Can you use your default watch face with automatic brightness in Always On (AOD) mode - Samsung Gear S3

I want to switch from my Moto 360 because when I use StayLit Wear to set the display to remain indefinitely on, the battery drains completely in three hours. I want a smartwatch with a display lit constantly (with automatic brightness, so it's bright enough to be visible in daylight and dim enough to not attract attention in darkly lit environments) that can still last me 24 hours, running the default watch face.
I use a Bluetooth headset connected to my phone to attend to calls all day long and I want the watch primarily to show me the time, alert me to calls and look good while doing it. I'll try to use the health stuff and the sleep tracking and the notifications, but they're not terribly important. Can I get that from the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier (with the latest battery draining update installed)?

Upon doing some Googling, I found that the watch face will dim after a specific timeout even with AOD enabled, and that I need to install either Flaunt or I Am Alive to get it to truly remain always on. So I guess my question is, with the display set to always on via either of these apps, can I expect it to last me a full day of use?

Yes the AOD dims but is still readable and depending on the watchface still quite bright. The watch has auto low light and auto outside modes to cover the extremes. With the wrist gestures, the watch brightens to your set brightness. I don't think you would be disappointed. The battery still gives me a full day 05.15 - 22.00 with 25-30% left with Tizen 3.0.0.2

Related

AOD (Always On Display) Auto Off?

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?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I just kept gesture motion on.
kronium said:
No, I just kept gesture motion on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Settings, Display, Brightness.
gpmg762 said:
Try Settings, Display, Brightness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 ?
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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....

watchmaker battery drain

I have big concerns of consumption of battery with this application
Am I the only one?
You have can be trick?
Thank you
Some watch faces are too bright or consume too much battery in their always-on state. Try a watch face that has a dimmer always-on state, or take your favourite watch faces, and change their always-on state to have higher opacity.
I made a dial I same, quite black
I am going to try a reset of the watch, seen that nobody confirms me the same problem
I use this app(watchmaker) and consumption with always on display is approximately 25/30 % per day.
Wifi is switched off , Bluetooth used when needed.
krca5 said:
I use this app(watchmaker) and consumption with always on display is approximately 25/30 % per day.
Wifi is switched off , Bluetooth used when needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either some functionality on your watch is disabled or something is wrong here. No way, watchmaker can beat stock watchface. I loose 45-55 percent a day with stock gear dashboard watchface. AOD, wake-up gesture, shealth features and bluetooth on. Wifi auto. NFC, bt connection notifications off. Using GPS occasionally. Without AOD i can easily get 3 and a half day. I've never saw anyone claim to can get more than 2 days with AOD on on the forum before, so this is really confusing.
You can believe or not, but for me the battery consumption with watchmaker is lower than with stock Watchface. it is also true that some Watchface consume a little more, but we are talking about up to 10% more per day, i start to use Watch at 10am and remove Watch at 23pm,all' shealt notification on,wifi off,gps off, Bluetooth when needed,AOD always on,screen brightness 7. When use stock Watchface i lose 45/55% of battery per day.
I think I may have worked out what is going wrong, perhaps one of the developers can confirm,
under ‘my watches’ I have a number of other whatchfaces that I have downloaded, these aren’t selected on my watch but are there as an option, where as the chosen one only has basic functions, the others all have fancy meters, data sourcing apps - after deleting these from my phone and checking they are not available for selection on my watch the battery life seems to be normal, I wonder if the other watch faces are in some way working in the background and therefore draining the power even though I am not actually viewing them
It is Wi-fi connection what drains LOT of power. Be sure it is turned off when not in use to keep your power as long as possible.

How to get "ScreenSaver" while the S3 Fronteir is on "Always On"

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?
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.

Always on??

Stupid question alert... So I have always on, screen time out 30 sec, auto low brightness on, wake up gesture on, gray scale on, and brightness at 2. I'm currently using watch maker's watch face for my own custom design. It has a second hand, but after a short period goes to ambient mode or whatever where the second hand stops moving.
Is there a way to set it to truly always on where the second hand is always moving? A couple of the stock watch faces do that I notice. In the custom watch face I have everything set to always. I'd search more, but don't know what lingo to use. Thanks for the help in advance.
vipfreak said:
Stupid question alert... So I have always on, screen time out 30 sec, auto low brightness on, wake up gesture on, gray scale on, and brightness at 2. I'm currently using watch maker's watch face for my own custom design. It has a second hand, but after a short period goes to ambient mode or whatever where the second hand stops moving.
Is there a way to set it to truly always on where the second hand is always moving? A couple of the stock watch faces do that I notice. In the custom watch face I have everything set to always. I'd search more, but don't know what lingo to use. Thanks for the help in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's all based on the watch face. Don't see that much 3rd party watch face use that but depends on the watch face
zune70 said:
That's all based on the watch face. Don't see that much 3rd party watch face use that but depends on the watch face
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh ok. Ugh... Thanks

Hands fully bright in AOD mode possible?

Hi all
Is there any way to even custom make a face with the watchmaker or the galaxy watch designer but keeping the hour and minutes hands fully bright as in full brightness when in AOD mode?
You see I just want to be able to check time on my motorbike when driving with a glance in fully sunny day and not looking for a shady place on the street:laugh:
Thanks
pamarakos said:
Hi all
Is there any way to even custom make a face with the watchmaker or the galaxy watch designer but keeping the hour and minutes hands fully bright as in full brightness when in AOD mode?
You see I just want to be able to check time on my motorbike when driving with a glance in fully sunny day and not looking for a shady place on the street:laugh:
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you can't control the brightness decreasing when the watch switches to AOD mode. I remember in Watchmaker there was a option to tune the brightness in AOD mode but it was never as bright as in normal mode.
What could help you is this app: Flaunt
It will keep your display on for 30 minutes but at a cost of battery life
clonednull said:
What could help you is this app: Flaunt
It will keep your display on for 30 minutes but at a cost of battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to try that! In the meantime, I think I've exploited a bug/glitch on my Galaxy Watch 3. I can't show it in a photo because of auto light adjustments, but it looks at least 1.5-2X as bright as the dim limitation.
I set my brightness to 5, with auto brightness on and screen timeout at 5 minutes - seems to consumer about 1% extra battery per hour.
1) In WatchMaker, set screen timeout to default, and 70% OPR in bright mode (15% is all you can do in dim mode)
2) With Tasker on your phone, set up an event triggered by time (i.e. 8AM - 11PM) that repeats every 5 minutes
3) Use the WatchMaker plugin to send that same face to your watch.
It may take a cycle or two to sync up, but what it does is tricks or freezes the watchface in something substantially brighter than the 15% OPR, I'd assume maybe 70% of whatever it is in brightness.
The hour and minute hand still update every minute. In fact, you will see the now frozen second hand move for about 3 seconds every minute as the time updates. I might just drop the second hand if I can't figure out how to hide it selectively. As an added bonus, the refresh doesn't activate the face, it will flash and the hands update but it remains in dim mode.
I think you can disable the vibrate notification for a face change. It flashes quite quickly on refresh - 1-2 seconds. I wonder if there's a way to disable the "white" flash on refresh? Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it for a more usable AOD with faces that are otherwise hard to see at 15% OPR.
WARNING: Don't forget about burn-in. I'm creating a mesh overlay (basically 1 pure black pixel per 11x11 square) that will "rotate" every minute to duplicate the burn-in protection. Instead of shifting pixels, it will black out very pixel once every hour or two. Then I also have a rotation of black/dark gray screens with an equal number of colored faces.

Categories

Resources