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androidwear-os

Wear OS/Android communication method recommendation

I am trying to determine the appropriate communication method between the mobile device and wearable for an application. I have been using notifications, which are ok, but the output is not always formatted the way I want. Example: when I include an image (a simple check mark) with no text, the image does not sit right in the center of the wearable. It's just below for scrolling purposes. Also I cannot control things such as vibration variations for different notifications. Also for future enhancements, I might need multiple smaller images in a single alert.

I have been looking at syncing data items but don't know if it will work for my first scenario and was hoping I could get some advice from the community.

Example: There are a list of items on the wearable (this will be configurable). Each will have a image/png associated with them. Some items may have the same image. When the item is pressed the image (plus some text potentially) needs to appear on the watch with a specific vibration, then disappear.

A running history will be kept on the mobile app, but is not necessary for the watch. My concern with using the data sync is that this is that this is not really syncing data between the two devices, unless there is a "current item" which is being synced.

Hoping for some guidance from the community.

Solution

  • The Data API is really for keeping persistent items in sync between phone and watch. I'm not clear enough about your app's architecture to be sure if this is your best choice, though your configurable "list of items" sounds like a classic Data API use case. If you're not syncing these items, how will the list appear on the watch?

    The Message API is more for one-off event signaling: something has happened on one device that needs to trigger an action on the other, and then it's done. And some of your description does sound more like this scenario... but again, I'm not clear enough about what your app is really doing.

    And it's always possible that the you'll use both APIs for different aspects of your app; perhaps sending the configurable list of items via the Data API, then triggering events using Message.

    Hopefully that's enough clarity on the two APIs to move you forward. If not, some additional details on your particular use case(s) would probably be helpful.

    Edit after clarification in comments: Your use case is still not entirely clear, but here's what I'd say:

    • If you're only showing a notification (or equivalent) on the watch at the point that an item on the phone is clicked, use the Message API to send those events.
    • If your watch app will show what has been clicked - whether just the most recent, or more extensive history - use the Data API to both "send the event" (by updating the DataItem) and maintain that record.