yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Other SmartWatches] vinceg77:
Pablo, I totally agree with your advice and thank you for its wisdom. I will not take anymore 'risks' in trying to improve the watch too much, especially now that we probably will have Lokifish Marz working on it ! I am conscious about my noob knowledge in this matter.

In another hand, i am quite frustrated with my watch so far despite the fact I am sure it is a good piece of chinese hardware. I have received my watch for about a week and I cannot really wear it :

- It is bad in battery consomption, especially it it remains connected

- It is very poor in relying my 'main' smartphone (Galaxy Note 4) to forward received email / SMS / apps notification to improve mobile user-experience as I was expecting it (I can't get used to Smart Link app and its poor square icons interface)

- More generally, it doesn't really add me any supplementary user experience regarding mobile technologies

And since I have already tried to improve it - before the thread move to those 80+ pages - I might have already damaged it. I don't even know (I think of some MtkDroidTools manipulation I have tried before flashing which possibly might have touched partitions or else). The watch with the rom provided by the manufacturer is almost no use for me - A basic Casio watch also gives me the time. That is why I have rooted it (KingRoot) and began to try to tweak it (Xposure / gapps / etc) without great results so far - but it is probably because of my low knowledge.

That is also why I am trying to understand (specially through this forum) what I have really done, how to maybe undo it. This is a traduction of some kind of empiric method, a way to improve and to learn something when your are not an expert. And this forum is really a great help for this.

All of this really give a sens to me on spending so much time and interest for such a basic device - which after all is only a watch!

Now that is is done, I have nothing to lose anymore than trying my best to get it work as I was expecting it - as far as I do not brick it!

Now if you can teach me how to be sure to restore it (rom / partition / sd card) to the state it was delivered to us, I will definitely stop any further manipulation which could lead it to a non coming back state. If not, I will do either -still listening your advice - but I will try to get something usable during the 1 to 4 weeks needed to receive the watch from china and to develop a usable custom rom.

PS : I will probably write later (mainly intended to Lokifish Marz) what will be my dream K8 rom...
[Other SmartWatches] VladimirPob:
Somebody can help me with this problem?
[Other SmartWatches] darkangel69dz:
m'y original backup

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0B9oxL66MnXZuUjRvM0hDYlg1akk/edit

this is m'y original backup
[Other SmartWatches] VladimirPob:
OK, now i have your backup. How i"ll put them in my watch?
[Other SmartWatches] darkangel69dz:
With SP flash tools
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
You use the upgrade firmware option in SP tools instead of download - it will clear out the old configuration completely. You need to perform a full factory reset after you flash it. This is in device management under settings.

I understand your frustration but this kind of device is fairly new and the reason it is relatively cheap is because it is very under developed. It is certainly not a complete replacement for your phone yet.

Good luck with your restoration and take it slowly.
[Other SmartWatches] VladimirPob:
Error message:

S_DL_GET_DRAM_SETTING_FAIL

[EMI] Obtain DRAM Failed!

Please check your image to matches with your phone which is to be downloaded.
[Other SmartWatches] darkangel69dz:
before flashing uncheck PRELOADER CACHE AND USRDATA it is necessary to replace the file scatter by your file scatter copy and paste
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
Where did you get the scatter file from ?
[Other SmartWatches] vinceg77:
OK but "which is able to do more is able to do less"

Android was not created to act as a companion OS but there is probably a way to use it as a kind of wearable device. It is only depending on what experts like you /and apps developpers are capable to do with it! :silly:

---------- Post added at 03:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------

I am sorry to bring the 'sales/marketing guys vs tech guys' historical argument here :D
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
UPDATE

So the K8 Black is sold out (Everbuying, Dealsmachine, Gearbest, etc) except ebay (three weeks on a slow boat shipping). I can use the mini/D5 as the dev device and cherry pick and kernel swap as needed. I would want at least one prerelease tester for K8 releases before I release to the public though. As the K8 crowd are the ones backing this, K8 releases would of course get released first. Now I could grab a "Gold" version of the K8 if that would make folks more comfortable. To be honest it would probably see very little wrist time as the finish looks like a $5 bargain bin watch and a refinish requires full disassembly and an acid bath. Up to you guys.

I know this may seem like a senseless status update but want to make sure everybody is aware of what's going on. This is in case somebody has an issue with this.

In other news, a Gear S2(ish) looking K9 is out. It looks like it's a mini/D5 based device with a different case and two buttons instead of one. That will probably get merged as well as soon as folks pop up here with it and I can get a backup/OTA to go through.

SWApp Link is as good as it gets for third party companion apps, and that's still far from ideal due to how it's implemented. The Android based companion smartwatches usually remove phone functions at a core level so that there's no conflicts. So the general rule is if it takes a SIM, don't buy it as a companion.
[Other SmartWatches] darkangel69dz:
I am not an expert but I am a computer technician and I do a lot of modification I only come to help I don't want to collection of funds or any other thing for that this watch becomes wearable it is necessary to develop a system in addition it is necessary that the components of the watch accepts this system and it takes a lot of time:angel:
[Other SmartWatches] vinceg77:
I understand. But even if it is far from perfection, and if it is not what it was intended to, maybe it still could be used as a smartphone extension.

Smartphones are so powerful that i couldn't get rid of them. In the meantime there are 100 times a day where a paired watch would avoid to take out the 'big' phone from pocket or meaningless operations (check who has sent a sms / email / voice message, heart rate, sleep monitory, steps, sports assistant, pushbullet message from NAS, download terminated, watch timer while cooking, maybe switch on a light with from home control system, calendar reminder, basic on street navigation, weather , train planning, weather, compass, calculator, ... , and of course time !)
[Other SmartWatches] giol:
The k8 can be used for companion even though it is not perfect. I have swapplink and google fit installed and I get prompt notification for all that I want 99% of the time and step tracking.

The limitation exists in that the bt connection is not optimized to be a slave but even companion watches have problems. I know a few, even known brands, that have trouble reconnecting after you move away from the phone.

As for battery, android wear watches dont get much more. The vivosmart, the pebble and the polar m400 get a week or more but lack the android. I get full day with bt and swapp link and in a calm day (with few cals and sms) I get more than 24 hours.
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
I agree :) :good:

Have you tried M2D from the Play store? I think it would work if it was installed as a system app on the K8. It is fairly complex but could be quite interesting
[Other SmartWatches] renatoabc:
Good News :)

My watch came back!

i have used the scatter file posted by "darkangel69dz" and the files (img) posted by cyrux75 and the tips posted by pablo11

Tks all!!
[Other SmartWatches] vinceg77:
Honestly that is the 2nd time I've installed and removed SWapp Link. It is probably a pertinent app as every body seem to use it, but I can't get used to those big non-understandable icons both on my mobile and on my watch. I should probably be much more patient and try a 3rd time to understand how the whole app works.

Will you integrate it in the custom rom ?
[Other SmartWatches] albertottosson:
+1

I dont understand the Swpapp link app!! I've tried 3 times and it was impossible for me to make it works.....
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
No, and here's why. I map out the workflow of every smartwatch I touch, and compare it to my 3 step rule (A.K.A. "It's a watch first."). The 3 step rule is that if it takes more than three steps to perform any core function (check notifications, weather, etc) it fails to be a watch and becomes a wrist worn tablet. Also seeing that a watch is an immediate access data device there is a "moving" factor. If the above interactions cannot be done while moving, it again fails to be a watch. Even Wear fails, no matter what the fanboys say.

With SWApp Link being neither a proper launcher, or backend (user transparent) service, it fails to be efficient. The UI/Icon choice and lack of paginated "tray" is not the greatest either. It is essentially an entire smartwatch OS crammed into an app that functions like any other app. You hit home button on accident and you have to go open it again, it fights for presence with launchers and the device's own notification system. It fails to meet almost every aspect of what a watch is.
[Other SmartWatches] ernie346:
Or put PhoneLeash on your phone.

Google Maps works in a silly little square on the K18 but TomTom works really well. Uses memory to hold the map but I prefer the traffic info on TomTom
[Other SmartWatches] darkangel69dz:
You know that you can connect the watch to the internet via bluetooth as it its consumes less battery
[Other SmartWatches] Paul16:
Lock screen

Exist an aplication who can lock screen, but apear clock face ... and unlock with a gesture ... or 2, 3 fingers ... :D
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
On it's way!

OK folks, ordered and processing. With insurance and expedited shipping it came to 141.29. Once it comes in I'll want to get a "feel" for it, backup the firmware, then get to work. I may also do an in depth unboxing for TK Bay to help out with his new Unboxing and First Impressions section on xda.
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
Excellent news :good:

My K8 Mini will be here soon as well :)
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
[MENTION=3795702]Lokifish Marz[/MENTION]

Have a look at the comparison of the D5 and K8 in this attachment. Interesting that the D5 uses a Clockface folder holding some 20 or so faces compared to the K8 which holds the few faces it has in the actual Launcher2 apk...
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
With the faces being in a folder on the D5 it opens up custom user designed faces as a distinct possibility. That alone may make the mini/D5 firmware as the base for the ROM the best choice for everybody. Will have to see how it ports over.
[Other SmartWatches] eyalnl:
help

i rooted the watch and reflashed it now i ****ed it up have no imei and no internal storage please help
[Other SmartWatches] daviur81:
Which one did you buy, finally? The K8, right?
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
So did you use MTK tools to back up your NVRAM as mentioned so many times in this thread?

If not you will have a fun time trying to restore/create an imei.

To get internal storage back you should probably to a complete restore to stock using SP tools and then factory reset the watch.

If you have already flashed stock then just factory reset the watch.

---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------

As he said before - K8 was out of stock everywhere.

He bought a D5 and that's fine as the aim here is to produce results that will be useable across D5, K8 and K8 Mini.

They all have the same hardware and so this should not be too much of a drama.

Custom recovery should be useable on all three as well.

Cheers
[Other SmartWatches] cosmospho:
This is just a rant, but I don´t get some people who might pay 150 or 200 dollars for a Tissot, Swatch, Omega, Citizen and other brands who just have time, and then they get this watch for 150 and they expect it to be able to have everything but the kitchen sink. I mean come on I am waiting for someone to come here and say they can´t play GTA5 or Need for Speed cause they cannot press on the accelerator. I mean we have people saying they cant use google maps already :confused:

I agree we should do our best and get the best functionality, but you have to get a reality check, you can´t switch all the sensors in such a small package and expect a week of battery. There are no miracles and at least I am very happy, besides telling time which is what a watch should do I can check messages, and weather etc... There is a lot that can be done already, I think for the price compared to other smart watches this is da bomb.

Nuff said ?

Thanks.....
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
Off topic, sorta

LOL [MENTION=7182001]cosmospho[/MENTION]. I've been around when it comes to smartwatches, and watches, and will say this; the K8 and other MTK6572 based smartwatches are capable of everything and the kitchen sink (this includes running Dreamcast games). Problem is, not a single OEM/ODM/rebrand gives the device any love. Also, most of the Chinese smartwatches are turnkey ODM devices with not much more than a logo swap. So if the OEM/ODM hoses BT, all the rebrands have bad BT and it rarely gets fixed. This is further compounded by the lack of skills, or simply not giving a crap, and rate at which new devices are pushed out.

Now take all of the above and combine it with many not caring that a $400 smartwatch is far better than a $50 smartwatch. All they see is smartwatch A cost eight times as much. That a traditional watch must be plain stupid because they can get a smartwatch for less or that a smartwatch does more. These are also usually the same folks that said the original Moto 360 looked nothing like a real watch, that there's no such thing as square watches, and tons of other drivel. And my favorite, that smartwatches outsell traditional watches, or that traditional watches are doomed (12 billion watches vs not even 20 million smartwatches sold in 2014).

There's a third factor as well. Smartwatches are not tablets, or smartphones, yet many want to treat it as such. They load a ton of apps on it, play with it for hours and/or have data syncs running constantly. Then complain when it doesn't last a day. What's amusing is that when the Sony SW2 came out and got 3-4 days of use, that was considered "ok", or "average". Now, two days is considered "excellent". But try to sell a smartwatch today that doesn't have the "kitchen sink" (or at least pretend to) but lasts days or weeks, the smartwatch community as a whole will eat you alive.

Can those $50, and $150, smartwatches be better? YES! Will the Chinese OEM/ODM ever do it? NO, because they already have five more models lined up to release over the next year or two. This brings a very amusing point to light. Many smartwatch users will bash watch makers for "overpriced junk" when the entire Chinese smartwatch industry is based on selling overpriced junk so that folks have to buy the next model. Why? Because next year's model will have a new shiny kitchen sink, and they don't support old kitchen sinks. There's no money in it. (think I'm joking, how many MTK6520 smartwatches are there still being released? And that's four year old tech in a different case everytime)

In short- Buy a smartwatch, expect planned obsolescence. Buy a Chinese smartwatch and you can guarantee it.
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
The last two posters say it all really lol....
[Other SmartWatches] daviur81:
I understood that the financed project is for the K8... and I saw that th K8 GOLD colour was available on Gearbest... but if, as you say, the custom ROM would be the same for all three, no problem than
[Other SmartWatches] negriton:
This threat is getting more and more interesting... I'll take a sit... I'm wating for a K8 mini too.

Enviado desde mi Letv X500 mediante Tapatalk
[Other SmartWatches] ernie346:
I have to disagree with the last couple of posts. Surely one of the main points of playing with new tech is to have fun seeing what it can do. Does a smartwatch do something really, really important - of course not. But the fact a smartwatch can perform the tasks of a phone & computer is really amazing. The K18 has a GPS and runs TomTom maps just as well as my phone. I do not know about GTA but you can play Riptide and have the same fun as on a phone or tablet.

As for obsolescence, is there anything produced today without built in obsolescence? The advances in technology will make everything obsolete in 12 months because we will want the new kitchen sink, whether it is a watch, computer or camera. The battery will be useless in 24 months anyway. The point is by buying Chinese we pay £100 rather than £500 so perhaps we can have fun playing with our new toys.

Yes, it is silly to grumble if the watch does not work as we would wish (perhaps next year) but please do not spoil our fun with reality.
[Other SmartWatches] caltomoto:
I've been buying chinese tech for over five years and part of it is the novelty. If I bought an apple watch or brand android smartwatch it's becomes an investment due to the cost. With chinese tech I get a product I can have fun with and am not overly worried if it doesn't perform as advertised or if it gets the odd nick or dent.

The standout products from China have always gotten support on XDA and hopefully the D5/K8 hardware is one of them.
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
10 minutes before I ordered I double checked with them via live chat. They told me both K8's were no longer on sale and out of stock, and the site hadn't updated yet. To add insult to injury for the both of us, check the site now. Both are listed as on sale and in stock.

UPDATE

I just checked and was told this was correct. So I've pulled money from my own smartwatch project and ordered one while I try to cancel the other order.
[Other SmartWatches] caltomoto:
Does it matter what model you get?

I'm still waiting on my Gearbest order. They are taking a long time to get my D5 out. Delay with supplier (No.1?) apparently.

My question is how will the buttons difference will vary in software for the D5 and K8. The D5 only has one button. The K8 has three and the new version on gearbest (an ugly offering in my opinion) has two buttons.

Also, I want to (and will) dontate to this project but am waiting for more information on what we can expect from the upgrade. Thank you Lokifish for offering your help on this!
[Other SmartWatches] Lokifish Marz:
It doesn't really, but to avoid any future possible conflicts with those that donated...

Buttons are a nothing issue. It's a couple entries in the keyboard config. So build for three, incorporate D5 gestures as well, and if buttons aren't there (Mini/D5/D9), the lines in the config do nothing.

Here's what you will get (no promises or ETA's but shouldn't be hard);

Better battery life via better kernel governor usage (if the device cooperates- about 4 days light use with syncs, week or more *clean standby)

Improved network efficiency

Improved memory management

Removal of useless garbage

Private OTA service

Round display formatted TWRP

Firmware archive (will need help from folks with this)

ROM archive with change logs

Cherry picking from the K8, Mini and D5 firmware

Better watchfaces (Seconds ring on a watch with that exact thing in the bezel, seriously?)

Far more watchfaces (merge and clean up both K8 and Mini/D5 faces)

Custom watchfaces possible via root (guess I'll need to write a guide for this)

Voice as primary input method instead of a tiny little keyboard (kinda like Wear)

Security checks, and fixes where possible

For the most part, this is a few hundred changes that nobody will notice just by looking at the watch. The UI is reasonable and looks like the workflow is decent. As far as any user installed apps formatting correctly, that requires one rewrite each individual app, and do it every time that original app is updated. That's a massive app development team level of work. So, per app dpi and Xposed will be your friend

*Clean standby (what we usually read as standby in specs) is radio on and connected to a perfect signal, but not a single thing passing data. For phones this is cellular connection with BT and Wifi off. For companion smartwatches this means BT on and connected but wifi and cellular (if supported) off.

What can't be fixed/added;

Deep core level issues like battery level reporting, or the OEM messing up kernel level things like the radios in an update.

Expanding companion features- I'd have to rewrite the entire firmware without source (near impossible) and steal SWApp Link then completely rewrite the UI and certain aspects of the core.

Android Wear

Coffee maker

Hope this clears things up.
[Other SmartWatches] macamacho:
Hi Guys, I bought K8 mini model and I installed latest ROM official updates. I have not rooted the watch.

I'm experiencing some GPS problems. GPS is just working if a switch on when there is a WIFI network connected. If I switch on the GPS with just mobile data or without any connection, GPS is not working. It seems this is a known issue in the mediatek chipset and I have found some solutions to solve it using mobileuncle application but it needs to root the phone. I don't want to root the phone to avoid losing the guarantee. Do you know any way to solve this problem without rooting the watch?

Thanks in advance
[Other SmartWatches] eyalnl:
after a few hours on the computer i finally got it to work agin

i used google dashboard to retrive my imei number and the used sn_gn.exe (imei fixer)

flashed stock rom unrooted my watch and the factory reset

and now its good!!!!!
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
lol

It does stretch your patience, this thread :)
[Other SmartWatches] cyrux75:
I could provide the source of my round formatted TWRP, if you need it ;)
[Other SmartWatches] roufster:
Google maps not showing on round screen

hi everyone,

i just got my k8 smartwatch and got the 04-01 OTA update. I'm not rooted.

Downloaded google maps and it doesnt open fully round, just a small square in the middle of the screen. is this normal?
[Other SmartWatches] vinceg77:
Is there any chance the heart rate monitor could be usable by tier applications or it is core/hardware and not related to rom ?
[Other SmartWatches] cosmospho:
Its normal, maps shows square :)
[Other SmartWatches] roufster:
Coolies, thank you :):):)
[Other SmartWatches] federicoco:
?:eek: i lost my cradle and now i'm not able to charge a watch !!!!!!
[Other SmartWatches] cyrux75:
Aida64 reports an "ULPSH Heart Rate M" sensor (and "ULPSH Step Counter" and "ULPSH Step Detector" sensors) so I guess they could be accessed by any app.
[Other SmartWatches] pablo11:
To be honest it's probably best if you have both.

If more funds are needed I'm sure a few more donations will roll in - we can ask the public as more and more are getting the Mini/D5.....
[Other SmartWatches] cyrux75:
I agree
[Other SmartWatches] vicented80:
hello

i recevie the k8 today, i dont have sim... but i pair the smartwatch with my smartphone with Bluethooth Assistant apk, but I have not gotten any calls from the watch ... if I could receive incoming calls , but I have not managed to make any outgoing calls .

can anyone help me ? that application advice me to watch and smartphone communicate ?

Thanks
[Other SmartWatches] ernie346:
If you have the storage space try TomTom, it works really well.
[Other SmartWatches] daviur81:
I agree too.

I'm a noob about android programming... but I prefer to know that you're using the K8, instead of another similar watchphone, for the development of your custom ROM... so I'm ready to give you extra money if it's necessary to have the K8 too.

Anyway, good luck for all your projects!
[Other SmartWatches] negriton:
What aBout WAZE?