I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with navigation apps on the Ticwris Max-S or DM101 variant watches.
I’ve tried the full Google Maps and it seems a little laggy for the watch unfortunately, I’ve also seen there is Google Maps Go, which is meant to be a lightweight version of Maps, but no offline mapping functionality.
I’m going to have a look around and see what I can find, but was interested to hear what the rest of the community are using, if anything at all.
On my mobile I have tried many navigation/mapping apps and will look to try some on the watch too, but given the small screen it might be a task to find something that feels/looks/performs well.
The idea I have is to actually use the watch as a stand-alone GPS on a motorbike mainly, with functionality of being able to make calls in an emergency, which makes this a great possibility.
I will report back later with my findings to share.
A small update here, I’ve been quite busy however I have tried a couple of apps so far and have come up with the following, all of course based on my experience/opinion and focuses more on the usability on the watch, rather than the app features themselves.
General notes:
Most apps in landscape don’t have an ideal UI (see below for comments on apps)
Due to the nature of processing power on the watch, things are a little laggy to load across all apps tested (even “lightweight” apps)
Having the rotation forced to a particular direction really helps in some apps.
I am using Simple Keyboard by Raimonas Rimkus as I found the default keyboards difficult to use
Apps:
Beeline - UI sub-optimal in both landscape and portrait, UI is crowded and difficult to see. The special thing about this app is it’s compass feature to help navigate that seemed slow to update, but was very clear and easy to read on the device.
Google Maps - UI is probably the best on the size of the watch, I personally found this better in the portrait direction, but found it useable in landscape. A little slow to load and slightly laggy, but still very usable, loading time made better by downloading maps on to the device.
Google Go - meant to be a lightweight version of Google Maps, cannot download offline maps, found it to be as slow as loading up Google Maps, so didn’t test too much.
Locus Maps - very usable interface, probably the most responsive I have tried, pretty quick to load up and smooth when in use (in portrait, landscape is slightly laggier). UI text is a little small, but clear map to follow a route. Even with online maps, seems to load pretty quickly and also has option for offline maps. Side note - this is great for gpx route following/recording
Will update again when I have tried some other apps.
Hi Tris, im a long time Locus user for 13 years now, I havent got a full android watch yet, but have been thinking about getting the DM101 mostly for running locus, so im coming to it from the opposite direction. Locus is extremely customisable, and the help forums are very helpfull.
Locus has a 3rd party tasker plugin, and also can be controleld from intents. I also can open a point on a device from another tablet or computer. i set up some tasker tasks to control locus by shaking, ie shake to bring up compass screen, shake again to bring up a dashboard. ive been running locus on an an old phone i mount on my arm like a pipboy.
message me any locus questions…im intrigues how you get on with locus on DM101. If you have the gold subscription you can sync tracks and points, and access from a web planner, this makes teh small screen of teh DM101 not needed for teh majority of things.
Yes Locus Maps is a great tool, I go off-roading here in the UK so I need to plan my routes on GPX files to ensure I stay on legal highways (lots of cross referencing of maps/information needed, so can’t use Google Maps or other such apps).
For me Locus Maps is great due to the downloadable maps for off-line, with various styles of map available, as you say the online planner on the newer version works great.
One thing I want to try is the tracking you get as a premium member, would be good to see how accurate it is on the device, but need a mobile sim for this first.
I don’t know much about Tasker, but sounds very interesting, will need to check it out.
Love the pipboy analogy haha, what phone is it you are using? I might go for a larger screen, but love the small look and neatness of the DM101 style, I’ll get some pics once I get some proper mounts on the motorbike.
im just using an old samsung at the moment, but plan to get a lemfo or DM101 in the future…
because of the more limited interface of a wwatch, tasker would make numerous things much easier, I can help with the tasler/locus integration, but the locus forums are full of helpfull people.
the live tracking is good, and you can start and stop wity tasker as well, which means you can have icons on the watch screen to start/stop live tracking etc
but live trackings strong feature is if you are with groups of people…if you stop live tracking, you dont have a history on the website tho…
Also you can do custom live tracking to you own, or someone elses server…
for a watchoption and for bike/motorbike, the dashboards are usefull, all sorts of speed and route info…
Just had a quick look at Tasker, it does seem like quite a powerful tool and definitely could be useful with a smaller screen.
I did think about an old Samsung that I have in my draw, but decided against it due to the age of the device, but phones sure were smaller back then haha.
The live tracking was great using their own site, I recently did a trip abroad and people were able to track my progress as I toured around on my bike.
I don’t have a dashcam for the bike, however I sometimes wear an action camera, but I hardly do these days.