other uses for S7

Aleksander H

So, I was curious. WIth the S7 being a full blown smart watch, what else do people use theirs for? What apps, etc?

Personally I primarily just use it for the excellent notification support, allowing me to keep my phone in my pocket. If I could listen to Spotify or Audible while running I would definitely do that as well though!

Jamie BG

@aleksander-h
NavMusic - allow you to listen to your own music on your watch (offline) - has built into transfer for music files from phone/pc (or you can use NavExplorer).
WearCast - allows you to listen to podcasts.
Either of the above would work for books if you could transfer to your watch.

Weather - weather tile on watch and google assistant (GA) if i want a longer weather report than next 8 hours.

Watch faces - love changing them to match the occasion & my mood (see S7 watch face thread for my favourites).

Fit Strenght training - app wrapper to activate the old strength training activity in Google fit which is now hidden due to design change - this allows for auto-exercise detection and rep count. Better than what Garmin provides and anyone else - still amazes me they hid this.

Heart Rate tile - to occasionally check HR when it feels whacky.

Google news headlines for when I am bored and want to quickly see main headlines.

Calculator - have it mapped to central button.
Flashlight - have it mapped to bottom right (really useful when going up those flights of stairs in the dark and don’t want to wake the family).

GPay - of course. Works really well here in the UK and covered with most banks and till points.

Map my fitness - but barely ever use it, And will probably uninstall as suunto app so good.

Medisafe (links to phone app).

facer/watchmake for watch faces - but not using it much at moment.
Shazam - when you want to know that song in an advert, on radio, tv etc. Though can sometimes be clunky as may want phone unlocked.

I use reminders/countdown/stopwatch a lot. Reminders via the app, coundown/stopwatch usually via GA.

Google Maps - uself if want city directions - can initiate from watch but generally easier from phone. It now provides text directions or full directions with map).

Don’t have a lot of additional apps installed as between wear os basics and suunto app, I find it pretty much covers all my needs.

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

Google assistant for google home usage
Remote camera button
Weather alerts

I wanted and tried to use it for a viewfinder for my go pro but with no luck for the latest go pros.

Also music. I am a guy with mp3s and flac audio so it’s easy for me.

Aleksander H

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos said in other uses for S7:

I wanted and tried to use it for a viewfinder for my go pro but with no luck for the latest go pros.

Oh, this possibility never occurred to me! I’ll have to try. Maybe I’ll have more luck.

isazi

Google Keep notes, so I don’t have to look at my phone when grocery shopping

Jamie BG

@isazi - Google Keep notes - can’t believe I missed that one. Yes use it too for the exact same purpose - so much easier than having phone in one hand.

Jamie BG

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos -what app are you using for weather alerts?

isazi

@jamie-bg and if I am already at the store and my girlfriend realizes we missed something, she can add it to the list and I have it already on my wrist!

aeroild

The notifications are great but it’s even better when I can interact via the notifications or apps. E.g. allow login via Microsoft Authenticator or turn on/off alarm on my home alarm system. I also like that I can side load apps and e.g. use Spotify and the Alti/Barometer app mentioned in another post here on the forum. Google Pay is nice to have and also remote control of music and other media content.

Brad_Olwin

I found a fantastic Altimeter/Barometer app that was posted on another thread here, sorry for not looking up the reference. It has a storm alert and tiles. This one has to be side loaded with adb tools, easy on a Mac or PC. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-alti-barometer-app-w-tile-auto-calibration-notifications-and-more.4136449/

pschenn

I don’t know if it’s very well known but I use Heart for Bluetooth, which is able to broadcast HR to other (bluetooth) devices. Works very well IMHO.

With the app, the Suunto 7 will show up as a regular bluetooth HR sensor and you can pair with it. It runs in the background and supports multiple connections.

Aleksander H

@brad_olwin said in other uses for S7:

I found a fantastic Altimeter/Barometer app that was posted on another thread here, sorry for not looking up the reference. It has a storm alert and tiles. This one has to be side loaded with adb tools, easy on a Mac or PC. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-alti-barometer-app-w-tile-auto-calibration-notifications-and-more.4136449/

That looks really good!

Jamie BG

@isazi - unfortunately my wife refuses to move eletronically like that, so would get a text/whatsapp with it, assuming I have connectivity in the store.

Jamie BG

@brad_olwin Whats it like on battery life, as its taking readings so frequently?

Brad_Olwin

@jamie-bg said in other uses for S7:

@brad_olwin Whats it like on battery life, as its taking readings so frequently?

Don’t know yet but it doesn’t seem bad, I typically charge 1x per day anyway.

Egika

@brad_olwin said in other uses for S7:

I found a fantastic Altimeter/Barometer app that was posted on another thread here, sorry for not looking up the reference. It has a storm alert and tiles. This one has to be side loaded with adb tools, easy on a Mac or PC. https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/app-alti-barometer-app-w-tile-auto-calibration-notifications-and-more.4136449/

I also like it, but found that the storm alert goes off when taking a cable car up the mountain… Something in the code needs to be improved…

Jamie BG

Wearable widgets (install on watch and phone) - you can then set one of your tiles to wearable widgets. Then on the phone set a widget you have that you have on your phone you would like to see on your watch - and hey presto that is now available on watch.
Basically casts it to the watch.

Aleksander H

@jamie-bg said in other uses for S7:

Wearable widgets (install on watch and phone) - you can then set one of your tiles to wearable widgets. Then on the phone set a widget you have that you have on your phone you would like to see on your watch - and hey presto that is now available on watch.
Basically casts it to the watch.

pilleus

@jamie-bg you can have several weather radars in one tile. I love this app.

By the way, the most precise weather app for me is Regen Vorschau, with an arrow showing the real time until the rain will start. Wind and satellite view are included too. For Germany only.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chsoftware.regenvorschau&hl=de&gl=US

isazi

Custom tiles coming to WearOS.

https://the5krunner.com/2021/03/13/wear-os-custom-tiles-soon-watch-out-apple-watch-faces/