Samsung's new Galaxy Active 2 smartwatch is quite impressive. This new smartwatch builds on the functionality of its predecessor while incorporating a new slimmer profile. Samsung has packed it with several upgraded features, from the improved sensors and GPS to the innovative digital bezel.
Contents1. Activate the bezel2. Hello, my style!3. Rearrange widgets4. Background style5. Enable Always on Display6. Water lock mode7. Keep distracting notifications at bay8. Adjust the home button9. Listen to your favorite songs Pay attention!
If you bought it recently or are planning to buy one this holiday season, here are some nifty tips and tricks to get the most out of the Samsung Galaxy Active 2. Let's take a look.
Above, the Galaxy Active 2 sports an innovative digital bezel around the edges. Run your finger over the black border to navigate through pages and menus.
However, the smartwatch interface does not enable it by default. You will need to activate it. To make the changes, open the Settings menu and scroll down to Advanced. Press Touch Bezel and activate the switch. That's it.
Now all you have to do is gently glide around the edges. Cool, right?
My Style is one of the new features in the Galaxy Active 2. This option allows you to create a watch face based on the color of your outfit. So if you're wearing pink, just snap a picture of your outfit and your smartwatch will offer you a few smart pattern options.
To enable this watch face, open the Samsung Wearable app and navigate to the Watch Faces tab and tap the My Style option under the Wallpaper section. Next, tap the Customize button at the top. Now the app will give you several background options.
So, tap on the Camera icon, select the pattern from the available list, and that's it. You have a new watch face for each of your outfits.
The only catch is that you have to sacrifice the other informative dials. This one looks like an analog clock. So to see your step count or heart rate you will need to change the clock type. On the other hand, the watch face is very realistic.
As you may know, widgets are different from apps, the watch comes preloaded with a handful of them. While some are helpful, others can be a bit overkill.
For example, I got this smartwatch only to track my activity levels and to monitor my heart rate. Therefore, widgets like calendar or weather (the phone has that, right?) don't matter to me.
Luckily, you can add widgets (and apps) and even remove them. You can also rearrange them according to your preferences.
To do this, open the Wearable home page and select Widgets from the list. Tap the small Delete icon next to the widget you want to delete.
Similarly, to add your favorite widgets, scroll down and tap the More icon. To rearrange the icons, tap the double arrow icon on the right and drag them to change their sequence.
If you look at my widget placement, you'll find all the most used widgets in the first half, followed by the seldom used ones.
Do you like the black background of your watch menus? If so, you can skip to the next tip. But if you want to paint them in different shades of colors, you should take a look at the Background Style option.
For now, you can switch between 10 different backgrounds. From dark blue to deep purple, there are many options.
To make the changes, open your watch's display settings and scroll down until you see Background Style. Pick the one that suits your style and hit the back button multiple times to see the magic.
Pro Tip: Enable Goodnight Mode via the Quick Settings menu before you go to sleep. Always on Display (AOD) is an amazing feature that comes with most of the Samsung flagships such as the Galaxy Note 10. Now it graces the Galaxy Active 2. As the name suggests, you don't need to lift wrist or touch the screen to wake up the phone. The screen just stays on.
Naturally, this has an impact on battery life. However, the feature is too nifty to leave disabled.
To turn it on, pivot your way to Settings> Display> Always Watch and toggle the switch on. You can also enable it from quick settings.
Once done, your watch face will stay on like an analog watch. Cool, right?
Note :This feature does not work when the watch does not detect a heartbeat or when you have activated Goodnight mode.This watch automatically detects and starts recording your activity when you are swimming. However, it sometimes tends to register false keystrokes underwater, and that can be annoying.
In such circumstances, the best bet is to activate the Water Lock mode. When enabled, it disables wake-up gestures and Always On Display. You can find this setting under Advanced Settings> Water Lock Mode.
Cool tip :Worried about water entering the speaker grilles? Well, this smartwatch has you covered. After your swim session, tap the Eject Water option under Water Lock. It plays a sound that mimics internal water flushing. When I first started using the Galaxy Active 2, I was bombarded with notifications from about 11 different apps. And yes, the situation was chaotic. The phone vibrated even when I received a stupid WhatsApp transfer. There is a simple solution for this:disable access to notifications from unimportant apps.
To do this, open the Wearable app and tap on Notifications. If you want to completely cut off access to notifications, turn off the switch.
Otherwise, the trick is to change the notification settings so that you only receive the highest priority ones. To select apps, tap on the first option that says "Apps to get.." and choose the apps you want.
At the same time, open advanced notification settings to further refine these settings. From a productivity perspective, the smart relay is one of the great features. It's a smart feature that opens the app on your phone based on notifications.
For example, if you receive a calendar notification on your watch, said app will open on your phone when you retrieve it.
If you're not a staunch Bixby fan, you can tweak the home button to trigger actions like Dialer, Calendar, and Find my Phone.
To do this, pivot your way to Settings> Advanced Settings> Double-press the Home key. Choose from one of the options in the list, and that's it.
The button will be remapped. If it's a bit difficult to find the watch options, you can use the Wearable app to make these changes.
For now, I've kept the Home button as the trigger for creating reminders. And you?
And here is the most interesting. Your new Galaxy Active 2 also serves as a mini music player. You can load up some of your favorite songs, pair your wireless headphones, and rock out. No need to carry the phone.
The best part is that it is a very simple process to add the songs. Open the app and go to Add content to your watch> Add tracks and choose the songs. Note that the transfer may take some time.
But at the end of the day, you can only store a finite number of songs offline. Luckily, the Galaxy Active 2 also lets you stream songs from services like Spotify. So if you want to do your morning jog listening to your favorite tunes (without your phone), check out the post below.
The Galaxy Active 2 brings several handy features to the table. Auto-tracking lets you track your runs and walks without a hitch, while the smart side of the watch helps you be productive.
Here is a Samsung Galaxy Active2 tips tutorial from our Guiding Tech YouTube channel:
So how did you customize your smartwatch?
Next :Battery exhausted too soon? Check out the article below on how to save your watch battery. After all, the basis of both smartwatches is almost the same.
