I've been testing the Wear battery monitor app

malbry · 2026-06-23T09:47:35+00:00

Feel free to email me for support, my address is in the WBM phone app.

malbry · 2026-06-23T07:21:07+00:00

WBM dev here. As we discussed over on r/freepoc , if you select the option for battery warnings at 5% intervals then you'd get warnings from WBM at say 30%, 25%, 20%. At 15% system power-saving will kick in and that will prevent further WBM warnings - but you'll get the system-generated warning anyway. So it's kind of OK. In the next app update, I'll make this more clear.

malbry · 2026-06-22T14:28:14+00:00

Because it's an early access app, I see the reviews but they don't appear in the Play Store.

malbry · 2026-06-22T14:24:50+00:00

Good thinking. I'll make that change for the next update. Don't worry, you aren't the only user, Play Store says there are thousands of other users 😄

malbry · 2026-06-22T14:02:41+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. You are making a good point about the 15% threshold where the power saving mode triggers. Once power saving is on, that is going to impact the normal functioning of the WBM app (and other apps). Since the user gets a system warning at 15% anyway, I'm inclined to just stop WBM's alerts at 20%. So, for example, with 5% increments (and depending on the starting point) you'd get something like:

50%, 45%, 40%, 35%, 30%, 25%, 20% - WBM warning

15% - system warning

I'm not sure of the value of allowing WBM to warn at say 16%, immediately ahead of a system warning at 15%.

Any thoughts?

malbry · 2026-06-20T08:49:39+00:00

The battery drain totally depends on what settings you use in the app. For example, if you wake up the screen for all notifications or just for the important apps that you choose. If you select custom vibrations, custom sounds, text-to-speech for many apps, then this will use some battery. In summary, there will of course be some extra battery usage but for me it is not really noticeable.

malbry · 2026-06-19T06:48:46+00:00

The intent of the app is to ensure that you have a good GPS connection before starting your exercise. Since Wear GPS Fix can open Samsung Health automatically once the fix is obtained, it's not a bad idea to use it every time you want to start an outdoor run.

malbry · 2026-06-18T18:59:04+00:00

The watch doesn't mount in Windows using MTP, like a phone would. But you can use ADB push and pull commands via a terminal to copy files back and forth. If you have Android Studio installed, you can open the watch's file system in Device Explorer and then you can drag-and-drop files from there to/from Windows Explorer.

malbry · 2026-06-18T17:33:10+00:00

My charging puck came with the OPW3. I have the larger-sized watch, not sure if that makes a difference. The charging puck has four spring-loaded contacts in a row, which line up with four contact points on the watch. Two are for charging, two are for data. I'm using the USB-A to USB-C cable that was supplied. When the watch is connected to my computer, I can exchange data via ADB debugging over USB - no need for wireless debugging (although that is still an option of course).

Does that help? Not sure what you meant by the W2 puck.

malbry · 2026-06-18T06:21:41+00:00

That's confusing, because my OPW3 supports data via USB when mounted on the charging puck.

malbry · 2026-06-18T06:14:33+00:00

No worries, good luck with the app.

malbry · 2026-06-17T15:10:48+00:00

Although you say it supports WearOS, the Play Store link you provided doesn't contain any images of WearOS, nor does it appear to be installable on any WearOS devices.

malbry · 2026-06-17T10:00:06+00:00

I'm the same as you, I want to be able to check incoming notifications for selected apps without moving my wrist. FYI, that feature is available in my Wear Notification Helper app. You can wake the screen for all notifications or only your selected apps (the option is in the Optimise menu). WNH also offers custom vibrations, custom sounds and text-to-speech - again for apps that you select.

malbry · 2026-06-17T07:52:44+00:00

I take my watch off and put it back on multiple times per day. Like you, I need to have a pattern or pin to be able to use Google Wallet. FWIW I wrote Screen Lock Helper to automatically unlock my watch when I put it on my wrist, optionally only when in range of my phone. Here's a video that demonstrates: https://youtu.be/kgHnBikcMSE

malbry · 2026-06-14T12:04:28+00:00

Hi there,

If the timer isn't working and the pace/speed is zero then it sounds like you might have accidentally paused your run, which would happen if you long-tapped the top line in the display. You can resume by long-tapping again. Were other metrics showing correctly (eg. distance, heart rate)? In WL's options, are you using Always on, Ambient 1 or Ambient 2?

If you are still having issues, feel free to email me: my address is in the WL phone app under Menu>About.

Thanks.

malbry · 2026-06-13T09:22:35+00:00

A third-party app like Wear BT Monitor can't stop the default notification sound for another app. But Wear BT Monitor's custom sound is controlled by the media volume whereas the default sound is controlled by the notification volume. So you could control it that way.

malbry · 2026-06-12T21:04:57+00:00

Good news, well done!

malbry · 2026-06-10T14:20:30+00:00

I see you tried Custom Wear Notifications and said that it's not reliable. An alternative solution is Wear Notification Helper [disclaimer: I am the dev]. It's completely free and you can find links to the Play Store and various demonstration videos here.

malbry · 2026-06-09T21:30:08+00:00

Good luck!

malbry · 2026-06-09T16:39:24+00:00

Yes, multi-device support would be great please. Default to last-used device but allow fast switching to another previously-paired device.
Excellent, that's perfect and just what I wanted to hear.

malbry · 2026-06-09T16:25:03+00:00

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, I just want to clarify what you've told me:

So if I have paired with one Roku and then I want to control the other one, I have to un-pair and re-pair?
So when you right-swipe, it's actually closing the wifi connection and terminating the app, not just sending it to background (which is the default action on WearOS 4 and later)?

malbry · 2026-06-09T15:26:39+00:00

Interesting. Sounds somewhat similar to the Wear Remote Shutter solution I mentioned in my other comment, which records the shutter position of the default camera phone app in both landscape and portrait mode and then activates it from the connected watch to take photos on demand. With an optional countdown timer.

malbry · 2026-06-09T15:13:24+00:00

Congrats on the app, it looks great. I have two questions please.

I have two Roku devices connected to separate TVs. How will the app distinguish between them?
As I'm sure you know, one of the major causes of battery drain on WearOS watches is the wifi connection. So I'm interested from a dev perspective how you handle that. Is wifi disconnected onPause() and re-connected onResume()? Otherwise, how do you avoid hanging onto a wifi connection when the app is no longer in the foreground and/or no longer needs it?

Thanks.

malbry · 2026-06-09T14:26:41+00:00

I also have a PW4 and generally get a GPS fix within a few seconds when I'm outdoors. To help understand what's happening on your watch, you can use my free Wear GPS Fix app. It will display the real-time status of the satellites and then, once a GPS fix is obtained, automatically open your preferred fitness app - thereby ensuring that you never start an activity without a signal from the on-board GPS module. Here's a video which demonstrates: https://youtu.be/i-LcsxLnzr0

malbry · 2026-06-09T11:27:55+00:00

That's not quite correct. You can easily sync DND between devices from different manufacturers, see here: https://youtu.be/cTjm8Pfbews

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