I noticed this problem from day one, when I turn the always on display settings ON the watch face enters the ambient mode then goes blank after 15-20sec.
Sometimes the watch face didn't even enter the ambient mode it directly goes blank. Does anyone have this issue ? Any way to fix this problem?
Do you have a tattoo on your wrist?
rahult1998 said:
I noticed this problem from day one, when I turn the always on display settings ON the watch face enters the ambient mode then goes blank after 15-20sec.
Sometimes the watch face didn't even enter the ambient mode it directly goes blank. Does anyone have this issue ? Any way to fix this problem?
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Try cleaning the heart rate sensor. I think the watch uses it to detect whether the watch is still on your wrist. If it thinks that it's not on your wrist, your screen will go blank rather than going into AOD.
Im right handed so always wore my watches on my left wrist. Turns out the tattoo on my left wrist screwed with the sensors so it never knew I was wearing it. AOD, & heart rate weren't working. Even worst, I set up samsung pay so I had to enter a pin everytime I looked at my watch for notifications! I've since switched my Gear s3 to my right wrist (tattoo free) and havent had any problems. AOD & Heart rate works, and only have to enter pin if I take watch off or fall asleep wearing it.
I have somehow the same problem. I want to use a nato strap though the HR sensor is blocked. Do I have any options to use the AOD without the HR sensor and have the AOD watchfaces available? My preference would be to use the dimmed watchface and not to set the display to 3 and have it always on (using a app).
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?
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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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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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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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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?
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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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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.
Whenever I'm running, my watch screen constantly reverts back to the watch face. For instance, if I'm trying to click into Music to change track or to S Health to view the time or distance, it'll change to that screen for about half a second and then instantly flick back to the watch face before I can actually see what I want to see. I can understand it reverting to watch face after a normal 30 second timeout but this is instant. Is there any way to prevent it from doing this?
You can try mapmyrun from under armour, it stayed on throughout my run (there is a setting in the app to keep screen on).
Tmel14 said:
Whenever I'm running, my watch screen constantly reverts back to the watch face. For instance, if I'm trying to click into Music to change track or to S Health to view the time or distance, it'll change to that screen for about half a second and then instantly flick back to the watch face before I can actually see what I want to see. I can understand it reverting to watch face after a normal 30 second timeout but this is instant. Is there any way to prevent it from doing this?
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try to switch off the "Movement Activation". Then if you want your screen to stay on all the time, install Flaunt. That's what I do when I'm exercising.
Is there a way I can set up my S3 so that it always stays on, but ONLY when on the charging station. I want to use this as a clock for when I am in bed. I know I can change the settings to make the screen stay on but I don't want to have to do this manually every night, and more importantly have to remember to turn it off during the day . I have seen other threads talking about it turning off at night but I just thought it would be fine, even if I am in the office and charging it to be able to see the face just like a clock.
Good idea. I was also looking for a clock in my room. Maybe a watch face that has this shortcut on it. But probably it would be difficult to find a watch face with this feature and to like the face.
Does anyone else have issue with the continuously flashing green light at the back of the watch? It even happens when I'm not wearing my watch. My "stress" measuring is set to "manual only" and my HR measuring is set to either "Manual only" or "every 10 minutes while still". I've tried both settings and experience the same issue. The only way to make it stop is reboot the watch but then a couple of hours afterwards it starts again. When I reboot the watch I do notice the green light being on sometime when I take the watch off but as soon as I set it upside down the light goes off. It also activates again when I pick it up. It feels more like it's trying to figure out whether I'm wearing the watch or not. This green light is still, doesn't blink. That's not what I'm complaining about. The issue I'm having is a constantly flashing green light. It doesn't seem like it should be doing that and the fact that it's not doing it for a while after I reboot the watch seems to support that thought.
I have the latest software updates and tried resetting the watch also with no luck.
I just took a manual HR reading and that stopped the blinking, for now. As a test, I went into the HR settings and set it to measure contiously and noticed that the light would blink continuously however when I set the watch face down on the table the blinking would stop and only continue when the watch was back on my arm. So even with the setting set on continuous it's technically not supposed to be blinking when you're not wearing the watch. Regardless, my setting was always either "measure every 10min when still" or "manual only". It's interesting that taking the manual reading for now has made it stop blinking.
I've noticed that same behavior, so I keep it set to manual for now...
Mine does it even when it's on manual. It seemed to be working fine earlier but then I set it down to charge and when I picked it up later it was flashing like crazy again. I have all the sensors set to manual and I also don't have a watch face that displays any of the sensor information. I'm actually returning it today because it just does not seem like normal behavior. But like I said, when it appeared to be working fine again I did a little test and set it to measure HR continuously at which point the light was flashing like crazy while the watch was on my wrist however as soon as I took it off and set it face down on the table it would stop flashing. And I would assume that's the way it's supposed to be working as opposed to flashing non-stop even when you're not wearing it.
Wow, that sounds like a buggy sensor! Agree it should not be flashing nonstop when not wearing it....
I've had the replacement for 2 days now and don't notice the issue with this new watch. Same settings as before.