Xenon by Alexander Schlei
The watch faces are the present through the native S3 app or do you have to actually download them from a 3rd party app??
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Gear S3 Frontier Vs Apple Watch
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The watch faces are the present through the native S3 app or do you have to actually download them from a 3rd party app??
Through the native app, there's so many faces.
Heaps cost money but there's tons of free faces.
Some look good, most look horrible imo.
I'll have to look into 3rd party faces.
I loaded this one and really like it. With the black background and hint of red, it looks really classy.
I tried another trip to the gym tonight planning to not bring along the Note 8. I spent time this afternoon signing up for a trial on Spotify and then attempted to stream via LTE to the Gear S3. That didn't go well. Within a few seconds of starting the music playing, the watch went into overheated mode and then after about a minute came back. I tried it 3 or 4 times with same result. A little googling found a lot of people with the same problem. So apparently the Spotify app has a bug that causes LTE streaming to overheat the watch immediately. Plan B was to download a few playlists to the watch. This took a while until I discovered that it will only do it over WiFi and that had never been turned on in my watch. Got that set and then it downloaded about 100 songs in about 15 minutes or so.
I have to say that going into the gym without my phone was a difficult step.. I go nowhere without my phone. But I did it. I had paired Beats X earbuds to the watch ahead of time. I set Spotify to offline and started the tunes playing. Then I started my workout and running. It all worked perfectly. I even sent a text to my wife before I left my gym. That actually freaked her out because it came from the watch mobile number... I thought these were tied together so it would appear as coming from my phone? Overall, a very good experience, but I do with the LTE streaming worked... not a huge deal but maybe they will get it fixed at some point.
I tried another trip to the gym tonight planning to not bring along the Note 8. I spent time this afternoon signing up for a trial on Spotify and then attempted to stream via LTE to the Gear S3. That didn't go well. Within a few seconds of starting the music playing, the watch went into overheated mode and then after about a minute came back. I tried it 3 or 4 times with same result. A little googling found a lot of people with the same problem. So apparently the Spotify app has a bug that causes LTE streaming to overheat the watch immediately. Plan B was to download a few playlists to the watch. This took a while until I discovered that it will only do it over WiFi and that had never been turned on in my watch. Got that set and then it downloaded about 100 songs in about 15 minutes or so.
I have to say that going into the gym without my phone was a difficult step.. I go nowhere without my phone. But I did it. I had paired Beats X earbuds to the watch ahead of time. I set Spotify to offline and started the tunes playing. Then I started my workout and running. It all worked perfectly. I even sent a text to my wife before I left my gym. That actually freaked her out because it came from the watch mobile number... I thought these were tied together so it would appear as coming from my phone? Overall, a very good experience, but I do with the LTE streaming worked... not a huge deal but maybe they will get it fixed at some point.
Do you have the LTE version of the watch?
Myself I don’t see the point of paying more money for that every month and also having a separate number to use when the phone isn’t around.
Thinking if I go the S3 I’m going to just the Bluetooth version.
Myself I don’t see the point of paying more money for that every month and also having a separate number to use when the phone isn’t around.
Thinking if I go the S3 I’m going to just the Bluetooth version.
Yes, I have the LTE version. My understanding is that they cost the same... carriers sell the LTE version, and other retailers like Best Buy sell the Bluetooth only version. The $10/month I agree is kind of a rip... but since AT&T sold me the watch for $49, I'm basically getting 2 years of service free. In my short time of playing with it, I do see the advantages. The separate number should be transparent, although the first time I sent a text to my wife last night (while at the gym without my phone), it did show up to here as a different number. Worse, when she replied, it just went to the watch and not my phone which I had connected to. So that is not ideal, but it is handy for those times you need it. I need to look into if there is a better way to configure it to hide the watch's phone number. If you have an LTE attached tablet like an iPad, it also has a phone number... but since it can't make phone calls its not really ever used.
Also, there is an SOS function on the Gear S3 that wouldn't work without LTE. If you tap the home button 3 times, it will send a text alert with your GPS location to up to 4 contacts, and can also call one of them. I believe it also sets the volume to zero with this call so that they can hear what's going on but wouldn't be able to talk and create a danger situation. While its hopefully something you'd never use... it is a nice safety thing to have.
Yeah there could be pros/cons for having that second number. Maybe you can use it for the annoying car dealer or doctors office reminders/texts. Either way though I’m guessing they’ll still be flooding the watch with calls.
If I were to text a relative from weird number they’d be like “What??”.
For you though it’s a good deal because the watch is paying for the service since you only got it for $49.
It’s also cool that if you do ever forget your phone or want to leave it behind you have something to use in an emergency situation.
Myself though it’s not needed. Been using BT on AW all this time anyhow.
And to touch on the tablet connection, I’d never do that either since you can usually use your phone as a hotspot.
There’s options out there for people.
I’m guessing when your watch is paired up via BT it utilizes the phones number which is your original number correct?
Yeah there could be pros/cons for having that second number. Maybe you can use it for the annoying car dealer or doctors office reminders/texts. Either way though I’m guessing they’ll still be flooding the watch with calls.
If I were to text a relative from weird number they’d be like “What??”.
For you though it’s a good deal because the watch is paying for the service since you only got it for $49.
It’s also cool that if you do ever forget your phone or want to leave it behind you have something to use in an emergency situation.
Myself though it’s not needed. Been using BT on AW all this time anyhow.
And to touch on the tablet connection, I’d never do that either since you can usually use your phone as a hotspot.
There’s options out there for people.
I’m guessing when your watch is paired up via BT it utilizes the phones number which is your original number correct?
Yes, paired it uses the phone's number.
I agree on not seeing the need for an LTE tablet, but wife would not be able to deal with that. She is the one in our family with an iPad with cellular, and it is her only computer.
You get bluetooth coverage from your car trunk to inside the gym? Is it a very small gym?
Stream via the watch using BT, using data from the watch .. I get 1GB LTE on my S3 monthly.
The coming S3 Sport is a bit slimmer and less bulky. I'm definitely going to check it out if I end up getting a Note 8.
https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-gear-sport-vs-gear-s3
Overall I'd be happy to sacrifice some functionality to get a slimmer watch. Battery life doesn't need to last longer than a day for me, and I never use health tracking.
My dream remains a rectangular watch slightly smaller than the Apple Watch, considerably thinner, and built on the 80's digital watches aesthetics.
Hmm, what's up with that way too skinny band and those weird corners on the sport?
You got Spotify to stream over LTE? I tried it and the watch immediately goes into overheat mode... like immediately. Googled and saw other people had the same issue. I assumed it was a bug in the app.
Might be a challenge, as AT&T is selling them for $49 with the purchase of a new Galaxy... at least they were a week ago.
I, mostly, use it in offline mode...but even in online mode I haven’t seen any overheating message pop up..the battery does take a decent hit though.
I think so. I sent a text from my watch and my wife replied with "who is this?". I saw an explanation of how to get around this I think using Google voice, but need to go back and find it.
There’s only one visible number irrespective Of how calls or messages are sent. The 2nd number is a phantom essentially.
Well that all depends if the watch is in Bluetooth range of the phone or not...
No, it doesn’t. I have AT&T and numbersync only shows one number irrespective of the phone being in range.