Advice for newb to Android Wear?

[Megatomic]

So I finally jumped on a Moto 360 yesterday. It's paired with my Moto X 2013 running Lollipop and it's pretty cool. I even took it on my run this morning, Strava worked well enough.

What else should I be try with the watch? What apps work best with it?

 

[Commodus]

Probably the biggest thing is Hangouts. If you set it as the default SMS app, it's an easy way to respond to text messages with your voice... just do it when others aren't listening, since it's about as socially acceptable as a loud phone call. Beats fishing your phone out of your pocket when your hands are full, at least.

Foursquare could also come in handy if you're regularly interested in what to eat or where to go. Swarm (Foursquare's check-in app) doesn't have an Android Wear extension of its own, but the third-party Wear With Swarm app will do the job in a pinch. And f you use mass transit, Citymapper should help you reach your bus/train and get off at the right time.

 

[Megatomic]

Sorry it took so long for me to see your reply, I got bogged down in a soak test and haven't spent much time on anything aside from work and the soak.

Thanks for the tips, I'll try using Hangouts instead of Messenger and see how my 360 does with it.

 

[Sheep]

I'm a Wear noob as well (Sony Smartwatch 3). I got it primarily for calendar and text notifications and as an actual watch, I've found controlling Pocket Casts and Google Play Music from my watch way more convenient than I would've guessed.

Among other apps I use on my phone that have Wear support, the ones I use most are Weather Timeline (for weather notifications), Talon (for reading tweets) and Palabre (for quickly skimming headlines from the RSS feeds I follow).

I use both Hangouts and Google Messenger and I know Messenger supports sending texts by voice (haven't tried that with Hangouts yet).

 

[poofyhairguy]

To me there are two types of Android Wear apps: ones you actually use, and ones you have to show off how cool the watch is to normals

Category 1 for me:

-Smartlock (not really an app) rules, turn it on
-Watch Membership thinned out my wallet
-Track ID is a great way to discover music out and about
-Google Keep is an awesome way to put a grocery list on your wrist
-I really appreciate being able to control my Kodi boxes via Yatse
-Web Browser for Android Wear works pretty good in a pinch

Category 2:

-LookBehind is awesome to show off the watch, makes you look like a spy.
-Get a Tic tac Toe or Rubiks Cube game as well, normals oh and ah at those when you do a demo.
-The Falcon Punch app will impress any Nintendo fan
-Finally there are a ton of watchfaces that impress. In my experience the best to show off with is the "The Matrix" themed watch face for Android Wear. Makes Apple's Mickey Mouse face everyone talks about literally look like child's play

 

[JeffMD]

The matrix watch face I found was a battery drainer. It was the first time I saw my watch drop below %50 at the end of the work day.

Watchmaker premium is the app to have for watch faces. There are tons and tons of free and paid for faces out there for it, and new faces are posted to their google+ page daily. I also broke down and bought the power amp remote because it shows artist/album info and album art.

 

[s44]

Ah, I remember when the Matrix screensaver for Windows was the shit...

 

[Megatomic]

So far I've found that I use Strava, Pocket Cast, GPM All Access, and Poweramp the most on the 360. Having had a Moto X for nearly 2 years now I'm quite accustomed to giving voice commands so sending texts and searching from my watch are done frequently and fluidly.

LOL at the showoff category, I may do that. But the watch itself has drawn some attention on it's own. I was eating dinner with a table of coworkers and clients this week when a text came in on my phone/watch. One guy noticed it, asked about it, then it became a 20 minute long dog and pony show for everyone.

 

[dawheat]

-Watch Membership thinned out my wallet
-LookBehind is awesome to show off the watch, makes you look like a spy.

Mind sharing how well these two apps work? The first sounds good in theory, but I imagine it's awkward to tilt your wrist in front of scanners and such. Might be worth if it its reliable enough.

The second one does look cool - but I imagine the lag is pretty horrendous?

I do have to say after picking up a Moto 360 for $130ish on sale, it's quite a nice watch. While it can be a bit laggy, it looks great, far better than the multiple Samsung watches I have. A new version that's a bit thinner, a bit higher res screen, with a modern low power SOC (ideally on Samsung's 14nm), and a higher quality leather strap would be perfect. I find battery life fine - ending days at around 50%.

 

[JeffMD]

I never used voice commands on my phone before but now I have used the watch to send text using voice while driving many times. Also setting quick alarms when I am real busy but need to break off at a specific time is very handy.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Mind sharing how well these two apps work? The first sounds good in theory, but I imagine it's awkward to tilt your wrist in front of scanners and such. Might be worth if it its reliable enough.

The second one does look cool - but I imagine the lag is pretty horrendous?

The first one works great, especially on a 360. It really thinned my wallet. Plus its not awkward to use the watch because the people at the store treat you like James Bond when you do it. Very futuristic.

As far as the camera app it works AMAZINGLY. Pretty much no lag and you can switch the cameras with ease. That is why its is a great showoff app, works good. Between that and the reward card one the kid who runs the register at the pet store is convinced I am a spy.

I do want to admit that day to day the Google stuff is what gets used the most. Voice reminders, maps, player controls, message triage, etc.

 

[dawheat]

The first one works great, especially on a 360. It really thinned my wallet. Plus its not awkward to use the watch because the people at the store treat you like James Bond when you do it. Very futuristic.

As far as the camera app it works AMAZINGLY. Pretty much no lag and you can switch the cameras with ease. That is why its is a great showoff app, works good. Between that and the reward card one the kid who runs the register at the pet store is convinced I am a spy.

I do want to admit that day to day the Google stuff is what gets used the most. Voice reminders, maps, player controls, message triage, etc.

Thanks man - both apps work surprisingly well for me. You're totally right about the camera app - not bad at all.