Must Have Apps For Wear 3.0 and Later

[mountainbikermark]

This one is a strange find .
While scrolling the Galaxy Watch section of Reddit at oh dark thirty this morning I saw a thread about a user couldn't download the official Alexa app to their watch in their country . Others chimed in that they could , it didn't exist , it did exist , etc with the usual Reddit spin .
On a whim I looked at the Play Store since I have the phone version on my phone . When I switched to watch it showed up available on all of my watches so since my 7 Ultra is my main watch I put it there to start . I had to go with the usual give up my privacy to Amazon yadda yadda but lo and behold it worked after a bunch of hoops it led me through . It works GREAT just like talking to my Death Star looking Echo . It's actually a faster responding and acting , though I'm not complaining about how the Echo works .
I go to see if I can add it onto my GW6 LTE and GW4 Classic and it no longer shows being available for them . Go figure . So I did a little research and the app was made for the Fossil and not the Galaxy . Why it's working on my Model U7 I do not know but I'm thinking it's the Wear 5.0 vs Wear 4.0 on the others . I'm finding several apps that don't work on 5.0 that I have on my GW6 LTE with its 4.0 .
Anyway , if you are into the Alexa smart home universe there is an official app that works very well and it's free

Darth Mode 10+

 

[mountainbikermark]

Favorite Apps Tile For Wear. .99 on the Play Store .

So you want quick access to your favorite apps but that new watch face doesn't offer complications , it at least not as many as you want . With this app you can put 7 of your favorite apps into 1 tile and place the tile as first 1 after the home screen . 7 not enough ? How about 35 ? Are the last update you can place up to 5 tiles with 7 apps each .
Since I can't use Watchmaker on the 7 Ultra or GW7 I just bought I can find the face I want without worrying about app shortcuts anymore. 1 slide r to l and I've got my favorites right there .
Here's a screen shot of my 7 most used .

Darth Mode 10+

 

[mountainbikermark]

Speaking of tiles and favorites here's a favorite from my Gear S days that is now on Wear and also now free .
Swirl Launcher. Open the app and swirl with your finger around the bezel and you can control the swirling speed and even flick it so it keeps spinning after you raise your finger .
I paid for it on Tizen but it's free on Wear via the Play Store .
This is one of those just because they could creations that takes the app control screen and improves it by making it more fun. On my phone I have a gazillion apps so flicking it makes it seem like spinning the big wheel on The Price Is Right . [emoji854]

Darth Mode 10+

 

[mountainbikermark]

I know it's been a while BUT I just joined the 21st century by trading in my 1998 Mazda pickup for a 2025 Hyundai Kona .
That being said a true must have app for me or any other recent Hyundai broker buyer is the Hyundai Bluelink app . It's free and works equally well on Wear and Apple watch . With this app you can remote start or stop , lock or unlock the doors , flash the lights and horn to help find it in a mall type lot , help find it on a map or check the vehicle status .
You must have a Bluelink account , the app on your phone and be logged into the app (even though it's not running ) . You must set up a 4 digit lock code that you use for any action request .
It'll tell you that it may take up to 2 minutes for the request to be done but I've not had any take longer than 15-30 seconds .
My car does not auto lock when I walk away and I sometimes forget to lock it at home or work and I get these annoying emails and text messages that my car is unlocked so I just use the watch from wherever I am . On the Ultra it works over LTE so even if my phone isn't on me I can still control the Bluelink app . The app has the ability to speak to action but I haven't tried it yet . I do that on my Echo by saying "computer , tell Bluelink to start my car and set environment to whatever temperature if it's wanted . If not it just leaves it at the state I had it when I cut the car off . I would guess the speak to act part works the same way on the watch . Maybe not though .
Anyway if you have a Hyundai and a smartwatch this is a true must have app to make the most of your Bluelink .
I named my car Murphy because from behind it looks like RoboCop

 

[bkdodger]

Awesome my friend. Congratulations on the new car.

 

[mountainbikermark]

Galaxy Watch 8 Live Streaming App.
In alpha testing by invite only . It pulls from Tubi , Pluto and other sources.
I found it ironic that I was watching the original series Mission Impossible on a smartwatch . I don't think they'd even imagined that would become a reality when the show came out when I was a little kid .
I got the invite from Reddit for those that might be interested . I'm Dangerstupidkills on Reddit .

 

[mountainbikermark]

Galaxy Watch 8 Live Streaming App.
In alpha testing by invite only . It pulls from Tubi , Pluto and other sources.
I found it ironic that I was watching the original series Mission Impossible on a smartwatch . I don't think they'd even imagined that would become a reality when the show came out when I was a little kid .
I got the invite from Reddit for those that might be interested . I'm Dangerstupidkills on Reddit .

 

[bkdodger]

That's really cool, how are you my friend Hope all is well and you had a great Christmas and holiday

 

[mountainbikermark]

Evidently it hasn't been as long as I remembered adding to this thread but anyway
Battery Wear Monitor .
On our phones there were , and might still be , apps that let you know when your battery is draining abnormally. I say night be my because my phone still rocks Android 12 and I don't know what else Google has taken away at this point but I digress.
A big complaint I've had about Wear since pre Samsung and Google getting together has been an inability to know why the watch might be losing battery out of its norm . More times than not it's an app gone rogue and a reboot usually solves the issue but not always and not always in the foreground . An example would be the Play store goes rogue from time to time and doesn't show as a drainer . It's also known for turning on your Wi-Fi by itself and forgetting to turn it back off . This also won't show up .
This app is in early development but could very possibly be the answer we've been looking for . A watch version of the old Watch Dog app . If Google kills it next Wear update I'll know they were onto something great.
It's very user friendly and seems to be what I was looking for .