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Hey
about to pull the trigger on getting one of these for myself, just hoping to get a few questions answered before i do
how well is media control handled by the watch, is it capable of at playing or pausing media from 3rd party media apps? (i dont like the standard android or samsung offer so use an alternative)
is it capable of playing videos on the watch screen from either locally stored or internet streamed sources?
i have read a couple reviews on poor connectivity between the watch and the phone, constant dropping of the connection and if the battery drains completely it requires a factory reset to become usable again
anyone experienced anything like this or have advice around it?
if anyone who has one and is kinda enough to answer these questions for me it would be greatly appreciated
Also another question that came to mind
how functional is the mapping app for the watch?
can i look up a destination on my phone with google maps and have that information relayed on the watch?
(i ask this because i know the watch uses a different maps app and not sure how well it works with google maps)
kalys said:
Hey
about to pull the trigger on getting one of these for myself, just hoping to get a few questions answered before i do
how well is media control handled by the watch, is it capable of at playing or pausing media from 3rd party media apps? (i dont like the standard android or samsung offer so use an alternative)
is it capable of playing videos on the watch screen from either locally stored or internet streamed sources?
i have read a couple reviews on poor connectivity between the watch and the phone, constant dropping of the connection and if the battery drains completely it requires a factory reset to become usable again
anyone experienced anything like this or have advice around it?
if anyone who has one and is kinda enough to answer these questions for me it would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use the media controls with PowerAmp, Spotify and Google Play, which works very well together (play,stop, previous, next and volume).
I haven't tried viewing videos on the watch, but I've read that it too works well using a File Manager app found in the Gear app store.
When I setup the watch for the first time I had major connectivity issues, however that was corrected after a reboot of both the watch and the phone.
kalys said:
Also another question that came to mind
how functional is the mapping app for the watch?
can i look up a destination on my phone with google maps and have that information relayed on the watch?
(i ask this because i know the watch uses a different maps app and not sure how well it works with google maps)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no simple way to go from google maps on the phone to the watch. You can just start with Here maps on the phone, though, which gives you the same thing. The Here-maps app works, though establishing the watch-phone connection can take a few tries. Here maps is a pretty solid navigation app on the phone, and offers free downloads of maps globally, so you're not always dependent on a data connection. When you set up the navigation on the phone, you get turn-by-turn directions on the watch, with a buzz as you approach each turn. More useful walking or biking than when driving, in my experience.
There's also a paid watch app called Gear Navigator which uses google maps data for turn-by-turn navigation. It's innovative and keeps getting updated, though in my experience a little unstable.
---------- Post added at 05:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------
kalys said:
Hey
about to pull the trigger on getting one of these for myself, just hoping to get a few questions answered before i do
how well is media control handled by the watch, is it capable of at playing or pausing media from 3rd party media apps? (i dont like the standard android or samsung offer so use an alternative)
is it capable of playing videos on the watch screen from either locally stored or internet streamed sources?
i have read a couple reviews on poor connectivity between the watch and the phone, constant dropping of the connection and if the battery drains completely it requires a factory reset to become usable again
anyone experienced anything like this or have advice around it?
if anyone who has one and is kinda enough to answer these questions for me it would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About connectivity: the couple of times I've drained my battery I have not needed a factory reset, and in the month and a half I've had my Gear S2 classic, most connections work most of the time. But I do wish the connections were more reliable: I have had problems, usually fixed by just turning the watch off and on (no reset), and sometimes rebooting the phone. The hardware and interface are so great, it raises some people's expectations for performance very high, and then they get disappointed by the small bugs. So if you buy, know that it works, it's cool, but it could be more reliable, and with luck might improve over time with updates.
I have found the Bluetooth connection to be very good. Much better than the LG Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. Because the BT is so good on my S2 that I never really needed to use WiFi on the S2, and because the wifi on the LG Urbane was not great and I was testing wifi on the Urbane, I did discover that I wasn't getting notifications on the S2 over wifi. I factory reset the S2, and it has been great since then. When I turn Bluetooth off on my phone. S2 goes into Standalone for 15 or so seconds and then goes into Connected Remotely and notifications and such work perfectly. When I turn BT back on on my phone, S2 goes into Standalone for a few seconds and then into Connected via Bluetooth. That's how I expect it to work.
It took me a long time to find a good running app for my LG Urbane 2 LTE and I found it: GhostRacer. I am sharing my findings with the community. This is the only developer who understands how to make a running/fitness app for an Android Wear smartwatch.
GhostRacer:
1) works with standalone watch, no phone needed,
2) GPS works,
3) large white font on black background, easy to read when running,
4) configurable screen-always-on,
4) configurable display,
5) export/sync with RunKeeper.
Those are GR's great features I found so far, there may be more.
If you have a GPS problem, try this beta version: https://plus.google.com/104460556988380178420/posts/De3AP9wu7js
S.
smatofu said:
It took me a long time to find a good running app for my LG Urbane 2 LTE and I found it: GhostRacer. I am sharing my findings with the community. This is the only developer who understands how to make a running/fitness app for an Android Wear smartwatch.
GhostRacer:
1) works with standalone watch, no phone needed,
2) GPS works,
3) large white font on black background, easy to read when running,
4) configurable screen-always-on,
4) configurable display,
5) export/sync with RunKeeper.
Those are GR's great features I found so far, there may be more.
If you have a GPS problem, try this beta version: https://plus.google.com/104460556988380178420/posts/De3AP9wu7js
S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read about it somewhere else but forgot to download it then. Checking it out for sure....
I tried out Ghostracer and it recorded only the time run, not the distance. Then, I tried Runkeeper in the car, and it recorded almost twice as many miles as my car. Weird. I tried it a few times with the same results.
xendula said:
I tried out Ghostracer and it recorded only the time run, not the distance. Then, I tried Runkeeper in the car, and it recorded almost twice as many miles as my car. Weird. I tried it a few times with the same results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assuming you are using LG Urbane 2 LTE which has a built-in GPS:
1. Make sure you have a GPS lock before start running. You can use Wear GPS to find if you have a lock.
2. Distances I get from watch are close to Google Maps.
3. Runkeeper: I know nothing for sure, but my guess is that it starts recording before GPS achieves good position accuracy. Start from Wear GPS and then switch to GhostRacer or RunKeeper.
smatofu said:
Assuming you are using LG Urbane 2 LTE which has a built-in GPS:
1. Make sure you have a GPS lock before start running. You can use Wear GPS to find if you have a lock.
2. Distances I get from watch are close to Google Maps.
3. Runkeeper: I know nothing for sure, but my guess is that it starts recording before GPS achieves good position accuracy. Start from Wear GPS and then switch to GhostRacer or RunKeeper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's the Wulte2. I'll try the above tips and report back, thanks.
Smatofu, it worked. The Wear GPS app did the trick!! Thanks so much for the tip - the dev who created this app is awesome.
Has anyone with watch urbane 2nd edition LTE noticed that Google Fit step counter is wildly inaccurate if you start a running activity?
In my case if I start the Google Fit running activity, the gps in Google Fit reports a 4 mile run as only about 1700 steps
Thx
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
morgej said:
Has anyone with watch urbane 2nd edition LTE noticed that Google Fit step counter is wildly inaccurate if you start a running activity?
In my case if I start the Google Fit running activity, the gps in Google Fit reports a 4 mile run as only about 1700 steps
Thx
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I have the original version of the watch released in November and when I received the update to bring it up to speed with the new release the step counter got considerably worse. I don't know if it was completely accurate from the start, but steps definitely dropped a lot since the update, with or without Google fit tracking runs. I use ghostracer to track runs. I don't worry too much about steps but I wish it was a little more accurate.
Hi,
I received this gift (Samsung Gear S2) but at the moment my smartphone (Nexus 5) have some issues and i'm wainting that LG send me a new one or fix it.
I have a big issue, how can i set time without smartphone?
I have try all kind of reset but i do not obtain result.
I hope that this community can be help me to find a solution
thx in advance
bye bye
Ivan
Hello KaiserOrn,
Unfortunately I believe there is no way to do that...
I recently found the need to do so because I rendered my Samsung Phone and replaced it with a brand new iPhone 6s Plus...
I tried and I tried and I tried but no joy...
I searched the internet for a solution for hours but I couldn't find anything or even that much people looking for the same kind of solution.
In my case I paired my Gear S2 with a friend's Samsung Phablet, reinstalled everything and now I have it in Stand Alone mode but with everything working as it should.
In my particular case I will have to wait for both Samsung and Apple to launch the Gear Manager for iOS and then we will see it from then...
For now I have my problem solved.
Although I solved my immediate problem, my Gear S2 serves as nothing more than an ordinary watch... LOL
Good luck on your quest.
Cheers.
Hmmm... not sure if this was missing in older firmware (I just got my classic 3G to replace my older sport 3G, so all I have to test is the newest firmware)...
On my watch I can go to Settings->Device and the last item in the list is 'Date and Time'.
Select that, and the first item is a toggle, 'Automatic'. If selected, the watch gets its time from the paired phone, and all the other items in the Date and Time list are grayed out, unselectable.
Toggle 'Automatic' off, and you will then be able to select Date, Time, and Time Zone items to set manually.
Of course, this may be a 3G-only thing, as it can always connect directly to the network and get the time. Still, since there is a manual mode, it makes no sense this wouldn't be in the non-3G versions too.
dwallersv said:
.../...
On my watch I can go to Settings->Device and the last item in the list is 'Date and Time'.
.../...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear dwallersv,
That option you mention above is only available on 3G models...
In non 3G models there is no point in having it since "automatic" mode will never have an time server to query...
The manual mode would work but they never made oit available.
Cheers.
Kevlar-Source said:
Dear dwallersv,
That option you mention above is only available on 3G models...
In non 3G models there is no point in having it since "automatic" mode will never have an time server to query...
The manual mode would work but they never made oit available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Darn, I suspected that.
However, you're not quite correct, in that obviously the non-3G models DO get their time from the phone, so it is "automatic" in every sense that it is on the 3G. In fact, the 3G network can be turned off completely on the watch and it still get its time via BT (just as the non-3G versions do).
So 3G, from a technical standpoint, really has nothing necessarily to do with "automatically" setting the time on the watch.
Why Samsung left the manual setting mode out of the non-3G firmware is unexplained. It certainly has nothing to do with the functionality itself of standalone 3G capability, as is obvious in the way non-3G watches set their time to begin with -- automatically from the phone
I believe it is simply because samsung would like to have dependency on their products.
I would like to stop using a smartphone and I have a samsung tablet, which they choose to exclude from the Samsung Gear App. Samsung makes it impossible to use my watch without a phone which gives me the choice to use all or dump all while using a (Samsung) tablet with Samsung watch would be an ideal solution to me.
maarten.zondervan said:
I would like to stop using a smartphone and I have a samsung tablet, which they choose to exclude from the Samsung Gear App. Samsung makes it impossible to use my watch without a phone which gives me the choice to use all or dump all while using a (Samsung) tablet with Samsung watch would be an ideal solution to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is totally possible, that's how I roll. I use an Frontier LTE as my phone and keep a tablet on hand for tasks requiring a larger screen. I find that a watch & tablet combination is more convenient and efficient than carrying a smartphone.
There are a couple of folks on the forum who have installed the Gear Manager app on a Samsung tablet by modifying the build prop file. I want the flexibility of using multiple devices (iPad, Tab S2) without disrupting the watch's setup, so I have a disposable phone dedicated exclusively to managing the watch. It's permanently docked next to my home router and stays remotely connected to the watch, to pass along notifications. With a service like Digits, NumberSync, or Google Voice, all calls and messages are shared across devices. There is no need for them to to be paired via BT.
My setup is a little complicated, but your needs may be different. The S3 LTE (I'm not sure about S2 3G) does not need a smartphone. It can be setup without Gear Manager. Right out the box, it can handle calls and texts, provide basic info like time/date/weather, track fitness, set reminders, etc.
A watch can't do everything a smartphone can do, but it does some things better. A tablet can do many things better than a smartphone, but sometimes it's too big. A watch and tablet compliment each other perfectly.
SOLVED - "Set time without smartphone"
KaiserOrn said:
Hi,
I received this gift (Samsung Gear S2) but at the moment my smartphone (Nexus 5) have some issues and i'm wainting that LG send me a new one or fix it.
I have a big issue, how can i set time without smartphone?
I have try all kind of reset but i do not obtain result.
I hope that this community can be help me to find a solution
thx in advance
bye bye
Ivan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured this out...
You need to go to "Settings", "About" and "Reset Gear" - note - you will lose all of your apps and watch faces when you reset your gear.
When setting up the gear, you will be prompted to install the gear software on your phone. Scroll down on your watch until you see the "?" for help in that screen.
Press the "?" (question mark button) and you will be brought to a new screen which gives you the option of using your watch without your phone. It says something to the effect of "If you would like to use your watch without a smart phone, press <u>here</u>.
Press underlined "here" and you will be able to setup the watch for use without a smartphone.
Again - this is a destructive reset! So make sure all of your apps and watch faces are synched in a phone first.
Hi,
Love my new gear s3 frontier...sleek and sexy with satisfactory battery life.
My only gripe with it is the HORRIBLE s voice app and pathetic stock map....
Is there anyway to replace these with google maps and google voice?
i.e. 'ok google, navigate home'....then it automatically opens google map or just having the ability to speak out the address would be helpful.
Thanks
Google maps and search do not work on Tizen.
llubu2 said:
Hi,
Love my new gear s3 frontier...sleek and sexy with satisfactory battery life.
My only gripe with it is the HORRIBLE s voice app and pathetic stock map....
Is there anyway to replace these with google maps and google voice?
i.e. 'ok google, navigate home'....then it automatically opens google map or just having the ability to speak out the address would be helpful.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, this is the downside of choosing a gear s3. The watch and ui are better but you don't get full Google integration.
Gear Navigator Standalone seems to be pretty good. Haven't gone through it as I have only had the S3 for a couple days. It is a pay app, think it was like $3.00 or something. I'm in the US.
Type Google maps in the gear store there is a api for Google maps there and brings up Google maps on the watch it needs work tho.
What about Here?
As far as I can see "Here we go does" not send direction arrows to the Gear.
There is a "Here we go" app on the Gear s3 itself but inserting addresses etc is quite a job with those small keys.
So ask Nokia:"Why not send the arrows from the phone app to the gear.
A dealbraker (haha it's free) is also that it does not seem to look in my address book.
Google maps is far superior (Can send info to phone e.g. )but they do not seem to want to do something for Tizen.
So "Directions gear s2" is good solution and it works on my S3.
"Directons for gear s2' to has to be installed on the phone.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pacosal.gear.directionsgears2
Huib
Huib
herpi said:
As far as I can see "Here we go does" not send direction arrows to the Gear.
There is a "Here we go" app on the Gear s3 itself but inserting addresses etc is quite a job with those small keys.
So ask Nokia:"Why not send the arrows from the phone app to the gear.
A dealbraker (haha it's free) is also that it does not seem to look in my address book.
Google maps is far superior (Can send info to phone e.g. )but they do not seem to want to do something for Tizen.
So "Directions gear s2" is good solution and it works on my S3.
"Directons for gear s2' to has to be installed on the phone.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pacosal.gear.directionsgears2
Huib
Huib
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Here we go on my phone and it sends directions to the Gear S3 frontier perfectly. I use it a lot when driving as I get vibration on my wrist and it's almost always in my line of sight. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your phone and watch.
Superbia said:
I use Here we go on my phone and it sends directions to the Gear S3 frontier perfectly. I use it a lot when driving as I get vibration on my wrist and it's almost always in my line of sight. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your phone and watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, that did the job.
Thanks.
Is the Here we go app on te gear it selve necessary for doing he job?
I will see, on the long run, which of the two will win.
I have the idea so far that I have to start Directons for gear s2' manually, to see the arrows. Turning the Gear weel gives me ETA.
While Here arrows start directly, after having moved my phone a bit.
Huib
herpi said:
yep, that did the job.
Thanks.
Is the Here we go app on te gear it selve necessary for doing he job?
I will see, on the long run, which of the two will win.
I have the idea so far that I have to start Directons for gear s2' manually, to see the arrows. Turning the Gear weel gives me ETA.
While Here arrows start directly, after having moved my phone a bit.
Huib
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure. I installed it but I think it uses the Gear maps or what's it called as that is powered by Here also.
HERE
Superbia said:
I am not sure. I installed it but I think it uses the Gear maps or what's it called as that is powered by Here also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use HERE in samsung store
Gear Navigator Companion is definitely worth the small amount of money you pay for it. The phone app is really clean and intuitive and links to the watch quickly and accurately.
It has great map detail and best of all you get the option of using Google Street Map images on the watch if you wish! There's also a navigator clock face that displays the time and turn arrows appear in the centre if you are navigating, so you don't need to go back and forth to check the time etc.
.
I looked throught the API docs for the Tizen wearable SDK with the idea of building an app that would integrate with (or at least pass commands to) Google assistant and Samsung's docs clearly state that the voice API is only available for the mobile development SDK and not the wearable SDK.
So I don't think anybody will be building an app to allow Google assistant integration any time soon
Superbia said:
I use Here we go on my phone and it sends directions to the Gear S3 frontier perfectly. I use it a lot when driving as I get vibration on my wrist and it's almost always in my line of sight. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your phone and watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you send directions from the phone "Here we Go" app to the Gear S3 Frontier ?
I downloaded Gear navigator (standalone)
At first I thought it was great, that was until I entered my next destination which was 200km away. I got a message saying max distance is 100km.
Why wasn't that in the description? I wouldn't have paid for it had I known that.
Gear Navigator Companion
apprentice said:
Gear Navigator Companion is definitely worth the small amount of money you pay for it. The phone app is really clean and intuitive and links to the watch quickly and accurately.
It has great map detail and best of all you get the option of using Google Street Map images on the watch if you wish! There's also a navigator clock face that displays the time and turn arrows appear in the centre if you are navigating, so you don't need to go back and forth to check the time etc.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought this app but on the couple of occassions I've tried it on my S3 Frontier it has not worked at all well to be honest. I could set my destination and route no problem on the phone app, but then when I was walking it did not seem to manage to keep up with where I actually was (I had good clear view above for GPS - no high buildings) so the turn alerts were hopeless as it was not properly tracking my current location. Will try it again but so far am not convinced.
guitareth said:
I bought this app but on the couple of occassions I've tried it on my S3 Frontier it has not worked at all well to be honest. I could set my destination and route no problem on the phone app, but then when I was walking it did not seem to manage to keep up with where I actually was (I had good clear view above for GPS - no high buildings) so the turn alerts were hopeless as it was not properly tracking my current location. Will try it again but so far am not convinced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it the Gear Navigator Standalone version or Navigator Companion that you are using? They are quite different in use.
I am using the Companion version which doesn't rely solely on the watch GPS.
.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
apprentice said:
Is it the Gear Navigator Standalone version or Navigator Companion that you are using? They are quite different in use.
I am using the Companion version which doesn't rely solely on the watch GPS.
.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just checked and yes, it's the Gear Navigator Companion version that I purchased. Just did not track me at all well when I tried it walking, but I will try to test it agan soon and report back on here.
Superbia said:
I use Here we go on my phone and it sends directions to the Gear S3 frontier perfectly. I use it a lot when driving as I get vibration on my wrist and it's almost always in my line of sight. Try disconnecting and reconnecting your phone and watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
could you tell me what all needs to be done to set navigation on the phone and get it on watch
i have here wego beta on my phone with offline maps and here wego on my gear.. when i set navigation on the phone and open the app in gear, i just see my position on the watch, no navigation
raikkoni27 said:
could you tell me what all needs to be done to set navigation on the phone and get it on watch
i have here wego beta on my phone with offline maps and here wego on my gear.. when i set navigation on the phone and open the app in gear, i just see my position on the watch, no navigation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for the late reply.
I really don't do anything special. I had Here wego in the phone with offline maps already. I got the s3 so I set it up standard. Installed navigator and here wego apps and it started working automatically. Just need to make sure phone has bluetooth connection to the s3.
Hi guys, after update watch to one UI 4.5 on last September, gps can't find location on Samsung health, Strava and same apps. Yesterday I updated watch to October update, but problem not solved. Can anyone help me?
yasador said:
Hi guys, after update watch to one UI 4.5 on last September, gps can't find location on Samsung health, Strava and same apps. Yesterday I updated watch to October update, but problem not solved. Can anyone help me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is an entire thread about this here https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/gps-issues.4417711/page-2#post-87552393
I did not had the time yet to check if enabling location in auto detect mode sorted the issue.
Thanks for guidance. I did but the problem is not solved.
Did not work.
Also check this out (and the comments)
"If you open the workout widget on the watch and choose your workout from there instead of just selecting the run widget, you can see at the top of the screen that GPS and Heartrate are blinking. When they both are solid and you see your heart rate you are ready to press run or walk, etc. That way you know everything is locked in before you start your workout."
The problem is with the internal gps connection of the watch
The Google Fit app uses the phone's GPS
Few people have noticed this problem and Samsung has cleverly avoided fixing it
Has anyone been able to solve the problem?????????
admiral_v said:
The problem is with the internal gps connection of the watch
The Google Fit app uses the phone's GPS
Few people have noticed this problem and Samsung has cleverly avoided fixing it
Has anyone been able to solve the problem?????????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe in your watch, my GPS still works fine.
I don't use Google Fit and I don't exercise/hike with my phone - just the GW4 Classic 42mm.
GPS works fine and tracks/routes are recorded fine (within accuracy of the receiver).
Only existing issue is that auto-detection of exercise (walk/run/cycle) works but does not initiate GPS route recording; you need to start the exercise manually to have route recorded.
Weird, but worked for me>>>
removed original straps from watch
cleaned watch dial
powered off and heated up with hair dryer
powered on in outdoor
and voila!! GPS fixed. i have tracked cycling, running working fine now!
also i have changed straps locations (means, swapped upper and bottom straps)
🫰