Google play dropped support for AW1.5

Hi,

There are two APKs in the 1.5.3 folder on Google Drive (device-release.apk and wear-release.apk). Can you tell me what is the difference between them and which one is suitable to sideload to AW1.5?

Thanks H.

Hello,

you have to install both of them—one version installed in the device (phone) and one in the wear (watches).

Regards,

Zdenek, Locus team

Hi,

I've been busy so I haven't done anything with this for a while other than confirm that Freepoc Wear Installer and Easy Fire Tools are not compatible with WOS1.

Today I tried to sideload the wear-release APK onto my sony smartwarch 3 (SWR50) using ABD from a Windows 10 PC. I installed the '15 seconds ADB installer' (from XDA) on Win10, enabled USB debugging on the SWR50 and connected via a micro USB data cable. I fired up a PowerShell and all went well with 'adb devices' returning the SWR5 in the list of arrached decices. However, when I used 'adb install -r wear-release.apk' to sideload Locusmap watch, the file was pushed to the watch but returned a Failure [INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK], indicating that the minimum SDK/API version in the apk mainfest is greater that the SW%) WOS1.5 platform SDK/API. I checked the ADB logs and found an exception saying 'requires newer SDK version 25 (current version is 23). So it seems that the wear-release app has a minSDKversion of 25 in the manifest but the platform SDK/API version is 23. 23 is the correct version for WOS1.5 on the SWR50 because it is based on Android 6.0.1. 25 is the SDK version for Android 7.1 but I believe that Locusmap is supposed to be compatible with Android 5.0 and above (API 21) so shouldn't the manifest be set to 21? Is there a way to get a versin of the wear-release APK with a manifest setting the minSDKversion to 21 or is there a way for me to edit it?

I also downloaded the latest version of Google Play Services for WearOS for Android 6.0 and upwards and used ADB to sideload that into the SWR50. This worked perfectly and the ViewRanger embedded wear app immediately synced with the watch. However Locusmap did not! indicating that this is the same issue with a minSDKversion of 25 preventing installation.

Can you check this out with the devs please?

Cheers H.

Thanks Zdenek,

That version of the Locusmap watch API installed successfully on my SWR50. I'll check it out to see what the bugs are.

Cheers H.

Hi Zdenek,

I downloaded that older version and it sideloaded onto my watch fine. However when I tried to run the wear app on my watch it says "Can't connect - Wear for Locus on your watch is outdated" and asks if I want to update, which of course I can't.

I presume that this is because I'm running V4.14.1 on my phone and I need to downgrade to the older device-release.apk on my phone (that matches the wear-release.apk)? Can you confirm and also can I just install device-release.apk over V4.14.1 or do I need to uninstall and star again?

It would also be good to know what version the older one is (must be older than V1.5.3). Also is this Locus Map Free as it's definitely earlier that V3.50? and is it possible to pay the the fee through my account and use the Pro version.

Sorry, lots of questions but thanks in advance :-)

Cheers H.

Hello,

you have to downgrade both wear apps, in your watches and in your phone too (device.apk + wear.apk). In the phone, it must be uninstalled first as Android doesn't allow downgrade. Did you do that?

Zdenek, Locus team

Hi Zdenek,

OK, so I sideloaded wear-release for API23 on my SWR50, then uninstalled V4 of the main app from my phone and installed device-release for API23 via Files. When done there was no LM icon in my apps tray so I looked at my installed apps in Play Store and it showed Locus Map Watch V1.5 as the only LM app on my phone.

I think I was a bit confused about the architecture of the app. I thought there ware two components, the main app and an embedded WOS app like Viewranger. However, it now looks like there are 3 componenets in total, 2 in the LMW add-on (wear-release for API23 on the watch and device-release for API23 as the 'bridge' on the phone, plus the main LM app running on the phone itself and all three components are needed to run the app and communicate with the watch. Can you confirm this please?

Also, can I install any version of the main LM app on my phone (including LM Pro) or do I need a specific version of the main app to work with the two API23 components?

Cheers H.

Hello,

you need the main app installed (LM4 or LM Classic).

If you want to use watches, you need the app in watches that can process data from Locus, but you need the add-on on your phone which establishes communication between Locus and watches. So three installations in total.

On Wear OS, you can use LM4 or LM Classic. On Tizen OS, you must install the add-on according to the app you have.

I recommend reading the manual: https://docs.locusmap.app/doku.php?id=manual:user_guide:add-ons:wearforlocus

Regards,

Zdenek, Locus team