Idea for BTN1 shortcuts

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  • I was thinking about how I used to like having physical button shortcuts to some applications on my Pebble and how that could possibly be added to the Bangle JS 2.

    One thought I had was to potentially add the ability to press BTN1 x number of times to launch a particular application. E.g. press 2 x for Messages, 3 x for Quiet Mode App etc.

    This would likely only make sense while on the Clock screen as other apps may require presses of BTN1 for certain functions. Also, the first press of BTN1 would likely be reserved for unlocking the device (unless screen is always unlocked I guess).

    I know the Pattern Launcher exists and it really is brilliant but sometimes it is more convenient to launch apps from a physical button than having to unlock first and then do a pattern.

    I was mucking around in the web IDE and created a simple click counter detector for BTN1 using setTimeout functions but I wasn't sure how to apply it to the rest of the watch so that awareness of the initial unlock with a single press was respected and that when inside other apps it was ignored. Likely something for someone else to look at until I have a better grasp on the system as a whole.

  • Just a thought: I personally prefer touch to prolong the life of the button for a simple reason: when the button will die the watch is almost useless. I would not stress it with app use. I created a watch face with two start buttons for actions/apps (not in the store for some reasons). With additional left/right swipe I have four "actions" via touch in direct access (e.g. integrated music player, launcher, BT on/off, here: blue when BT is on) without stressing the physical button.

    Maybe you can take the approach to have a single virtual button, which launches different apps depending on the number of touches?


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  • I agree with OP that its more convenient to launch smth with the button, not ready to stop myself from using the watch to its fullest just because of wear ;P

    Also, the first press of BTN1 would likely be reserved for unlocking the device (unless screen is always unlocked I guess).

    Not really, there are quite some more options in Settings -> LCD -> Wake on XXX. Wake does mean unlocked on my watch at least, the wording is not really ideal though.

  • That's a great suggestion and a very valid point about the button wear and tear. I still would prefer to activate somethings via hardware buttons but, if it improves the lifespan of the device then maybe that's something I need to accept and start to prioritise the touch screen.

    That's a great watchface! I think I need to experiment with creating watchfaces and perhaps make my own that does something similar to yours. Shame it's not been released into the wild, I bet a lot of people would be interested in using something like that!

  • Shame it's not been released into the wild, I bet a lot of people would be interested in using something like that!

    I'll put the Bangle 2 version on a Github repo. It's not in the Bangle app loader just because I feel that it violates some of the Bangle principles, for example it shows Gadgetbridge notifications smoothly integrated in the watch face and not via the notifications app. So you would have to uninstall some things and the widgets in the top is actually one widget, not four. But I'll make an adapted one next year.

  • I think I need to experiment with creating watchfaces and perhaps make my own that does something similar to yours.

    Hopefully! In fact it's pretty easy. Just drawing some boxes and circles :-)

  • Yeah, I think you are right. Wake/unlocked are interchangeable in that settings menu so I think it doesn't matter. I suppose what I meant to say in that statement was that if unlocking/waking the screen is only enabled via BTN1 for someone, then it may not be advisable to use a single press to act as a shortcut to anything.

  • Oh nice! I'll definitely check that out when it's up. I do wonder what other stuff people may have developed with their Bangles that exists outside of the apps within the App Loader

  • Don't forget there are more options than physical button and touchscreen. There are also gestures and taps on the watch body.

  • +1 for that watchface please :)
    You could disable the extra features with a disable flag in the settings?

  • I feel that it violates some of the Bangle principles, for example it shows
    Gadgetbridge notifications smoothly integrated in the watch face and not via
    the notifications app.

    I think provided you document what the incompatibilities might be it should not be a problem.
    For example I have two watch faces that are full screen and dont display the widgets; I
    do load the widgets but then ensure that they dont draw on the screen.

  • Just a note on the buttons... There's an app called Swiper clock launch that overrides the default handler for clocks so that you can get to the launcher by swiping rather than just pressing the button: https://github.com/espruino/BangleApps/t­ree/master/apps/swiperclocklaunch

    Making a copy of that and tweaking it such that it detected certain patterns of button presses would be pretty easy, and then it becomes an app that anyone can install to add the feature to their watch

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Idea for BTN1 shortcuts

Posted by Avatar for Weagertron @Weagertron

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