Hi,
I am working on an app which requires the watch compass. While it seems to work as expected on Samsung Gear Live I get nothing than problems when running it on Sony SWR50 Smartwatch. Same happens with all apps from Play Store I have tested. There are situations where the compass works as should, but just minutes later it displays just crap or the value displayed is almost frozen. And it got even more worse from firmware version 4.4W2 to 5.0.1. No idea about behaviour of the other watch models actually available.
For getting a more clear view on usabbility of watch compasses I have written a little app named CompassTest which implements all three methods of reading the compass which I am aware of. All three results will be displayed together on one screen:
- sensor TYPE_ORIENTATION (no longer recommended for new apps)
- sensor TYPE_ROTATION_VECTOR
- sensors TYPE_ACCELEROMETER und TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD
If you want to support me then please install CompassTest onto your phone, start the app on your watch and check the results being displayed for plausability. All three values should be almost the same, the flicker on the 3rd value is normal as there is no dampening built in.
Please also calibrate your sensors by moving the watch several times in shape of an 8 and in all three axis.
Check the displayed results against a normal compass or the north direction if you know it from elsewhere.
Please report your results here with t<pe of your watch and short description of behaviour.
Thank you in advance,
Gerd
