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[GRIPE][Q] Notifications

I just got a SW2 Open Box at BestBuy. They even had a Black Metal one (Which is what I wanted) even when most other places seem to be out of them. It seems perfect except apparently, someone shortened the band. It fits me, but I would prefer it to be a bit looser on my arm.
At any rate, I am amazed to find out that you need to install notification apps. I would think this would be included by default.
I got a phone call, and the watch did absolutely nothing. Yeah, OK there are call handlers (official and unofficial), but this should be a default (configurable) function for a "Smart" Watch. It's kinda like buying a phone, and then being told to go look on the Play Store for a Dialer. (Oh, You want the number '5' on your dialer? -- That's an in-app purchase -- Grrr!).
OK, So I can deal with D/L'g a few official Sony apps for Gmail, Messages, etc., but there isn't one for Google+ (and/or Hangouts).
In fact, AFAIK, I cannot do it at all without giving an unknown developer access to my notifications.
I see that some of the notification app developers are active here, and that is a good thing, and I am reading through this forum, but what I would like to see what the consensus here is for a good, simple (preferably free, since I feel it should have already been included) notify app?
(And, yes, I do support the developers. I have already bought Speedometer for SW2, and others.)
The SW2 is really nice looking, and even without a mic/speaker, there are lots of apps/watch faces for it, but I am kind wishing I had held out for a Android Wear device.
I will say that unless you can get a really good deal on one, or want it only for very minimal functionality beyond a basic watch, I would recommend people hold out for a real Android Wear device.
Sony --- at least write a Google+/Hangouts notification App before you abandon this thing.

Notification on Android Wear are the worst I've ever seen. It works with very few applications. maybe later but for now it is very very bad

Linuxslate said:
In fact, AFAIK, I cannot do it at all without giving an unknown developer access to my notifications.
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The app devs don't have access to your notifications. Where on Earth did you hear that?
As far as Wear goes, out of the +10 smartwatches I own, the one running Wear was the only one I ever returned. I returned it because I found it offered less than even a number of cheap Chinese Gear clones and had even worse battery. And out of those +10, the SW2 is my daily. Better battery (my worst run was +2 days), readable in more conditions, install only the notifications functions YOU want (Wear enables notifications for everything by default), and supports more Android versions than Wear. All you lose is voice commands/search and that's about it.

The devs technically have permission to read your notifications if the App has Internet access. You can find an app that doesn't though, or revoke the permission of one that does. I like the choice the sw2 provides for these apps. Sony doesn't have to do everything for us. If that's what you want get an iwatch.

True but his was more of a blanket statement.

To answer the actual question, I use WatchIt! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.petersson.watch
It's free, works well for me.

The devs technically have permission to read your notifications if the App has Internet access.
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Yeah, this is what I meant, not that they actually do.
Also, I was not criticizing the watch in general. I did my homework, and I knew Android Wear devices were out.
As Lokifish Marz, I like the display -- on all the time, and I have never been in a condition where it was not easily readable.
It was also well supported with lots of apps, and more elegant looking than some of the plastic Android Wear devices or Chinese BT watches.
I also paid less than half what the cheapest Android Wear device costs.
OK -- Now for the honesty -- It was actually the Nixie watch faces that made this a "Got-to-have" for me. I'm a Geek, and I built a VFD Tube clock kit as one of my first soldering projects as a kid. I'd buy a real Nixie clock kit, but I really don't need just a plain clock these days. (This is what I use for a "clock" these days: http://linuxslate.com/Review_RCA_7in_Android_Internet_Music_System.html)
The original rant was caused by the fact that there was no "official" (Sony) Google+/Hangouts notification app, when there were certain others that I do not use.
I have installed the free SmartWatch2 Notifier, and it does what I need.
Now I am off to find some more geeky Clock Widgets, or possibly make some, thanks to the thread on this forum.
Thanks to all that responded.

Did you buy that SW2 in San Antonio?

No;
A BestBuy in Florida.
They had a silver one, too.
Also an open box. The silver open box was marked $171, where as new ones were $149.
I guess you were paying to have a previous purchaser test it for you, and loose the accessories, manual etc. so that you do not have to go through the effort of loosing them yourself.

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

Music ID like Shazam?

I love this watch, but the app selection is terrible to say the least.
Is there a app where I can identify music? I use this on my phone constantly because I'm in my car 8 hours a day. Now that I find myself going solo w/ out my phone, I can't use this and it's driving me nuts.
Is Tizen hard to work with? I'm curious why it seems all developers steer clear.

Tizen is just another flavor of Linux, much like Android. The reason development is slow is because there aren't many Tizen devices. Developers go for the big market share devices to maximize profits.

Actually the app side of tizen right now is not bad. I expected less apps than my moto 360. Oddly enough, I find that there are more apps! Even better, gear s3 apps aren't stuck behind a paywall pretty much all the android wear apps are.
Compared to a smartphone, yes the app selection is horrific. Which is why smart watches are having so much trouble taking off.

nascar48 said:
Actually the app side of tizen right now is not bad. I expected less apps than my moto 360. Oddly enough, I find that there are more apps! Even better, gear s3 apps aren't stuck behind a paywall pretty much all the android wear apps are.
Compared to a smartphone, yes the app selection is horrific. Which is why smart watches are having so much trouble taking off.
Click to expand...
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But people have to take smart watches in to prospective. We expect them to act like our phones with all sorts of apps. Truth is that smart watch primary function is getting notifications. You can't expect an app to robust on such a tiny screen. Yes Android wear has plenty of apps or companion apps to Android apps but I have found most of them useless. My S3 does exactly what I need and better executed than Android Wear and the Apple watch. I actually own a LG urbane which I never use anymore and I sold my Apple watch when I switched to Android and I don't miss it one bit.
Truth is you are still going to have to take your phone out for certain things. The smart watch was not made to replace the phone, just as the tablet doesn't replace a computer. I use my phone and tablet for 95% of my needs but there are certain things that I still need a computer for. Maybe one day the tablet will replace the computer or the smart watch will replace the phone but it's just not there yet.
Right now the S3 with LTE is hands down the best on the market, hands down!

I see where everyone is coming from, but keep in mind, they built this watch so you can leave your phone behind if need be, so something like Shazam, where it can pick up the song and then add it to my list that I can see on my smartphone too, is great.

tnt2sniper said:
I see where everyone is coming from, but keep in mind, they built this watch so you can leave your phone behind if need be, so something like Shazam, where it can pick up the song and then add it to my list that I can see on my smartphone too, is great.
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Click to collapse
Well then petition Shazam to make a tizen app.

a good internet radio app would be cool to have on the s3 , a youtube app where you could sign in would also be nice for catching up on subs on youtube , got filmon to work in the browser , video was good but no sound sadly.

Sirdragonx said:
But people have to take smart watches in to prospective. We expect them to act like our phones with all sorts of apps. Truth is that smart watch primary function is getting notifications. You can't expect an app to robust on such a tiny screen. Yes Android wear has plenty of apps or companion apps to Android apps but I have found most of them useless. My S3 does exactly what I need and better executed than Android Wear and the Apple watch. I actually own a LG urbane which I never use anymore and I sold my Apple watch when I switched to Android and I don't miss it one bit.
Truth is you are still going to have to take your phone out for certain things. The smart watch was not made to replace the phone, just as the tablet doesn't replace a computer. I use my phone and tablet for 95% of my needs but there are certain things that I still need a computer for. Maybe one day the tablet will replace the computer or the smart watch will replace the phone but it's just not there yet.
Right now the S3 with LTE is hands down the best on the market, hands down!
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Spot on with this comment mate!
I have spent some time over the past 2-3yrs trying to get people to understand that you can't expect too much from a 1.3" screen! Apps are for the most part gimmicky. A smartwatch's prime use is time, date, notification relaying, fitness, news/weather, navigation, call taking/making and music control. These are all covered. What apps do people REALLY want and would honestly use?
.

To be honest i really miss the original Galaxy Gear (SM-V700) which had the built-in camera which i used daily, which ran android, and i could literally send over any apk via bluetooth may that be gmail, a launcher, messenger, youtube, shazam, angry birds or whatever and it would run the app pretty well. Yeah. I miss that. I think everybody should have the freedom to use their smartwatch for whatever they wish. I understand that with tizen, samsung can become independent, they could triple/quadruple the battery life, but they essentially killed all the functionality that the watch had had. Bring back stock android or at least android wear.

theonlymac001 said:
To be honest i really miss the original Galaxy Gear (SM-V700) which had the built-in camera which i used daily, which ran android, and i could literally send over any apk via bluetooth may that be gmail, a launcher, messenger, youtube, shazam, angry birds or whatever and it would run the app pretty well. Yeah. I miss that. I think everybody should have the freedom to use their smartwatch for whatever they wish. I understand that with tizen, samsung can become independent, they could triple/quadruple the battery life, but they essentially killed all the functionality that the watch had had. Bring back stock android or at least android wear.
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Yep, I expected to have a few more options for compatible software but think more are on the way. I can pretty much do everything I need to BUT feel like I'm really missing a camera for sharing quick photos via MMS and video chat via Skype, etc.
Google Voice, which I have used for a few years, just released a new version and it allows user to send MMS. Haven't changed setting to make it my primary messaging app again, I went to stock messaging app when I got the S3 because I couldn't receive MMS or reply to messages on Google Voice.

Review (Bad GPS)

I have had this watch for a few weeks now. Aesthetically it's quite pleasant, comfortable to wear. The screen is decent and the battery life is as advertised. It suffers from a couple of major flaws in my opinion.
1. The GPS for tracking running (which is the main reason I bought this watch) is very poor. When compared with other dedicated running watches the speed and distance are way off, often showing you running through lakes and buildings etc. There is a long thread about this here - https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/queue-samsung-sport.html/comment-page-1#comment-2738519
2. Lack of apps - I have really found nothing useful to install other than Samsung Pay which for the record works quite well. I can't find an uber app, a phillips hue app or anything even remotely main stream for that matter. The app store is full of home made watch faces and samsung apps that you may or may not need.
So if you want a watch that will tell you the time and alert you to notifications in a very nice screen and form factor then this might be good for you. If you want to use it for sports you might want to wait and see if Samsung fix the existing GPS issues this watch has.

Been worried about that w the GPS. But there is spotify, and there is definitely an Uber app, I have it. There's a couple decent games like 360 pong too, but I do wish there were better options

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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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