DataFace

DataFace - data rich yet simple and energy efficient multi-screen watch face with unique set of features,
free of charge.

DataFace icon

Highlights

DataFace doesn't drain your battery - it doesn't work in the background, and with the default settings battery consumption is very close to the predefined watch faces, and there are a few options to make it even more energy efficient.
DataFace is fast - it switches to/from glances almost instantly and introduces no delay while toggling the LED flashlight by double-clicking LIGHT button.
DataFace supports wide range of metrics in different representations - you can choose from over 135 values, including Body Battery, stress level and time to recovery, and some of them are available as graphs and progress bars.
DataFace has flexible layout - only the position of the hours and minutes is predefined, while areas above and below the time are grids of 4 rows and 2 columns that can contain, e.g. a large graph, or a medium graph and a progress bar, or a smaller graph and four numeric values, or two smaller graphs with one bar and two numeric values, etc. There are 68 positions on the screen where a specific value can be placed.
DataFace offers you up to 10 screens - you can customize data fields for each of them separately and switch back and forth based on the situation, or create a single screen with all the data you need, since you can display from 2 to 24 values at a time.
DataFace has rich and intuitive on-device menu - all settings are available directly from the device.
DataFace respects your privacy - it doesn't collect any personal information and doesn't have "Communications" permission, so everything it can access stays on your device.
DataFace is free - you don't have to pay anything to use all the features.

Distinctive features

DataFace has advanced offline weather forecasting features: barometric pressure graph is not distorted by the altitude calibrations as it can detect and eliminate unnatural pressure changes, unlike the system pressure graph in ABC and Barometer glances. Pressure trend arrow follows the one from the system ABC glance and introduces several additional states to indicate extreme weather changes beyond the usual rate. The trend can also be configured to display the numeric value of pressure change rate over the last 3 hours. On top of that, there is the Zambretti Forecaster, that gives you pretty accurate micro-local weather forecast for the next 12 hours in text form.
DataFace can precisely calculate Sun and Moon data: rises and sets, current azimuths and altitudes, solar noon, daylight duration, Moon phase name and illumination, etc. The data may differ slightly from the one in the default glances, but it is more likely that the DataFace's values are more accurate than the default ones. For Sun rise and set you can select system values that exactly match what is displayed in default Sunrise/Sunset glance.

Q&A

Q: Where are the settings? I don't see a corresponding button in Connect IQ and Garmin Express.

A: DataFace is configured on the device itself, and unlike other watch faces, this is the only way to customize it. If you have fēnix, epix, Forerunner or other similar 5-button watch, hold UP/MENU button, select "Watch Face", scroll to the DataFace, press START button and select "Customize". If you're using Venu or other 2- or 3-button device, hold BACK/MENU button, select "Watch Face", scroll to the DataFace and tap the pencil icon.

Q: How to use data fields above and below time?

A: These are grids of 4 rows and 2 columns, the cells of which can be merged into any rectangular area. Simply draw such a grid on paper, select any non-overlapping rectangles you want to fill with the required data and then select those areas from the menu.

Q: Why Sun and Moon related metrics show "--"?

A: DataFace needs to know your location for these calculations - just go outside, start any GPS activity, wait for the location fix, discard the activity and return back to the watch face.

Q: Can I choose another fonts?

A: This watch face uses system fonts, and there is no such feature right now, but things may change later.

Q: How can I switch between the screens?

A: You can press and hold hours to go back and minutes to go forward in the screens loop. You can also set automatic forward screens switching using single or double gesture, with optional auto-return to the first screen on the next gesture after a longer delay.

Top Replies

jim_m_58 28 days ago in reply to DataDev +1

DataDev said:
The answer to this question depends on how other watch faces are implemented, whether they run background service (this one doesn't),

With watch faces, the background service only runs…

All Replies

DataDev 11 days ago in reply to rogerpgvg

Unless the history is completely distorted (read below), then yes. When calibrating the altitude from an incorrect value to a correct one, the watch face notices this and adjusts the entire pressure history, and previously incorrect historical pressure values (due to the previously incorrect altitude) are changed to correct ones (provided that the last calibrated altitude was correct). Also the sudden changes in pressure history due to the calibration, that can break pressure graph in system glances and affect system pressure trend arrow, will be fixed by the watch face too. So I expect the entire pressure history be adjusted as if it was correct from the beginning.

I'd say unless your altitude/pressure sensor readings were significantly off over the entire last 3 hours, and the history is completely broken (e.g., you stay at the same altitude, but the altitude values are steadily rising while the pressure readings stay at the same level), it's more important to have the current pressure reading correct than to have the fully correct history, because if the history contains some interval, that isn't quite correct (e.g., the history shows the pressure was dropping at a slightly slower rate than it actually was), the impact of that error in trend calculation result will be minimized due to the presence of all other correct historical data.

And going back to you question about the sensor mode: the fact that history could be completely distorted in some modes, so not only the absolute values are incorrect, but also a trend, simply slipped out of my mind. So, if the amount of correct altitude readings in any mode over the last 3 hours exceeds the number of incorrect ones (that is, the pressure history data recorded by the system matches the actual pressure changes: both either rising or falling, or steady), and the last value is correct, then everything should be fine.

rogerpgvg 10 days ago in reply to DataDev

Thank you, I think I understand now. It's great how it works. Yes, I see that the DataFace pressure graph is more useful than the one in the system glances because the DataFace graph doesn't have the sudden large changes after calibrations.

DataDev 1 day ago in reply to rogerpgvg

I've published a new version that fixes the single-gesture screens switching bug I discovered after our discussions. Returning to the default screen now requires a gesture after a short sleep period, that occurs after a long sleep, and this becomes consistent with switching to the next screen and with double-gesture modes. Additionally, I expect this will reduce the amount of unwanted screens switching caused by opening and closing system menus and glances.

New data fields with last 7 and 28 days running distance have also been added. For the weekly distance, say on Wednesday, it should display the sum of the distances covered during all running activities logged since the beginning of the previous Thursday.

rogerpgvg 15 hours ago in reply to DataDev

Fantastic, thank you very much! How do I update the watch face? I have Garmin IQ on "Auto Update", but the version is still 260503 (though IQ says all apps are up to date).

DataDev 15 hours ago in reply to rogerpgvg

The latest is 260517 (I should've mentioned that), it was uploaded and approved over 17 hours ago.

There may be some delays on the store side. The default suggestion for such kind of issues is to reboot both the phone and the watch and try again.

But first, check the version indicated in the last settings menu item of the watch face "Customize" menu - I heard, that the store may load an older version onto the device. Maybe, it's possible that the opposite can also happen: the app was updated on the device, but the update didn't appear on the app's store page.

rogerpgvg 14 hours ago in reply to DataDev

Thank you. Restarting my watch and phone helped. Great to have the running distance fields, thanks so much.

DataDev 14 hours ago in reply to rogerpgvg

You're welcome!

Good to know it worked.