Just upgraded my N5 to Lollipop and was thinking of setting up Smart Lock from when I’m at home and at my desk at work using NFC tags. I use a four number PIN to unlock my phone, which is getting a little tiresome.
Is this even possible? Not sure what the range of a tag is – would I have to place the phone on it or would it be enough if I put a few tags around the house? Also how to I go about programming the tags to unlock – can I use the phone for this?
Thanks
You need to tap the back of the phone with it, and then you still need to swipe the screen to unlock it, you set it up by going to settings>security>smart lock>trusted devices
Thanks for clarifying. Didn't realise that I have to tap a NFC tag, so that won't be suitable for my purposes. Smart (Un)lock with a Bluetooth device should work though, and easily cover my flat. I could buy something small and cheap that I can always leave plugged in, acting as my personal unlock device - any ideas? Probably won't even be using it, perhaps a pair of Bluetooth speakers?
As for having to swipe to unlock - that's perfect and exactly what I'm looking for. Just want to avoid entering a PIN when at home/work
I'm using my smart watch as a trusted device and then, no need to unlock, just swipe up.
You could use something like this ring if you like wearing rings.
http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-avai...9&sr=8-1&keywords=nfc+ring&pebp=1416329643681
I've noticed that with a smart device setup (have the Bluetooth in my car setup) that while the device is connected it does not go to sleep. I would expect some pretty nasty battery drain if you're always connected to a device. My phone battery lasts the day with pretty moderate use with 15-25% left. If I kick it up a notch then it seems not last the whole day, or at least need charging at the end of the day.
I wonder if people see the battery drain with the smart devices connected all the time...
patmann03 said:
You could use something like this ring if you like wearing rings.
http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-avai...9&sr=8-1&keywords=nfc+ring&pebp=1416329643681..
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These are crap, you have to fiddle a LOT to get the phone to "see" it.
chuotdx said:
I'm using my smart watch as a trusted device and then, no need to unlock, just swipe up.
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This would indeed be the easiest solution to the “problem”, but I'm just not into smart watches… seems like yet another device I have to check and I want a watch that lasts for years on one charge. Speaking of smart watches, one of my colleagues was just handed the developer edition of the Razer Nabu at a conference – that’s definitely something I’d consider getting for my better half who walks a lot at work. I has some interesting functions apart from the usual step meter.
patmann03 said:
You could use something like this ring if you like wearing rings.
http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-avai...9&sr=8-1&keywords=nfc+ring&pebp=1416329643681
I've noticed that with a smart device setup (have the Bluetooth in my car setup) that while the device is connected it does not go to sleep. I would expect some pretty nasty battery drain if you're always connected to a device. My phone battery lasts the day with pretty moderate use with 15-25% left. If I kick it up a notch then it seems not last the whole day, or at least need charging at the end of the day.
I wonder if people see the battery drain with the smart devices connected all the time...
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, but rings just aren't my cup of tea. Maybe a cheap BT speaker such as http://ebay.to/1tdepnM would work? I could leave it plugged in at all times in a hidden spot and just never use it.
Regarding the device never going to sleep - that must surely be a bug? Or the worst design decision for a while. Have you tried other BT devices?
With the 6.5 version och Google Play Services trusted places can be used.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...usted-places-feature-to-lollipops-smart-lock/
ea_umea said:
With the 6.5 version och Google Play Services trusted places can be used.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...usted-places-feature-to-lollipops-smart-lock/
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Fantastic, thanks! I'll give this a spin right away
Edit: works like a charm here at work. Got the smart lock message upon the first unlock, subsequent unlocks are just a swipe away
I was so excited to finally have a use for my NFC tags when I heard about the Smart Unlock feature.
First thing I did was put a NFC sticker on my vehicle dock and added it as a trusted device. Sure enough, the phone doesn't ask me for an unlock pattern; great! HOWEVER, there is just one little problem.... After unlocking, I'm presented with the "New tag found" full-screen message which you have to manually close EVERY SINGLE TIME!
What's the story here? I've done some digging, and there's even an Xposed module to disable this message. This simply cannot be the way that Google intended for this feature to work.... Any ideas?
StNickZA said:
I was so excited to finally have a use for my NFC tags when I heard about the Smart Unlock feature.
First thing I did was put a NFC sticker on my vehicle dock and added it as a trusted device. Sure enough, the phone doesn't ask me for an unlock pattern; great! HOWEVER, there is just one little problem.... After unlocking, I'm presented with the "New tag found" full-screen message which you have to manually close EVERY SINGLE TIME!
What's the story here? I've done some digging, and there's even an Xposed module to disable this message. This simply cannot be the way that Google intended for this feature to work.... Any ideas?
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Click to collapse
I found a fix for that, give me a min to find it again
I can't find it again.............I do know that it used 2 apps, and one was a sort of tasker app that you told it to do nothing
idbl_fanatic said:
I found a fix for that, give me a min to find it again
I can't find it again.............I do know that it used 2 apps, and one was a sort of tasker app that you told it to do nothing
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Click to collapse
Thanks all the same, but I still think that there has to be a simpler answer here. Using a third-party application (or two!) to mask the problem cannot be what Google intended.
Google intended for NFC to be used to transfer between devices... The tags are more of a third-party support. Download Trigger, and all you have to do is register the tag. You can even set it up to do things like launch your media player, activate Bluetooth, turn up your volume, etc.
I used an expired transport card which has an NFC chip. Stuck it on the car cradle and works just fine. No need to click away any message after the initial pairing
Chris Hansen said:
Google intended for NFC to be used to transfer between devices... The tags are more of a third-party support. Download Trigger, and all you have to do is register the tag. You can even set it up to do things like launch your media player, activate Bluetooth, turn up your volume, etc.
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That may be what was originally intended, but Google has since added other features that are built in. For example, you can write a WiFi access point to a tag and it will now connect automatically WITHOUT the need for third party apps like Trigger. I still don't believe that a third party app should be required for smart unlock to work as intended.
I'm starting to think that perhaps it is the type of tag I'm using, or perhaps there is a "null" record that can be written to a tag which will prevent the built in reader from popping up.
StNickZA said:
That may be what was originally intended, but Google has since added other features that are built in. For example, you can write a WiFi access point to a tag and it will now connect automatically WITHOUT the need for third party apps like Trigger. I still don't believe that a third party app should be required for smart unlock to work as intended.
I'm starting to think that perhaps it is the type of tag I'm using, or perhaps there is a "null" record that can be written to a tag which will prevent the built in reader from popping up.
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I'm not sure why you're so against the app, but regardless, you should try it out. Use it just to write to your tag. Uninstall the app afterward. Should still work as you want it to. I have one in my car that I configured with Trigger (when it was still NFC Task Launcher). Haven't had the app installed on the last few phones I've owned, but it still works as intended - turns on my Bluetooth, ups the media volume, and launches Play Music.
As far as your tag, I believe you are correct. I vaguely remember a similar issue some years ago where the tag kept prompting with that empty message.
Chris Hansen said:
I'm not sure why you're so against the app, but regardless, you should try it out. Use it just to write to your tag. Uninstall the app afterward. Should still work as you want it to. I have one in my car that I configured with Trigger (when it was still NFC Task Launcher). Haven't had the app installed on the last few phones I've owned, but it still works as intended - turns on my Bluetooth, ups the media volume, and launches Play Music.
As far as your tag, I believe you are correct. I vaguely remember a similar issue some years ago where the tag kept prompting with that empty message.
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It's not that I am against the app (or any of the others in the Play store)... And you are 100% right, there's a lot of functionality in those apps, and it can certainly solve my issue. It's just that when Google adds a feature like this, they don't *require* you to download an after-market app for it to work. And a full-screen popup whenever you approach an NFC tag set as a "trusted device" literally BREAKS the feature in my opinion. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of it and find out what I'm doing wrong.
StNickZA said:
What's the story here? I've done some digging, and there's even an Xposed module to disable this message. This simply cannot be the way that Google intended for this feature to work.... Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have some kind of app installed which performs actions upon touching an NFC tag (eg trigger)? I had the same messages pop up every-time, but once I installed an app and related a "display on" action to it, the messages stopped. If you don't want the tag to do anything just let it do something trivial, like enabling mobile data (which is probably enabled already anyway when you're driving). I hope this works for you.
StNickZA said:
After unlocking, I'm presented with the "New tag found" full-screen message which you have to manually close EVERY SINGLE TIME!
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Click to collapse
Freeze Tags.apk with TiBu. Profit.
Nfc Tools
What your phone does when you touch an NFC depends on the URI that is written on the tag. You can easily check that by downloading NFC tools and scanning the tag in question. If the tag is writable and you want nothing to happen when you touch it with you phone, try writing following URI to the tag with NFC Tools: bad://access/development
Why is there not a decent stopwatch / timer app for Android Wear? The timer built into Google Now sucks because you can't (currently) determine timer status (how much time is left) on the ZenWatch or on your phone. You only know when time is up. I've searched and searched, but I can't find a timer / stopwatch app that (1) can be started on phone or ZenWatch, (2) will show status on both phone and ZW, regardless of which one was used to start it (3) can be started, paused, stopped or cancelled on both phone and ZW, regardless of which one was used to start it. It's bad enough that Android Wear doesn't ship with this already, but it blows my mind that a third party app doing all this isn't already on the market.
SoonerLater said:
Why is there not a decent stopwatch / timer app for Android Wear? The timer built into Google Now sucks because you can't (currently) determine timer status (how much time is left) on the ZenWatch or on your phone. You only know when time is up. I've searched and searched, but I can't find a timer / stopwatch app that (1) can be started on phone or ZenWatch, (2) will show status on both phone and ZW, regardless of which one was used to start it (3) can be started, paused, stopped or cancelled on both phone and ZW, regardless of which one was used to start it. It's bad enough that Android Wear doesn't ship with this already, but it blows my mind that a third party app doing all this isn't already on the market.
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Click to collapse
Why would you need to interact on both the phone and the watch? The timer and stopwatch functionality in Android wear is functional, and so is the clock app on Android. If I start something on my watch, why would I pull out my phone to further interact? I got a samrtwatch so I did not have to futz with my phone as much.
alose said:
Why would you need to interact on both the phone and the watch? The timer and stopwatch functionality in Android wear is functional, and so is the clock app on Android. If I start something on my watch, why would I pull out my phone to further interact? I got a samrtwatch so I did not have to futz with my phone as much.
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Click to collapse
I'll humor your perspective and simply ask why there isn't a decent timer / stopwatch app that you can start / monitor / control / stop entirely on the ZenWatch?
As for why operate on both, many of the nascent apps for Android Wear are setup to be used both on watch and phone. Take Google Now for instance. The idea is not to force a user to use both devices, but to allow a user to use both devices. It's merely convenience. What if you start your timer on your phone when you put the steaks on the grill, but when it goes off you've walked away from your phone? You could still see the status on your watch. What if you started a stopwatch on your watch, but later you want to examine your "splits" on your phone where greater detail can be seen more easily?
SoonerLater said:
I'll humor your perspective and simply ask why there isn't a decent timer / stopwatch app that you can start / monitor / control / stop entirely on the ZenWatch?
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Click to collapse
Narrowing it down to that, then...Does it not on your watch? The built-in stopwatch and timer on mine show the time elapsed/remaining and let you start/pause/stop it on the watch. Is your firmware up-to-date? Maybe I just don't understand what you're asking.
CSX321 said:
Narrowing it down to that, then...Does it not on your watch? The built-in stopwatch and timer on mine show the time elapsed/remaining and let you start/pause/stop it on the watch. Is your firmware up-to-date? Maybe I just don't understand what you're asking.
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Click to collapse
Many years ago, after I'd had a very minor fender-bender car accident, my father said, "I bet it was caused by a loose nut behind the wheel." I thought he meant that my steering wheel needed adjustment, so I had my mechanic check it out. Only later did I realize his sarcasm. So with that in mind, it's hard for me to measure what I don't know. As far as I can tell, the only native stopwatch and timer on my ZW is the one you get when you say, "Start a ten minute timer...." I gather that this is provided as part of Google Now. You can't see status while it's counting down. My firmware and Android Wear are up to date. But I may have loose nut behind the wheel.
Yeah, when I do that I get this. You can also swipe left to reset or delete it. a card like this.
Getting really frustrated with the constant changing of how Android Wear notifications are handled.
When I first got my 360 the Do Not Disturb settings on the watch and the phone were completely independant. Neither would affect the other. It was perfect as I could actually make them do exactly what I wanted.
Then in 5.0? they linked them and ruined it. There was no way to have my watch vibrate without my phone also vibrating.
Then when my phone got Marshmallow it worked perfectly again if I put my phone in Alarms Only mode. The watch would vibrate and the phone wouldn't.
Now that my watch has updated to 6.0, the watch no longer vibrates or lights up.
Useless. Again.
Is there seriously no way to get notifications on my watch only!?
Please note that I do not want to use the "Mute phone alerts" setting in the Android Wear app, as it cannot be automated like Do Not Disturb settings can. My phone is set to automatically go into Alarms Only mode when I am at work or sleeping at night.
Yeah I agree with you, I was very disappointed when I updated to marshmallow.
There was a similar complaint on the Google product forums and the Google representative said it's working as intended.
They directed everyone to go to the android wear app and submit feedback about the issue.
I did, but any say I am optimistic Google will change anything.
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
So I've just got a OP3, moving from a Lumia 930 and several years with Microsoft mobile OS's and am trying to find a few answers about my new toy. I've searched Google but can't seem to find the answers I'm looking for.
Here goes, please don't flame me:
1. WP allowed me to automatically set quiet hours so only select contacts could get through and I wasn't bothered by notifications at night. I can't seem to find this option despite several walk throughs, the options listed aren't there. I know I can use the slider but sometimes when you go to bed tired you forget
2. Also looking for driving mode, when connected to Bluetooth the phone would only allow calls and texts to notify to stop distractions from other notifications.
3. Music player randomly opens, bit embarrassing when it fires up in the middle of a meeting
4. Phone screen doesn't always go off when taking a call, though this only seems to happen if I was using an app at the time the call came in.
5. I want to be able to block calls without installing an app, surely this should be a standard feature?
Think that's it currently, still getting my head around how to do things on Android and I'm sure there'll be more questions though hopefully I'll be able to find the answers myself
Thank you in advance
I can give you a few answers / recommendations. First take a look at an app called Silence Premium in the app store. This provides similar functionality to the slider but also allows the function to be time based. For example I have it set to silence all and only allow calls to come through after 11pm. At 6am I have it automatically un-silence all. This way I eliminate all the dings and beeps from Email or texts once I go to bed. The slider still functions normally as well. This should cover your first question. Note the trial version of the app is called Do not Disturb. Not sure why they chose different names for the paid and free versions.
For your second option, I use an app called Tasker to automatically enable an auto-reply to any texts that come in while driving. This feature is automatically enabled and disabled upon connecting to the Bluetooth in the car. Tasker is a pretty powerful app and can do a ton of different things. However it does have a bit of a learning curve and can definitely be intimidating. A similar app exists called Automate that might provide similar functionality. I haven't used it yet so can't really comment.
Hope this helps.
Just got myself a GT 2 - love the hardware and just hope I will be able to live with the software. There are a few thing I haven't found, can you please let me know if I'm missing something?
Is there no way to adjust the step goal per day? It is set to 10.000 steps and I want to change it.
Can't I receive notifications while in the workout mode, like a walk och running?
If I get a notification on my phone and delete it from the phone it is still visible on my watch. And if I delete a notification on my watch it is still visible on my phone. This can't be right?
Is there no way to see coming calendar entries?
I got a Gmail but could only see the subject and sender, nothing of the content?
Is it likely that more features will be added, maybe when GT 3 is released?
After an update incomming phone calls do not show up on my watch. And in the list in the Health app I can no longer enable notifications from "Phone". Anyone else with this issue?
Would really appreciate if someone could comment on the above.
Thanks a lot!
You're right, hardware is great, software is limited.
#1, change step goal in Health app on phone (settings, goal).
#2-5, unfortunately correct.
Having said that, I'm wearing this watch since December, day and night, only taking out during shower. I have latest Samsung watches, have few Wear watches, like all of them, but GT2 just looks great and does just enough job (tell time and show notifications). I've loaded multiple custom watches and love it.
ddavtian said:
You're right, hardware is great, software is limited.
#1, change step goal in Health app on phone (settings, goal).
#2-5, unfortunately correct.
Having said that, I'm wearing this watch since December, day and night, only taking out during shower. I have latest Samsung watches, have few Wear watches, like all of them, but GT2 just looks great and does just enough job (tell time and show notifications). I've loaded multiple custom watches and love it.
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Thanks @ddavtian! I have been through every single menu without finding step goal, can you please help me find it? I consider myself as a "power user" so this is really embarrassing
Health app: Me, Settings, Goal
There you can set weight and steps goals
6. I do jot think so.
7. What firmware version are you on? Did incommig call work correctly before update?
bokyfly said:
Health app: Me, Settings, Goal
There you can set weight and steps goals
6. I do jot think so.
7. What firmware version are you on? Did incommig call work correctly before update?
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Wow, that one wasn't there until I switched to English language on my phone. Now it was there and I could finally change it. What a bug
Regarding incoming call I cannot even find "Phone" under notification settings in the long list of all available apps. It worked just fine when I got the watch a week ago. Do you have "Phone" in the app list in the Health app under "Notifications"?
Firmware: 1.0.6.32
Health app version: 10.0.5.317
No, if you gave Health app permissions, it will do its work, no need for separate settings, just watch needs to be connected to phone via bluetooth.