Watch face variations best pracice

I've got a bundle of requests in the forums (Germany & US) wanting me to create differently
colored clones of my scuba watchface. Of course i can easily apply different color sets to my
code.
So just a question to the mods: How should I fulfil those requests:

- create different IQ Apps witch the same face and different colorsets? - If everyone does it this way, the number of watch faces on the platform will explode...
- create different Versions e.g. Blue on April 18-19 and post availability into forums e.g. If you want to get the blue one download it between
monday and wednesday???

- Send the requesting User a prg file by email to install in GARMIN/APPS

- any possiblity for the enduser to configure colors that I have overseen?
- anything else I've overseen?

What's the best way to do?

Thanks for feedback!

Peter

Kyle.ConnectIQ over 10 years ago

We're working on being able to configure apps using GCM and Express. The best option would be to wait until this functionality is available and then change your app to use the new settings system.

travis.vitek over 10 years ago

Is the new settings system going to be built on top of, or at the very least to look like, the existing object store, or is it a completely independent system?

Former Member over 10 years ago

I've got a bundle of requests in the forums (Germany & US) wanting me to create differently
colored clones of my scuba watchface. Of course i can easily apply different color sets to my
code.
...
What's the best way to do?

I have several apps in the app store now which will benefit from configuration. What I have done for now is upload one version to the app store, and in the description text I have a link to a thread in the Showcase forum where I provide links to .prg files of other versions of the apps with different settings.

-Torstein

Former Member over 10 years ago

I've not yet added a second theme to my watch face yet - however, I plan to, and I can already add MOTD to every day of the year (usually peoples birthdays)

It's a bit of a workaround, but I use the getProperty object store API, and I've written a desktop application in Qt that reads and writes the object store data files too. So I can configure everything in my desktop and it'll reflect in my watch face. I'll also be using this for my ToDo widget (when I write it)

Sample Code
Watch MOTD
Desktop Application

The ConnectIQObjectStore class only supports string tables, I might fix this up if required.

Obviously this approach won't be for everyone, especially if everyone ends up making their own desktop client too, but I thought I'd share.

Kyle.ConnectIQ over 10 years ago

Is the new settings system going to be built on top of, or at the very least to look like, the existing object store, or is it a completely independent system?

In the API the settings will be accessed using the existing setProperty() and getProperty().

travis.vitek over 10 years ago

Awesome. So developers should setup and test their projects to use the properties API now, and then when this feature is fully supported they'll only need to add and test the hooks to support exposing those properties to Garmin Connect Mobile.

Former Member over 10 years ago

We're working on being able to configure apps using GCM and Express. The best option would be to wait until this functionality is available and then change your app to use the new settings system.

This might do. But what about having a config menu for watchfaces in settings.
This should not be that complex. In 95% of the cases a simple menu structure from resources and persistent storage will be sufficient. Any thought on this. This might be a very similar mechanism to native iOS system preferences for apps.

HermoT over 9 years ago

If you have some time, could you please explain the format / schema of the *.STR file?
I had a look in your desktop app, but not very familiar with C++.
What format is the data in the object store being stored as?

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

I saw one watchface (don't recall which one) that did this:

-One version in the app store, download it and run it once to create the object store with the defaults
-there was a link to the object stores of the variations ("red scheme", "blue scheme", etc), and the the user was directed to download the scheme they wanted, and use that to replace the default Object Store for the watchface (the .STR)

Thought this was an interesting idea!
The developer could generate the different .STR files, allowing customization, and avoid issues of duplicate IDs in the manifest file for different .prgs versions, and not have to have a bunch of versions in the store. And when CIQ customization is available, the end user can just modify the Object store without downloading the variations!

HermoT over 9 years ago

I've not yet added a second theme to my watch face yet - however, I plan to, and I can already add MOTD to every day of the year (usually peoples birthdays)

It's a bit of a workaround, but I use the getProperty object store API, and I've written a desktop application in Qt that reads and writes the object store data files too. So I can configure everything in my desktop and it'll reflect in my watch face. I'll also be using this for my ToDo widget (when I write it)

Sample Code
Watch MOTD
Desktop Application

The ConnectIQObjectStore class only supports string tables, I might fix this up if required.

Obviously this approach won't be for everyone, especially if everyone ends up making their own desktop client too, but I thought I'd share.