Does anyone have a Wear OS smartwatch?
Would s/he be able to test Phonak’s remote app on it? Before buying any smartwatch, I want to find out if it is possible to use.
Sideloading regular Android apps seem to be possible if what I read here is correct:
How do you think this would even work? Have you seen the screen layout for the MyPhonak app? How would you even use this on the watch?
IMO it’s futile to try to run an Android phone app directly on a watch with sideloading. The GUI just would not work at all for anything other than big, gross buttons. Not to mention the resolution would be so low that you wouldn’t be able to read any of the text.
That may be true for the MyPhonak app. I have been an iPhone/watch user for the last year thanks to hearing aids. Prior to that I was an Android user/tester/helper on some android fanzine sites, rooting and modding mostly Nexus and Pixel phones, LG Sport and Huawei watches.
I sideloaded many apps on both those watches with about 95% successful results. The
WearOS will scale most apps to work surprisingly well. Even very large buttons that barely overlap from the side will / or did work fine.
If you are a visual perfectionist then you might not be happy, if function is priority, then give it a try. ADB uninstall will work if the normal OS uninstall does not.
Not to mention the fact that since the BLE control connection needs to reconnect every time you use it, and it takes so long to connect that by the time it does you could have gotten out your phone and run the app on the phone.
I also have to reconnect to my phone sometimes.
Another advantage of using a smartwatch, I think, would be the smaller distance between device and hearing aids, which could be an advantage for streaming music. Currently, when my phone is in my pocket, the streaming stops sometimes, with a watch I wonder whether that would be solved due to it being closer.