I have followed the guide here to start making very own watch face for the gear 2. As I have been learning JavaScript I have have been able to make a basic watch face and want to take it to the next level.
I have learnt all the basics from the here. My question is that where can I find a place like this where I can get reference on the API that I can use for Samsung. I have attached what I have achieved so far, it basic I know but its an achievement for me.
My goal is to make something similar to the shortcut watch face that come as default but with more icon space plus put the battery indicator as well. currently i am using colour to mark where things will go.
Hi everyone! I am new around here, so I apologize if my manners may be lacking.
Anyway, since the beginning of the year, I have been working on a few watch faces, but while most people seem to be using the development platform that Samsung released at the beginning, I have been entirely coding by hand each face (javascript + HTML5).
It allows me much more freedom in the animation of the watch, so I have been trying to make unusual watch faces.
I have to admit that the design is not there yet, but I'll try to upgrade the look of each watch faces as I go, and depending on requests.
So far, I have mastered the art of coding ambient faces and I have also found ways to add functions. I am currently trying to make a weather function that fetches information online, but I have been rather unsuccessful so far... :/
If you have any interesting animation you would like to see made into a watch, feel free to mention it, I may just make it a reality!
Hello worldxda!
I've finally received my Frontier and I've been playing around with it for a few days. I'm useless with analogue watch faces, and I need two different time zones displayed at the same time due to work. The Gear Dashboard is almost perfect with world time, battery, and heartrate around the main clock. However, I'm sorely lacking a Date option in place of my current Steps counter! Is this something I could somehow achieve myself through GWD (is there a .gwd file for it?), or is there a way I could get in touch with the watch face creator to request such an added feature? Has anyone come across a similar watch face that offers these things?
This was my favorite as well and i also missed the date, so i created my own watch face (picture attached)
Called G-Dashboard in Galaxy Apps store (hope its available in your country)
Each user is different, and has a different requirement.
Yet, what are the specific things you look for when purchasing or installing a watch face?
At the moment, here is what i look for:
1. AOD face: I keep AOD on at all times, so this is critical for me to avoid screen burn-in problems. The watch face i use must have extremely minimal and simple AOD face, preferably configurable.
2. Phone battery: I don't know why, but this is something I look for specifically.
3. World Clock: I prefer a watch face that allows me to quickly see the time in another time zone (my brother lives in another time zone).
4. Day, Date and Weather: These 3 are a must.
5. Chance of rain: Another good addition.
6. Watch battery: Usually present in all watch faces.
7. Multiple app shortcuts.
I look for one that accomodates all of the above.
I personally don't prefer a watch or an app telling me about my health or reminding me to drink water, etc. I find those quite absurd. More importantly, these are unreliable. So steps, heart rate, BP, etc. are not important for me.
RELATED POSTS
You'll find more info and related links here:
Wear OS - Facts
Hello community! In this post, I am giving you info on some aspects of Wear OS, which you may or may not know. All the details presented are based on my experience with Samsung Galaxy Watch4 (WiFi model), running on Wear OS 3.x. So they may not...
forum.xda-developers.com
I just make My own using the galaxy watch face program
Watch Face Studio downloads | Samsung Developers
The world runs on you.
developer.samsung.com
Tips:
Create a Watch Face Using Tag Expressions | Samsung Developers
Learn how to create a watch face that responds based on the date, time, step count, heart rate, and battery level using Tag Expressions in Watch Face Studio.
developer.samsung.com
djdarkknight96 said:
I just make My own using the galaxy watch face program
Watch Face Studio downloads | Samsung Developers
The world runs on you.
developer.samsung.com
Tips:
Create a Watch Face Using Tag Expressions | Samsung Developers
Learn how to create a watch face that responds based on the date, time, step count, heart rate, and battery level using Tag Expressions in Watch Face Studio.
developer.samsung.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol same, I don't know if it's just me but it just gives a certain satisfaction using a watch face made by my own hands and logic, I started making by searching random watch face on Google images(most simpler ones) on my OG GW46 then by the time I got GW4 I was lucky to have WFS all ready for me to use and with the prior experience with GWS this was just a different UI but with less number of customisations, I guess their defence is that Google has not shared the API details with them to add other functionalities, but yeah it is fun to make our own and use it, I have created a lot of them by looking up images on Google but I hardly use any, I just like creating them.
TheMystic said:
Each user is different, and has a different requirement.
Yet, what are the specific things you look for when purchasing or installing a watch face?
At the moment, here is what i look for:
1. AOD face: I keep AOD on at all times, so this is critical for me to avoid screen burn-in problems. The watch face i use must have extremely minimal and simple AOD face, preferably configurable.
2. Phone battery: I don't know why, but this is something I look for specifically.
3. World Clock: I prefer a watch face that allows me to quickly see the time in another time zone (my brother lives in another time zone).
4. Day, Date and Weather: These 3 are a must.
5. Chance of rain: Another good addition.
6. Watch battery: Usually present in all watch faces.
7. Multiple app shortcuts.
I look for one that accomodates all of the above.
I personally don't prefer a watch or an app telling me about my health or reminding me to drink water, etc. I find those quite absurd. More importantly, these are unreliable. So steps, heart rate, BP, etc. are not important for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use I-DIGIT. Covers everything you listed.
dalepl said:
I use I-DIGIT. Covers everything you listed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this out:
HMKWatch Digital 146 - Apps on Google Play
Comfortable and clear digital watch face.
play.google.com
This is even better and more informative:
01. Day & Date
02. Weather, with location
03. Moon Phase
04. Phone Battery
05. Watch Battery
06. Calendar
07. World Clock
08. Feels like Temperature
09. Chance of Rain
10. Sunrise and Sunset
11. One custom app shortcut
And all of these are extremely well laid out too, which makes everything easy to read with just a glance.
Haven't seen anything more informative and neat yet!
I prefer the I-DIGIT. It has just as much information:
1. Top three are user defined widgets (I have heart rate, weather and world time)
2. watch battery
3. phone battery
4. time
5. UTC time
6. date
7. four user defined short cuts (I have watch settings, agenda, stopwatch and remote camera control)
So, both have 11 items showing, I can user define 7 of mine. Also like the analog watch hands. Many other settings for the watch face. The one you show is nice, it is just this one gives me more of what I wanted. I am a Test Engineer and require UTC time for testing. Hard to find nice watch faces with that. The rest is just items I like. I show Manila time because my wife is from the Philippines, but if you select it, it will bring up the world clock. Watch faces are personal preference as for functionality and what they show. I do agree I do not use the health apps, so I did not want that showing. I can if I want but chose not to. I cannot use most because I have a bad heart and an ICD implant. Enjoy.
dalepl said:
I prefer the I-DIGIT. It has just as much information:
1. Top three are user defined widgets (I have heart rate, weather and world time)
2. watch battery
3. phone battery
4. time
5. UTC time
6. date
7. four user defined short cuts (I have watch settings, agenda, stopwatch and remote camera control)
So, both have 11 items showing, I can user define 7 of mine. Also like the analog watch hands. Many other settings for the watch face. The one you show is nice, it is just this one gives me more of what I wanted. I am a Test Engineer and require UTC time for testing. Hard to find nice watch faces with that. The rest is just items I like. I show Manila time because my wife is from the Philippines, but if you select it, it will bring up the world clock. Watch faces are personal preference as for functionality and what they show. I do agree I do not use the health apps, so I did not want that showing. I can if I want but chose not to. I cannot use most because I have a bad heart and an ICD implant. Enjoy.
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I didn't include time in the list, because that is present on all watch faces. So with time included, there are a total of 12 items displayed on the watch face. Out of that, 8 are customisable.
What I like specifically about this watch face (HMK Digi 146) are some specific features which I find missing in most other watch faces:
1. Weather, WITH LOCATION
2. Chance of rain
3. Moon Phase
UTC time is available too, but it requires the companion app here:
Complications Suite - Wear OS - Apps on Google Play
Add some missing Custom Complications to your Wear OS Watch Face.
play.google.com
If you have the above app installed, you'll be able to add UTC time to all watch faces.
Most of the info displayed will open the corresponding app when tapped. For example, tapping on Date will open calendar, tapping on weather will open weather, etc.
This watch face can show health related info too, but I haven't added them.
As you said, it is a matter of personal choice. I have tried over 50 watch faces so far, and this is the most comprehensive one i found, because of the reasons mentioned above.
Wish you good health and recovery.
One that actually fills the full screen, nearly every watchface i try on specials/coupons etc isnt made to take up the entire screen of a 44mm Watch 4...wasted space, so the text and details are smaller than they should be., and a stupid 4-5mm gap around the outside before the bezel
Apparently people only design for Watch 4 classic and the bezel, which is cutting off about 70% of your market, in case me telling you youre doing it wrong in literally every feedback request for your watchface hasnt already sunken in yet
Short version: just install Pixel Minimal watchface, pay for premium, and get on with life. Its the best there is...
.
73sydney said:
One that actually fills the full screen, nearly every watchface i try on specials/coupons etc isnt made to take up the entire screen of a 44mm Watch 4...wasted space, so the text and details are smaller than they should be., and a stupid 4-5mm gap around the outside before the bezel
Apparently people only design for Watch 4 classic and the bezel, which is cutting off about 70% of your market, in case me telling you youre doing it wrong in literally every feedback request for your watchface hasnt already sunken in yet
Short version: just install Pixel Minimal watchface, pay for premium, and get on with life. Its the best there is...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the ones I have tried look good. I'm not sure if there is so much of wasted space as you claim, although I will admit I haven't paid attention into so much minute details. I also think that many of the designs are limited by the software used, and the complications chosen. So the app developers may not be entirely to blame.
Pixel Minimal is good, and so are the ones I have linked in OP.
Hello community,
When shopping for watch faces, it is possible that you get attracted to certain designs and buy them, only to realize later that the watch face is missing one or more things that you would like to have. Then it becomes a question of whether to keep the watch face or get a refund.
Watch faces come with the following types of customizations:
1. Complications: which display information directly from another app, e.g. weather, date, etc. - VERY USEFUL
2. App Shortcuts: which are simply shortcuts to apps on your watch - NOT very useful.
A good watch face will support more number of custom Complications. Some of the elements in a watch face are fixed, and cannot be customized. Most Developers deliberately make some of the information on the watch faces non-customizable (not sure why, so my guess is to sell more watch faces). So look specifically for what can be customized. Typically, 4 or more custom complications would make for a great watch face.
Personally, I prefer watch faces that show basic things prominently such as time, date and weather. There are many watch faces whose designs may look good, but not as functional as one would like it to be. The designs often obscure the information, making them difficult to read at a glance. It is a smart watch, and therefore, should present info in as easy to read manner, as possible.
So here is a handy checklist that can be used to see what all features are available in a watch face:
TIME & DATE: These are obvious, so I won't include them in the list (and these don't make a watch 'smart'):
01. DAY of the week
02. Weather
03. Weather, with location name: very few watch faces support this.
04. Moon Phase: very few watch faces support this.
05. Phone Battery*
06. Watch Battery: present in most watch faces.
07. Calendar, preferably with the ability to display 'Agenda': very few watch faces support this.
08. World Clock
09. Weather related info like 'Feels like Temperature', Sunrise and Sunset, UV index, etc: most watch faces support these.
10. Chance of Rain: very few watch faces support this.
11. UTC time**
12. Day of the year**
13. Week of the year**
14. Step Counter***
15. Distance Covered***
16. Calories burnt***
17. Heart Rate (bpm)****
18. Blood Pressure (BP)
19. Google Fit (or other similar apps/ service like Samsung Health) integration: only some watch faces support this.
* if not supported natively, you can enable this on most watch faces by installing this app.
** if not supported natively, you can enable this on most watch faces by installing this app
*** if not supported natively, you can enable this on most watch faces by installing this app.
**** if not supported natively, you can enable this on most watch faces by installing this app.
Do take note of the AOD mode when selecting a watch face. This is very important. Some watch faces only offer a 'DIM' mode for AOD. This is bad as this will not only drain more battery, but will also cause screen burn-in. The AOD mode must ideally offer a 'Time only' option, and preferably shifting pixels too!
There are two types of watch faces I have come across so far:
1. One that allows use of complications available with WearOS, as well as 3rd party apps.
2. One that relies on its own set of complications, and you need to install a companion app on the phone: This severely limits the amount of information you can have.
Watch faces in the 1st category are usually preferred due to their versatility and number of complications supported.
SUMMARY
What I look for before buying a watch face:
1. Prominent Time, Date & Day (text should be big enough)
2. 4 or more custom complications (excluding the above)
3. Minimal AOD (such as Time-only option to help avoid screen burn-in and save battery)
Hope this helps.
RELATED POSTS
You'll find more info and related links here:
Wear OS - Facts
Hello community! In this post, I am giving you info on some aspects of Wear OS, which you may or may not know. All the details presented are based on my experience with Samsung Galaxy Watch4 (WiFi model), running on Wear OS 3.x. So they may not...
forum.xda-developers.com
Watch Faces with support for rare complications
Hello community! In an earlier post where I provided a checklist to refer to when choosing a watch face, I had mentioned a few complications that were to be found only in very few watch faces. In this post, I will include links to some watch...
forum.xda-developers.com
Reserved for more info.