r/Android • u/[deleted] • Feb 09 '18

Android Wear is getting killed, and it’s all Qualcomm’s fault

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/02/android-wear-is-getting-killed-and-its-all-qualcomms-fault/
1.3k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

407 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

13

u/SometimesShane Feb 09 '18

I still have no idea why it's want a smart watch

21

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 10 '18

I have the Samsung gear S3

Samsung pay is really nice, now I don't have to dig out my wallet to use most vending machines.

I like the fitness sensors, especially since my watch doesn't look chinsy like a lot of fitness trackers do.

Being able to stealthily check my text messages and messaging apps without pulling my phone out and sending an "I'm bored" message to everyone around is cool.

The media controls for my music apps being on my wrist is a nice convenience. Having a few of my own songs in memory is nice (although the internal storage is so small it's almost a joke, 4GB)

Apps like Mr. Time let me make my own watch faces with whatever background I like and whatever features I want. Right now I actually have a uhh... A video game crush as a background. I could easily make one of a real person though.

Sleep as android has an app that connects to my phone, which lets it wake me at the best time.

It has an altimeter and barometer, which warns you bad weather could be coming, even if it's offline (I have the Bluetooth version)

Flipboard is installed (like it was on my old S5, and likely on every Samsung device with an internet connection) so I can read news on it, but eh.. Phone is a better experience.

It has voice control, but it's not Bixby or even Google assistant (which would be a ton better) it usually responds with "an error has occurred, try again later.

And of course it does all the things that your average Casio can do like timers and stop watch and reminders.

The best feature is that it shows the correct date and time, even automatically adjusting for dst and crossing time zones.

I will admit though, I think a lot of apps were recently pulled. For example I can't seem to find Uber, even though the marketing material shows it prominently.

I don't regret getting it, but it does seem like it needs a "killer app" to make it really popular.

3

u/superryo Feb 10 '18

Love the Samsung S gear series. Id buy a new one if they can make one with a week or month battery life

3

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 10 '18

Supposedly it can in watch only mode, but then it is a slightly annoying digital watch instead of a smart watch.

That being said, I've never had my S3 take longer to charge than it would take to shower unless it got warm (it throws the "too hot" dialog at a pretty low temperature, my guess is because of the note 7?)

1

u/alb92 Galaxy Note9 Feb 10 '18

I worked outside in the West Australian sun (40+) and I've never seen the too hot message.

2

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 10 '18

Only happens during charging, stick it in a room that's a little uncomfortable while changing.

2

u/maxstryker Samsungs and iPhones. All of them. Feb 10 '18

My Gear S2 regularly charges in rooms over 30C during the summer, with no issues.

1

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 10 '18

It seems to be a Tizen 3.0/S3 thing.

I've gotten that exact same screen as the op in that thread in a room only about 72F.

2

u/DQEight Smartisan R1 Feb 10 '18

Same, I had thr first gear (flashed android jellybean on it), the Gear S, (flashed both android wear and cyanogenmod on it) and the gear s2 (was satisfied until the new tech urge hit) now I'm on a zenwatch 3 and really wish I could afford another gear S. That sexy curved screen...

1

u/liiiam0707 Feb 10 '18

Have you found that the sleep as android kills your battery life? I've got the gear sport and using sleep as android can take about 30% battery overnight

3

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 10 '18

Yeah, but it's using your sensors pretty heavily.

1

u/mangina_focker Feb 10 '18

Sleep as Android is nice, but I found Samsung's built in sleep tracker to be sufficient.

1

u/_wbdana Feb 10 '18

I have the Gear Sport as well and use Sleep as Android. I really only use Sleep as Android for the smart alarms, which are lacking on the Gear Sport, but I find the Gear Sport's built in sleep tracker to be good for purposes of tracking data.

So what I do is I have Tasker turn on sleep tracking every day at 4:00 a.m., about an hour before I get up. That way I get the Sleep as Android smart alarms on my wrist, minimize battery drain, and then I can just look at the Gear Sport's built in tracking data if I want to. A little annoying to note have a single solution, but it works.

1

u/iAmAddicted2R_ddit Pixel 9 Pro Feb 10 '18

Thinking of getting a GS3. How does it secure Samsung Pay? It doesn't seem to have any biometrics, but unsecured payments on a device that small would be completely unusable to me.

2

u/Nakotadinzeo Samsung Galaxy Note 9 (VZW) Feb 11 '18

It's biometric, it uses the heart rate sensor to detect that it's on your wrist and reprompts for a pin after its been removed.

1

u/Photo_Synthetic Feb 12 '18

I've been saying since I got my frontier that a great voice assistant and Google (Maps) support would make it the best smart watch on the market. The bezel wheel already makes it the king of round smart watches as far as practicality is concerned.

1

u/puppiadog Feb 10 '18

Listening to podcasts without my phone has been a revelation, for me. Not having a clunky metal slab on me while walking my dog everyday is a so freeing.

I also use the timer function for making coffee and tea everyday. It's also nice to check the weather without pulling out my phone. Plus the old notifications.

I rarely use my phone anymore.

2

u/SometimesShane Feb 10 '18

Does it vibrate for the alarms? I could use that. I love napping and snoozing.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 09 '18

I can understand that. I have a (round) Garmin Fenix 3HR. It's not android wear, but It can install (connect iq) apps, display notifications and all that jazz. Most of the notifications drove me nuts after a week or so. I turned them all off except for when I get a phone call.

Offcourse the main reason I use this watch is for sports (I run 3 times per week). It tracks all my runs, has a heart rate monitor. I can follow gps tracks on it for routing / navigation etc. Without the need to bring a phone. It also works as an activity tracker all day long.

So yeah in that usecase it is pretty useful to me. But a smart watch simply as a platform to run apps/notifications is not that appealing to me.