reasons for this. 1) Battery life. By reducing colors and the number of pixels that are activitated, it allows the watch to go several days without charge. 2) OLED burn in. OLED displays will "burn in" if pixels activated too long.
However, there are several options one is the "Alive" app on the Gear store. Install this and your watch never goes into ambient mode. Free app. Problem solved. However, you will have shorter battery life. YMMV.
Rob
jabakerman said:
One thing I've noticed is that on the Urbane and Android wear - the Ambient mode is the exact same as the active mode - just a bit dimmer but looks the exact same at all times.
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Click to collapse
Not true, maybe an exception on your face, very very very.... few face has same dim mode than active mode on Wear. Worse, for example on LG-R Dim mode brightness has no setup and most time dim mode is brighter than active mode, so totally grazy
OP, check this thread for Gear S2 watchfaces that have more than the basic ambient mode...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=63804290
jabakerman said:
I just got the Gear S2 - I've been using the LG Urbane and wanted to try Tizen.
One thing I've noticed is that on the Urbane and Android wear - the Ambient mode is the exact same as the active mode - just a bit dimmer but looks the exact same at all times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is incorrect.
Ambient mode on both platforms is a part of the watchface design -- it has as much, or as little detail as the designer put in it.
There are plenty of Wear faces that reduce to simple 2 B/W hands in ambient. Try the Bang & Olufsen watch face, for example.
For the time you would spend sorting through the Samsung store to find a good ambient face, you could create your own with Gear Watch Designer. That way you could include pretty much whatever you want in the ambient face.
Ambient mode seems to use a lot of battery. Mine drops from 100% to about 30% in 16 hours on ambient mode, making nightly recharging a must. And, I'm not a power user.
Zelmo88 said:
Ambient mode seems to use a lot of battery. Mine drops from 100% to about 30% in 16 hours on ambient mode, making nightly recharging a must. And, I'm not a power user.
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I have a very intricate ambient mode and I have it always on, and I get 2 days on a full charge. I only have bluetooth on. I do not have WiFi on. If you have WiFi on, or if you have a 3G, that's what's eating your battery.
Rob
rlichtefeld said:
I have a very intricate ambient mode and I have it always on, and I get 2 days on a full charge. I only have bluetooth on. I do not have WiFi on. If you have WiFi on, or if you have a 3G, that's what's eating your battery.
Rob
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I'm only using bluetooth, no WiFi, and I don't have a 3G version.
So apparently on Samsungs official news site , the AOD display has a sensor that will disable the AOD when it's placed inside a pocket or a bag (Why would your watch be in your pocket or bag instead of your wrist?). You would think this would also work if say you're wearing a long sleeve shirt. I have been unable to trigger this via long sleeve shirts and I don't have thin enough clothing to test the pocket, nor do I own a bag to test.
"The device’s 3-inch circular Super AMOLED display has a resolution of 360 x 360. Its 16 million colors, full color Always On Watch continuously shows the time rather than fading to black. The ambient light sensor helps to adjust the brightness of displayed information and works to automatically disable the Always On Watch when users can’t see the screen, such as when the watch is in a pocket or a bag. Users can opt to personalize their Always On Watch with customizable, interactive watch faces."
Who's willing to help me test this feature?
Naturesretard said:
So apparently on Samsungs official news site , the AOD display has a sensor that will disable the AOD when it's placed inside a pocket or a bag (Why would your watch be in your pocket or bag instead of your wrist?). You would think this would also work if say you're wearing a long sleeve shirt. I have been unable to trigger this via long sleeve shirts and I don't have thin enough clothing to test the pocket, nor do I own a bag to test.
"The device’s 3-inch circular Super AMOLED display has a resolution of 360 x 360. Its 16 million colors, full color Always On Watch continuously shows the time rather than fading to black. The ambient light sensor helps to adjust the brightness of displayed information and works to automatically disable the Always On Watch when users can’t see the screen, such as when the watch is in a pocket or a bag. Users can opt to personalize their Always On Watch with customizable, interactive watch faces."
Who's willing to help me test this feature?
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Click to collapse
Someone already posted on the forums about how their AOD wasn't working, and they found out it was because their strap was blocking their wrist from making contact with the sensor. I'm guessing that the heart rate sensor didn't sense a pulse and turned off the screen completely, or some other sensor all together.
Here's the link:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-s3/help/problems-feature-t3507324/page2
My AOD also turns off when the watch determines that I'm sleeping and then requires a security pin.
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
optimummind said:
My AOD also turns off when the watch determines that I'm sleeping and then requires a security pin.
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Click to collapse
My AOD works just fine. But it will not turn off when sleeping or covered. It senses my heartbeat just fine. Perhaps my unit is defective? How did you get it to turn it when sleeping, anything special?
Naturesretard said:
My AOD works just fine. But it will not turn off when sleeping or covered. It senses my heartbeat just fine. Perhaps my unit is defective? How did you get it to turn it when sleeping, anything special?
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Click to collapse
Nothing special. My Classic began to track my sleep automatically out of the box. After I wake up, I press a button or rotate the bezel then put in my pin. Shortly afterwards, I get an alert on the watch and it shows in numbers & a graph how long I slept and also shows me how long I was motionless, how long I had a little bit of movement, and how long I was restless.
When the watch is simply covered up by my longsleeve shirt or a jacket, my AOD doesn't turn off.
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
It won't turn off AOD with long sleeves, because it knows you're wearing it. It only turns off if it's NOT on your wrist. Or when you're sleeping.
Did anyone install the new PK7 watch update on their Gear S3? Any issues with AOD? Like AOD not working or turning off despite the AOD setting being on?
Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
I just got my Frontier today, and I came here now looking for answers on the AOD feature i have been hearing about but have not witnessed as of yet... My watch goes completely black every time after about 4 to 5 second of inactivity. Like i said i was coming here now to XDA to find out if this was a config problem or what?? Two things I have seen here that may be an issue for me, 1 - i always wear long sleeve shirts, and 2 - i have always had trouble with the smart watch heart rate monitors getting a good pulse on my wrist. (This is my 5th smartwatch, 4th samsung) I did do all of the updates today when initially using watch. I have been wearing it about 8 hours. Hope this helps.
S1CAR1US said:
I just got my Frontier today, and I came here now looking for answers on the AOD feature i have been hearing about but have not witnessed as of yet... My watch goes completely black every time after about 4 to 5 second of inactivity. Like i said i was coming here now to XDA to find out if this was a config problem or what?? Two things I have seen here that may be an issue for me, 1 - i always wear long sleeve shirts, and 2 - i have always had trouble with the smart watch heart rate monitors getting a good pulse on my wrist. (This is my 5th smartwatch, 4th samsung) I did do all of the updates today when initially using watch. I have been wearing it about 8 hours. Hope this helps.
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Settings > Style > Always on. Have you turned that on?
Also, it won't work if the watch isn't on your wrist.
Is there a way to increase the brightness of the AOD? Mine is hard to see unless I'm in a fairly dark room.
lyall29 said:
Is there a way to increase the brightness of the AOD? Mine is hard to see unless I'm in a fairly dark room.
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No, I just kept gesture motion on.
kronium said:
No, I just kept gesture motion on.
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That's my set up also.
lyall29 said:
Is there a way to increase the brightness of the AOD? Mine is hard to see unless I'm in a fairly dark room.
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Try Settings, Display, Brightness.
gpmg762 said:
Try Settings, Display, Brightness.
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Thanks, this does seem to be the only way to make the AOD brighter.
"Samsung Flaunt" is a widget you can install, i installed it on mine (you have to select it from widget once installed) as i found certain faces i have time out into a default (black face white hands and red second hand) i didnt want this, i wanted a face of my selection be it downloaded or a pre-installed face to remain on at all times especially if i go out, if you select the "Frontier" face (pre-installed) and have AOD Turned on you lose very little in quality / dimming when the time out kicks in, with "Samsung Flaunt" you install the widget and this then allows you to have the watch face on for up to 30 mins, However it will eat your battery, but then i can live with day to day charging, I like the idea of going out for a meal or a beer with pals and my face being on, i like the idea of a smart watch simulating a "real" watch look, as we all know there are thousands of faces we can select to show off.
S1CAR1US you can change the time out by going settings/Display/Screen Timeout/ then theres a choice of 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes, if you select the desired time out, and go back to your normal face, by clicking your bezel one click left (notifications) and one click right (watch face) your face should remain on for that length of time, if this isn't long enough (wasn't for me) i used the "Samsung Flaunt" widget.
Rgds
Is it possible or not to set automatique disable AOD for exemple every day at 23 h to 07 h ?
[email protected] said:
Is it possible or not to set automatique disable AOD for exemple every day at 23 h to 07 h ?
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Click to collapse
Would be very useful, but it is not possible.
I mean you can't set it in system settings, but it is possible to use a "complication" in Gear Watch Designer.
I designed a couple of watch faces setting a complication to turn off AOD every night, was very simple.
slimsta said:
"Samsung Flaunt" is a widget you can install, i installed it on mine (you have to select it from widget once installed) as i found certain faces i have time out into a default (black face white hands and red second hand) i didnt want this, i wanted a face of my selection be it downloaded or a pre-installed face to remain on at all times especially if i go out, if you select the "Frontier" face (pre-installed) and have AOD Turned on you lose very little in quality / dimming when the time out kicks in, with "Samsung Flaunt" you install the widget and this then allows you to have the watch face on for up to 30 mins, However it will eat your battery, but then i can live with day to day charging, I like the idea of going out for a meal or a beer with pals and my face being on, i like the idea of a smart watch simulating a "real" watch look, as we all know there are thousands of faces we can select to show off.
S1CAR1US you can change the time out by going settings/Display/Screen Timeout/ then theres a choice of 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes, if you select the desired time out, and go back to your normal face, by clicking your bezel one click left (notifications) and one click right (watch face) your face should remain on for that length of time, if this isn't long enough (wasn't for me) i used the "Samsung Flaunt" widget.
Rgds
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Click to collapse
Where did u install it from.. Cannot find it in playstore store nor Samsung stire
Sent from my Nexus 6P
I went into samsung gear app/samsung Galaxy apps/searched for flaunt, installed and it should sync to widgets on your s3 gear, hope this helps?
Secret section gear 3
lyall29 said:
thanks, this does seem to be the only way to make the aod brighter.
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Click to collapse
if you guys trying fix all the lil things like brightness and touch and sound go settings_gear info_about device_software version when you infront of this click 5x and that will bring up dialer on there then just press *#0*# from here you can mess with brightness and all sorts of stuff if you figure wat *#0011# will help me out been trying bunch old codes from my s3 s5 days alot work on this lil thing and also if anyone figures out how too turn on dev mode cuz of thizzz pm me thanks....
While I had my my AT&T S3 Frontier LTE watch set to "Always On" I was getting something like a "Screensaver" which consisted of just the hour and minutes hands in white on a black background. It came on after the watch display dimmed and after the display time out. This happened while using the Chronograph+ (default) watch face. It was a distinctive + useful screen face that probably saved me some battery life. Now the displays dims after the time out and then it turns completely off (black). After I power cycled the S3 yesterday, I stopped getting this "Screensaver" and can't find the settings combination that will get this "screensaver" back. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get it back?
tamanaco said:
While I had my my AT&T S3 Frontier LTE watch set to "Always On" I was getting something like a "Screensaver" which consisted of just the hour and minutes hands in white on a black background. It came on after the watch display dimmed and after the display time out. This happened while using the Chronograph+ (default) watch face. It was a distinctive + useful screen face that probably saved me some battery life. Now the displays dims after the time out and then it turns completely off (black). After I power cycled the S3 yesterday, I stopped getting this "Screensaver" and can't find the settings combination that will get this "screensaver" back. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get it back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enable Settings -> Style -> Watch Always On
tamanaco said:
While I had my my AT&T S3 Frontier LTE watch set to "Always On" I was getting something like a "Screensaver" which consisted of just the hour and minutes hands in white on a black background. It came on after the watch display dimmed and after the display time out. This happened while using the Chronograph+ (default) watch face. It was a distinctive + useful screen face that probably saved me some battery life. Now the displays dims after the time out and then it turns completely off (black). After I power cycled the S3 yesterday, I stopped getting this "Screensaver" and can't find the settings combination that will get this "screensaver" back. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get it back?
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Click to collapse
I don't think I've really ever used the default faces. I know in a lot of the Watchmaker faces you can get a toned down face with maybe just the numbers and hands glowing when using AOD mode but I don't know about the default faces. In display settings there's a setting for auto low brightness that may affect that.
10urshin said:
Enable Settings -> Style -> Watch Always On
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Click to collapse
If you read the first sentence of my post you'd see that I'm already using this setting.
tamanaco said:
If you read the first sentence of my post you'd see that I'm already using this setting.
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Click to collapse
Yea i have read it. Not just first sentence but I also read the whole thing, you must admit it is not really making much sense. "Screensaver"? There is no such thing on this watch, only AOD and "Now the displays dims after the time out and then it turns completely off (black)." this sentence perfectly describes the AOD off behavior. So i thought it worth mentioning.
Only other thing that comes to my mind is default analog AOD watchface(attachment) which is something watch shows if the current watchface does not support AOD. But since you stated that you were getting your "screensaver" on Chronograph+ which supports AOD, it doesn't really make sense either.
Anyway hope you'll find your answer.
I also saw this "screensaver" mode in a review video somewhere, but I have not been able to locate it again. Once I find it, I'll post a screenshot of it.
tamanaco said:
While I had my my AT&T S3 Frontier LTE watch set to "Always On" I was getting something like a "Screensaver" which consisted of just the hour and minutes hands in white on a black background. It came on after the watch display dimmed and after the display time out. This happened while using the Chronograph+ (default) watch face. It was a distinctive + useful screen face that probably saved me some battery life. Now the displays dims after the time out and then it turns completely off (black). After I power cycled the S3 yesterday, I stopped getting this "Screensaver" and can't find the settings combination that will get this "screensaver" back. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and how to get it back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thinking more about it, I don't think the AOD is even supposed to remain on all the time. That has been a major complaint, the AOD mode not being actually AOD. What you're experiencing now isn't normal and there should be no setting to change that. If you want to set up the watch again, you might try resetting it. That's assuming you've already tried just restarting it.
What comes to my mind with "Watch always on" (or "Always On Display", AOD) and having screen completely black is if watch thought at some point that you weren`t wearing it - only in that case should the screen go completely black with AOD set, otherwise it should, well, keep "always on display", that`s the point of the setting
When you take the watch off your hand, then it goes blank even though AOD setting is still active - watch is "playing it smart" to preserve battery life in case where you`re not actively using it.
But, it`s possible for the watch to (wrongly) think that you`re not wearing it even when you do, thus turning the screen off when it should otherwise be in AOD mode (as set). For example, it can happen when your wrist band is a bit loose so the heart rate sensor has issues reading your pulse, or when the heart rate sensor itself is smudgy or otherwise blocked to make the valid reading - some people with tattoos reported that AOD doesn`t really work for them, having the screen constantly turning off (tattoo effectively confusing the heart rate sensor reading).
This is especially troublesome if you`re using "Samsung Pay", where the watch asks for you PIN in order to unlock itself every-single-time, as it`s thinking that you didn`t wear it in the meantime...
All this said, from what you described, it looks like AOD doesn`t work for you at all anymore, as what you seem to call "Screensaver" is actually AOD - a dimmed and more simple version of the watch, whose main purpose is to spare the battery while still providing a bit more realistic feel, having the watchface shown all the time.
There is additional "trick" to trigger AOD mode (once you have the setting configured), besides simply waiting for some (configured) time to pass by - just cover the watch with your palm for a few seconds, and it should fall back to AOD mode. If the screen goes blank instead, you might have an issue with the watch.
It would be good to have some default watchface in use when you`re trying AOD (like mentioned Chronograph+), just to opt out a possibly "broken" third-party watchface, and you could also check if "S Health" heart-rate reading works for you, starting a heart-rate readout manually (you can use a widget for that as well).
If the issue is still there, you may try restarting the watch again, or eventually soft (or factory) resetting might be a thing to go for, too, though you`ll have to setup the watch again, as already mentioned.
I have seen the exact same behavior. My AOD will suddenly become black and white, while normally it is full color, and any app icons that are usually on the AOD disappear. When the watch is active (by turning wrist or touching the screen), the full color face returns and looks normal - it is only the AOD that is always B&W. The difference for me is that I don't like it and I would like to figure out how to get it to stop happening.
I've had the watch for about 2 months and it has happened to me 3 times with different watch faces. It lasts from several hours to more than a day. I have changed every related face setting, changed faces, changed face settings, AOD settings, restarted, and reset the watch completely (and restore), but it still happens. The only thing that I've noticed may help (may be coincidence) is that it will stay indefinitely until I power cycle the watch. After restarting, the AOD remains black and white for a few hours and then suddenly the color AOD will return. Next time it happens I will take a pic.
I'm actually somewhat relieved that I'm not the only one who has seen this because my googling revealed next to nothing. I don't know if I would call this a screensaver, but it would be nice to be able to control it.
annulation said:
I'm actually somewhat relieved that I'm not the only one who has seen this because my googling revealed next to nothing. I don't know if I would call this a screensaver, but it would be nice to be able to control it.
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Click to collapse
I knew I was not seeing things... please take a picture if it happens again, so that we can have a reference image. I'll do the same if it happens to me again. In certain situations... I actually like just having the hour and minute hands in "brightish" white on black background. Like you, I would also like to control it. I thought it was a "screensaver-like" feature as the watch face turns mostly black. But as you say, it might be a glitch... it has not happened to me since I last power cycled the S3.
Low Color AOD
I finally figured it out.
The behavior is called "Low Color AOD" and "High Color AOD". It is controllable by swiping from the right side of the screen near 5 o'clock straight up. This consistently toggles it for me, and a popup message shows a message saying either "Low Color AOD" or "High Color AOD". See pics attached (sorry, don't know how to rotate them).
Pics:
1. Low Color AOD
2. High Color AOD
3. popup message Low Color AOD
4. popup message High Color AOD
Only some faces support this behavior. For me, "Low Color AOD" always means monochrome B&W and no app icons.
PS - this face is called "Stylish Set" and the creator gives free coupons for it if you email him. It is one of the few faces I've found that shows day/date, with temperature and battery.
As mentioned, the function described is dependent on the functionality of each watch face independent of the watch itself. If a given watch face supports it, it can be accessed. The "always on" function also depends on the capabilities of each watch face. Some have customized always on displays, and some do not (generic). The watch will go black if it senses it is not against the skin (the sensor on the back). This will also cause the watch to lock again and require the security code to re-activate. If a band is too loose, the watch can falsely think it has been taken off. The time that the watch face itself is on can be extended with an app called "Flaunt" available from the Galaxy app store. It can extend the original watch face active time to 30 minutes. It can then be re-activated to extend for other 30 minute time periods. Of course it does impact the battery life.