Background service: attention at a certain time

Hi,

I read the guest post from Jim about background process. Very interesting . Is it possible to utilize the attention class at a certain time with background services? I am asking since i want to develop a time tracker which warns you if a certain amount of time is passed.

jim_m_58 over 7 years ago

Attention isn't available in a background process. What you can do is use requestApplicationWake(), which puts up a message asking if you want to launch the main application, and on some devices is accompanied by a tone/vibe.

topcaser over 7 years ago

Hi Jim,

I will try that out. Thanks for sharing.

Horsetooth over 7 years ago

Does that work on watchfaces at all? The api doc seems to say no... Is there any other way to get a beep or vibe out of a bg watchface?

Former Member over 7 years ago

There is no way to trigger sound or vibration from a watchface application with the current version of Connect IQ (2.4.2)

Horsetooth over 7 years ago

There is no way to trigger sound or vibration from a watchface application with the current version of Connect IQ (2.4.2)

any update in 2.4.3? this kind of limitation makes no sense as there are plenty of other annoying bells/vibes from the system (like the move alert ;).

Former Member over 7 years ago

There have been no updates.

If the move alert annoys you, you can turn it off.

Horsetooth over 7 years ago

There have been no updates.

If the move alert annoys you, you can turn it off.

granted, but my point was annoying alerts already exist, so why can't we add [more useful] alerts to a background watchface?

jim_m_58 over 7 years ago

I turn off the move alert, goal alert, connection alert. With them, there is something on the screen when they occur, so you know what they are

If a background process could vibrate/play a tone while there's nothing shown on the screen (requestApplicationWake() displays on the screen), I wouldn't like it, as in the case of a watch face, the watch face might not even be running with the "attention" happens, and multiple apps could be doing "attention" calls..

Horsetooth over 7 years ago

there is something on the screen when they occur, so you know what they are

good point, that would be a great addition to the attention interface, but there are still use cases for watchface alerts imo, they can also be disabled in app settings.

jim_m_58 over 7 years ago

requestApplicationWake() does make noise on some devices.

And if I have an app that plays a tone in the background and you have one, how is the user to know which app to change the settings for? With a WF, only the background for the active watch face should run, but what if one was a widget or a watch app with a bakground process?