So… Now that we’ve got this nice, new round-faced standalone Android smartwatch in the No.1 D5, the big question is: what essential everyday apps work well with the round face? While many Android apps actually play nicely within the limits of the D5, some don’t- especially those with essential functions not accessible due to being cut off by the round screen. It would be nice if there were some developers who made standalone apps (not Wear) designed with smartwatches like the D5 in mind- calculators, calenders, music players… Much of Android wearable development is geared to Wear, which the D5 doesn’t support, which leaves this new generation of Android smartwatches out in the cold, or with only incidental compatibility. It doesn’t have to be.
With that said, and stuck with what we’ve got, there are a couple of workarounds. First, you can turn on triple tap zoom and tap near the corners of the round screen to access the hidden menus. It’s a trick, but it works. Second, you can hookup a bluetooth mouse or trackpad and guess where you are when off screen. Also works but tricky. Finally, when not out in the field, you can use remote control software like Mobizen Mirror to get to those hidden places. No substitute for rewritten apps, but it gets you through.
Another thing for all of us to request of developers who are attempting to conform to Googles standards is to migrate their Settings and other important access info to the slide-in panel on the left rather than the pull down menu in the top right. It works great on the Google Play Store to slide in with a finger swipe. Other apps can do this too with the motivation of being more “Google like” than round watch friendly.