An app for smartwatches that expect Android?

Moem

Now that I have acquired a Pebble smartwatch, and gotten it to work with Rockwork on UT, it makes me wonder:

Am I seeing it correctly, that there is no UT app for smartwatches that are meant to work with Android?
Has there ever been one?
Is it something that's inherently hard to make?

It looks to me as if such app would be quite popular, and the lack of one might be a dealbreaker for some people with regards to switching to UT.
(Yes, one could suggest that I make one myself, but no. I can't code. Sorry!)

Keneda

@moem
Maybe, again, something to do with closed source drivers, and/or non available API?

PS : i see pebble was sold to fitbit, maybe those smartwatchs could be supported?

TotalSonic

There is also the "Telescope" app in the Open Store that allows UT to work with smart watches that run Asteroid OS, but other than that and "Rockwork" there is no other current support.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

Keneda

@totalsonic https://asteroidos.org/install/

Interesting project!

EDIT : seems dead sadly

Moem

So the answers so far seem to be:

No,
no,
no final answer yet.

AsteroidOS does look interesting, but indeed, it seems dead and it's not what I was looking for. I was interested to know if there is an UT app (possible) for bog standard smartwatches that are meant for Android. There are tons of such watches and they are getting so cheap.
It seems like such a large potential market!

dobey

@keneda https://github.com/AsteroidOS/ shows a different picture. I wouldn't rely on the "news" page of the site for whether something is dead or not, necessarily.

dobey

@moem said in An app for smartwatches that expect Android?:

bog standard smartwatches that are meant for Android.

Since this isn't really a thing, it's hard to know what you mean. The OS is irrelevant, as the devices are meant to be used with the app for said device. Said app is usually available on both iOS and Android, and companies like Fitbit, Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple, etc… just don't care about alternate platforms.

How were Pebble smart watches not meant to be used with Android and why are they somehow not valid? There is an app which works with them.

AsteroidOS running on said Android Gadget watches is also a completely viable answer.

But really your question is too vague. If a device is actually meant to only work with Android, then no, you can't use it without Android, should be the expected answer.

Keneda

@dobey Right, so, i hope this project to keep growing ^^
And that the website be updated so it doesn't look dead anymore lol.
One lack btw : no forum to discuss this project (or again i don't know where to look).

Moem

@dobey said in An app for smartwatches that expect Android?:

@moem said in An app for smartwatches that expect Android?:

bog standard smartwatches that are meant for Android.

Since this isn't really a thing, it's hard to know what you mean.

That's my lack of knowledge showing. I'll try to be clearer.

The OS is irrelevant, as the devices are meant to be used with the app for said device. Said app is usually available on both iOS and Android, and companies like Fitbit, Xiaomi, Samsung, Apple, etc… just don't care about alternate platforms.

Right. So my question then becomes, for example: is there a UT app for a Xiaomi smart watch? And casting a slightly wider net: is there one for all the cheap smart watches that you can buy from China?
There does not seem to be one and I'm wondering why. Because no one has yet made one is a perfectly fine answer here, if that is the reason.

How were Pebble smart watches not meant to be used with Android and why are they somehow not valid? There is an app which works with them.

That's why they are not valid in the context of the question: because there is such an app. I'm not asking about them because I already know (and use) that.
And yes, they were of course meant to be used with Android. But the Pebble UT app does not work with other smart watches, as far as I know.

AsteroidOS running on said Android Gadget watches is also a completely viable answer.

It is. But the number of working watches is small.

dobey

@moem said in An app for smartwatches that expect Android?:

Because no one has yet made one

That is indeed the answer. The author of Amazfish for SailfishOS was looking at porting it previously, but I don't know if they've made any progress. It doesn't support as much as Gadgetbridge on Android does, but it seems to be along the same route.

There's plenty of knowledge out there for anyone who wants to build such apps though.

It is. But the number of working watches is small.

This is just going to remain the unfortunate reality when developers have to reverse engineer support for devices, whether to flash a different OS on them, or to just talk to them normally, until device makers build products to open standards and support alternate platforms. Until then, it's only going to be something that works with whatever hardware the developers scratching their own itch have around.

Moem

@dobey Thank you. I feel enlightened.

AppLee

@moem
I don't really know the market of smartwatches but long time ago when I ran an Android phone, I had a LG G Watch R.
Now I have a project to fix it if I can and migrate to Asteroid, but that's not the point.

My point is this kind of watch is high end and uses AndroidWear.
AndroidWear is deeply integrated into Android... On iOS at that time an app was proposed by Google and Apple was not so found of it...
Now, I don't know the situation. A lot happened I guess.

But IF something similar is still possible (an app for iOS), then I guess one can find a way to do it for UT. It's a huge work of retro-engineering and tweaking UT (in the right way of course).
But seen the battle a that time over smartwatches and maybe some fragmentation in various OSes it might be very hard.
And the worst case is if each cheap smartwatch is sold with its own app available on Android and iOS. This way for each brand you can expect a lot of trouble for each individual model.

Basically if one app can rule them all : difficult but possible
If not forget about it...

Moem

@applee Thank you, too!

OhneZ

Hello,
What actually happened to the Pinetime ? Was it only a development study or will it be launched on the market?
It's probably more possible to start there for an app.

Moem

@ohnez That is a good question! I ran into that when searching, too, and it did look so interesting. From the looks of it, it is actually coming: https://pine64.com/product-category/smartwatches/?v=0446c16e2e66

I would think that a Pine smartwatch would need to work with a Pinephone... and so it would seem like it might jive well with UT.

AppLee

@ohnez
That's more a question for Pine64 than here.
As far as I know if enough demand exists it is likely to be produced.

But the PineTime cannot host an heavy OS like Asteroid, so the firmware has to be device specific thus it will require a specific app.
Given the projects are open source it might land on UT one day, but it's been a year with major progress but still no real product... wait and see

Keneda

@applee said in An app for smartwatches that expect Android?:

But the PineTime cannot host an heavy OS like Asteroid

Sad...

AppLee

@keneda
It's a 25$ device, not a high end 200$ smartwatch...

Keneda

@applee
Why would be one linked to the other?
Pinephone is 149$ and you can install uTouch on it, or any other foss system.
Only one thing needed : enought space to install, no need 200$ for that.
Secpond one could be enough power to run.
Raspberry can make 10$ board than run linux, Pine can make 25$ device that can run astroïd, isn't it?

jiho

I am currently working on a Smartwatch Sync App for UT, to at least be able to sync the time and get data like heart rate, steps, etc. (for now at least)

I might have an alpha version of it ready in a few days (can't guarantee that though), if anyone would be interested.

I am currently focused on supporting Infinitime.