Pebble Watch App: Watch Trigger
Updates:
1.8.1:
– Fixed crash when capturing while media scanner was at work
– Added option to get a debug log to help me figure out what breaks!
NOTICE: I’m working on bringing back compatibility with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread phones. If you own such a device and would like to test a build for me, let me know!
I was on the Google Play store today and I saw that a search for “Pebble Camera Remote” returned no results. This got me thinking… I can do that!
So I spent a good afternoon getting back into Android and Pebble developer kits to produce the first 1.8.1 version of what I have dubbed “Watch Trigger” – an app that lets you use your Pebble watch as a remote control! This means you can do what you’d normally do when taking a timed photo, but you don’t have to rush back to the group in ten seconds, you can press the watch button as quickly and discreetly as you want.
Once the app is installed, you can install the watch app by pressing the ‘Install Watch App’ button, then relaunch the Android app. As shown on the Pebble app, pressing SELECT will cause the phone to take a photo and save it to “/sdcard/Watch Trigger Images/ImageX.jpg” anywhere in the external storage you want. The name of the photo taken will then be confirmed on the phone and the watch, so you can go back and pick it up again:
So now it is possible to take a photo using the Pebble watch as a remote!
Special mentions
In adding a button to install the companion watch app from within the Android app, I used a method written by Robert Meijer, which I found on GitHub – an elegant solution. Thanks Robert!
Known bugs/issues
Only portrait orientation at the moment, but landscape if you rotate the photos post-shoot.Cropping of the preview surface, but NOT of the resulting photo. I’m not sure how to rectify this at the moment, but if programming has taught me anything, its that virtually anything is possible.Low default output resolutionStorage location not always /sdcard0/ on all devicesCrash when taking photo while the previous one is being savedFlash does not always fireCrash when triggering if media scanner was still running- Let me know any you find!
Download
Enjoy! As usual, please leave your thoughts and suggestions below!
Hi Chris, I thought this software was a great idea!
The issue is though, with my Samsung Galaxy S3, the camera comes up sideways.
Yup, so if im holding the camera upright, the image on the screen is roated 90 degrees to the left.
Wondering if this can be fixed
Hi Kartik,
This is the ‘portrait only’ issue I mentioned in the post. I’m working on a solution right now, and then the app can become better than a simple proof!
Thanks for the feedback. I’ll update the post when it is fixed.
I’ve released an update for proper landscape orientation, see the post for details and link.
This is a ridiculously awesome implementation and good idea. I’d like to see this on the Google Play app store. Can I chip in towards the $25 dev fee?
Hi Dave, thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you like it enough to offer to chip in! I’d like to take it to the Play Store now there are a few more features (I have a couple others planned). What would be the best mechanism?
PayPal is likely the most convenient way. =)
Right, of course. Tweet me so we can discuss further!
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