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The quest for a simple smartwatch

binarymoon.co.uk

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Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#221

Post by lopis »

yurishimo wrote: post #78
lopis wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google (Maps?) has done the car parking location for 10+ years. But like many things Google, Google software is not well integrated with itself, and discoverability is bad. It's perfectly possible that this feature has been removed and re-added several times during the last decade, as is the fate of many Google projects.

It still works but only in certain circumstances. You need to navigate to a destination that is far enough away and visited less frequently as to be categorized as a visit. Maps will not save your parking location in front of your office, for example. If I leave an airtag in my car, I will always know where it is because my phone is constantly looking for the BT signal.

And that's what I mean. The idea is there, and they have all your location data, but the feature is not polished, it's inconsistent, and not reliable, so it might as well not exist.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#222

Post by lopis »

WeylandYutani wrote: post #184
lopis wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google (Maps?) has done the car parking location for 10+ years. But like many things Google, Google software is not well integrated with itself, and discoverability is bad. It's perfectly possible that this feature has been removed and re-added several times during the last decade, as is the fate of many Google projects.

I use a seperate app for car navigation. Can't trust Google. But a lot of people apparently want a single "super" app that does everything. Musk was right about that- we're all going to see a Western WeChat emerge. All hail integration.

Google and Microsoft have the resources and market penetration to create a Western WeChat, but these companies are too fragmented internally, so their various teams will never be able to work together to pull it off.

Apple will probably be the one creating something like a "super ecosystem", but reserved for Apple users of course.

I can't imagine any other company pulling it off. Amazon could but its reputation seems so bad lately that I doubt people would jump in. So I find it incredibly hard to believe that a true "Western WeChat" could emerge any time soon.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#223

Post by rollcat »

taylodl wrote: post #161
rollcat wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel AW is underrated as an everyday tool, especially when it comes to being mindful about contemporary attention sinks. You can do almost anything from it that doesn't require a larger screen or a keyboard, and the kinds of activities the larger screen enables tend to mostly just waste your time. Take a typical 2007 "dumb" phone - the watch screen is roughly that size. It becomes awkward when you need to find some…

Having just bought my first Apple Watch about four months ago - I've been really surprised at how useful and unobtrusive it is. Hate to admit it, but I should have bought one years ago. Having said that, I'm still not sold on the Apple Vision Pro.

> Having said that, I'm still not sold on the Apple Vision Pro.

Yeah. To me VP feels like carrying a boombox on your shoulder, when all you actually need are AirPods.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#224

Post by mtlmtlmtlmtl »

markhahn wrote: post #193
mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #54

I was fairly happy with my fitbit charge 4, but now it's actually useless as a watch most of the time because they pushed a firmware update that reduces the max screen brightness. So now it's impossible to read the screen outside, even on the max settings . God I hate closed down hardware. I don't actually care if the battery life gets shorter because I take the damn thing off every day to shower anyway, and the time…

I have a charge 5 and it's fine - in particular, it would suit the OP. I also would love to tinker with the fw and be able to service parts. But providing each of those features is a tradeoff. The fw is primarily a cultural issue, but to some extent also a support one. I think that's where I would push harder - rather than the hw aspect. Replaceable batteries are either quite specific or incur a substantial space pen…

Definitely agree that HW is a tougher ask. Though I mostly see it as an engineering problem that hasn't been solved mainly because no one is really trying.

And apparently rechargable button cells do exist based on a quick google search, though i have no idea how widely available they are. But again, it's just an engineering problem that can be solved should the right people put their minds to it. I can't really design hardware, but I did write the firmware for a two man startup at one point, designing custom electronics for people with too much money. We always made the source available to the customer and made our stuff USB or JTAG programmable. Not that any of them actually cared, but we did!

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#226

Post by dspillett »

user_7832 wrote: post #197

> Plus, call me picky if you like, but having a reputable brand name behind my purchase gives me extra peace of mind when it comes to reliability. I hope the author realizes that Amazfit is owned by Huami which is a sister/sibling company of Xiaomi. And as of 2021 at least, they were the 3rd largest smartwatch maker after Apple and Samsung.[1] I'd expect their build quality to be at least quite decent on average, and…

> I hope the author realizes that Amazfit is owned by Huami which is a sister/sibling company of Xiaomi. And as of 2021 at least, they were the 3rd largest smartwatch maker after Apple and Samsung.

For some this association might be offputting. My current phone is by Xiaomi, as was the previous one, but my next won't be. There is a pile of stuff you can't (easily) uninstall that keeps trying to run and wants all sorts of odd perms for their task, heck the default clock on this device wanted location access before letting me set an alarm! (I just installed a different app), and they get good battery life scores by being _very_ aggressive about killing apps which is a pain for some things you might want to keep running in the background.

Can these watches be used without the company's own cloud stuff, and/or an advert laden app, or is that forced on you like like the inexpensive (and sometimes not so inexpensive!) home cameras from Yi and similar manufacturers?

> I'd expect their build quality to be at least quite decent on average,

That is certainly true with the phones I've used. The hardware seems as solid as similar (usually more expensive) devices, including the cameras being pretty decent.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#227

Post by BloodyIron »

hnbad wrote: post #170
brookst wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consumers decide product success, not VCs. If there is demand, the product will succeed. See: all the companies that came from bootstrapped startups. If there is no demand, no amount of VC money will make a successful company. See: Magic Leap.

Not really. VCs want growth, consumers want stability. A company can be profitable and stable and still die because VCs want ROI and hence growth and the growth potential of the existing market has been depleted. Arguably, Pebble was an example of this. They initially presented the smartwatch as a productivity tool and many users loved it. But the productivity market was much smaller than the fitness market so they k…

And what about companies like 3M who don't inherently focus on MVP and instead significantly invest in products that are targetted for humans? Not favouring growth at all costs.

Yes, a lot of "new"/"modern" companies that have shiny balance sheets with the colour black used, and not red, follow as you attribe. But there are plenty whom do not.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#228

Post by BloodyIron »

silveira wrote: post #152

After my two Pebbles, I have never found something quite like it. I have then accumulated a drawer full of sad, obsolete and nonfunctional smart watches. I then moved my interest to good old plain watches. Digital, mechanical, self-winding, manual-winding, hacking seconds, chronographs, divers, all that. It's a rich, complex, and beautiful world. They can get as expensive or as affordable as you want, but for the pri…

Why not revive your pebbles? Depending on the model, there are replacement battery options, and with rebble.io the software aspect is addressed.

Literally wearing a fully functional Pebble Time as I write this. I also have a Pebble Time Steel (not wearing currently) also fully operational.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#229

Post by dariosalvi78 »

Humpelstilzchen wrote: post #125
dariosalvi78 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both versions of the Bangle. I absolutely love the software ecosystem and the apps are a lot of fun to program. On the down side, battery life is not great (4 days if you're lucky) and the step counter and heart rate detection algorithms in the open source firmware are not very accurate, which makes it a bit pointless for what I need. On the plus side, if you're up for the challenge, you can try to improve tho…

Please note that the current firmware switched to closed source hrm [1]. I charge weekly, after one week the battery is usually at ~50% with my usual usage. Obviously with GPS on the battery empties much faster, without any notifications etc the battery can hold multiple weeks. [1] https://forum.espruino.com/conversations/385922/

This is great to know, thanks for the update. I will definitely look at the newest firmware then.

Re: The quest for a simple smartwatch

#230

Post by Andrew_nenakhov »

Jim_Raynor wrote: post #188
Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a different thing, and we're talking mostly about androids.

So lets talk about android - does it something like that automatic? Remember location when bluetooth is disconected sound nice.

No, it doesn't. Did I ever say it did? Also, in my part of the world I don't see many cars around that connect to Android/iOS as a Bluetooth accessory anyway.
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