[FEEDBACK REQUEST] If Facer could launch/improve anything in 2021, what would it be?

Announcements Misc.
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Hi all!

As 2021 starts, we’d like to turn to our beloved Facer community to ask you gals and guys what you’d like to see next on the platform. It’s critical for us integrate your feedback into our roadmap, and this is your chance to get your voice heard!

So, if Facer could launch/improve anything in 2021, what would it be?

Any feedback is welcome, ranging from fixes from the most annoying bugs you wish we could fix, to your wildest dreams of having your smartwatch make coffee for you in the morning.

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Genie, I wish… Top three requests for me, in CREATOR: layer groups, and multi-layer select for actions like deleting AND copy/paste from one project into another.

And for the phone app: have the previews be live/interactive in the same way as they are via web, with addition of theme color selections also functioning in the preview.

Thanks for continuing to make it better!

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  1. Grouping layers to manipulate as one object
  2. Be able to set variables via script
  3. Processing for layers to not happen when hidden via the eyeball icon for the layer
  4. Be able to manipulate layer visibility through scripting
  5. More generalized scripting system (like using Lua)
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  1. Ability to delete collections on our Facer home page. I personally have a few that could be combined, but then I would have one or more orphaned collections that can’t be deleted.

  2. Get the Galaxy Active 2 watch freezing issue fixed.

  3. Curved Text

  4. Date by time zone, especially UTC time zone. All other time zones could be figured from UTC.

  5. Ability to reset our passwords in the app and on computer for both Facer and Facer Community without assistance from @Facer_Official.

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Thanks for asking, my two top ones are …

1. Fix wake-up "bug"

Currently the face is drawn, hand placed etc. based on old data on wake-up and then the hands are moved to the current time. This visual hand-jump on wake-up is a major turn-off to many people.

Far better if the calculation of new hand positions is carried out prior to drawing the face on wake-up. This appears to be the case with native ( non-Facer ) faces running on Tizen and WearOS.

2. Introduce designer Global Variables.

A major limitation is the inability to calculate, once every cycle, one or more values that can then be used by every other element during that cycle. I am thinking here about a new element that has a tag, call it #GLOBAL_1# etc., that has a value field that can call other Tags and is calculated once per cycle with that new value being available to every element lower in the stack of elements by calling the relevant global variable tag.

Simple example:

Layer 1: Global_1
value: some expression, eg (#DD#+#VAR_1#)

Layer 2: hand
rotation: #Global_1#

This simple example of course is just to show intent. The real power of Global variables is when the expression is long and complex and used in multiple layers.

…

:slight_smile:

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If I were to ask…

  1. Group Complications into custom object
  2. Personal storage for custom Complications
  3. Custom Variables, where the source of the variable is supplied to Facer Phone App via (API, SQLLite DB, or text file) This would allow for the following:
    1. We can create an app to source our own dang weather service
    2. Values from home automation items could be viewable on the watch
    3. Most importantly, Blood Glucose levels could be displayed from those wearing CGM’s
  4. New link capability that instead of opening an app on the watch, you can open an app on the phone!
  5. @pfhoenix and @kvansant and @mikeoday’s suggestions. :wink:
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As others have mentioned, group layering would be really nice.

However in my mind, the biggest impact for me would be the ability to add custom external data by the watch face designer. In my mind, that would really open up the doors to a variety of watch faces and things currently unimaginable. It would separate the regular samsung watch faces from the Facer ones for sure.
Tags can only do so much. Say have the ability to have the face designer put in a call to an custom web address and then read the data. For instance, I would like to be able to have the locked or charge state of my car on my watch face using the Tesla api, for those familiar with it. Or perhaps I want to call up the tide data and display that on my watch if I were a boat person. Or perhaps I could call up the scores of my favorite team and display that. Or perhaps I would want to call up a stock or two. Or perhaps call up the local air quality. Or perhaps have an intermittently updated picture of a local eagle nest web cam. The possibilities are endless with great ideas.

Also, I’d like the ability to charge a buck for my faces, even if I only get to split it with Facer. Most designers are locked out of such ability by Facer at their whim of being invited into the fold. We bring in users through hard work and it would be fair to support this hobby a little better.

Oh, maybe I should wish for Genies freedom!! Darn I already made three wishes. Sorry Genie… :sweat_smile:

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hello
i really wish a strong and powerful application that doesn’t laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag
thank you so much
:slight_smile:

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I’d like the ability to view Followers, Syncer details, and how many Faves each of my Faces receive- with details.
Syncing information has the potential to be misleading because maybe someone syncs my Face but decides they don’t like it after all. Favoriting has the same potential, of course. However, it would be more helpful to see both syncs and favorites in order to help me to determine what is, or isn’t, working in my designs.
It would also be really cool to see how many people are currently wearing any of my watch faces, and which Faces!
e.g. “Number of people currently wearing this Watch Face”.

I create Apple Watch faces. It would be nice to have a more intuitive Apple Watch Creator for people like me who aren’t really savvy in that area of tech.

Thanks for your consideration, and all your hard work! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Dear Santa, i was a good boy last year - this is my tiny personal wishlist for the next gen facer creator:

1. Grouped and/or glued layers

Application Facer/watch:
a. Group transform/scripting facer (movement, rotation, size, visibility…)
b. Group theme change

Application Workflow:
a. Group movement
b. Group delete
c. Group rename
d. Group visibility
e. Group theme define

2. Theme selection
a. Theme color set preselected by designer
b. Multiple themes for different and/or grouped objects (Texts, Backgrounds, borders, bezels, watch hands) - could save a lot memory for customizable watch faces
c. Theme(s) preview function in the creator

3. Object transfer between drafts and/or published faces
a. Only single objects
b. Grouped objects
c. Single and/or grouped objects with all scriptings

4. Reuseable templates blocks
a. for user defined scripts
b. for user predefined objects (Hands, bezels, borders…)

5. User defineable Directory/sort structure for drafts

6. Enhanced Font transforming
a. Font width, Kerning, Spacing …
b. Curved font arrangement

7. Realistic looking shadows and/or highlight effects for objects
a. Shadow positioning
b. Shadow smoothness/sharpness

8. Realistic looking glow effects on fonts/shapes
9. Chronograph function split times/lap times
10. Timer function with set ability for minutes/hours
11. Hide function for VAR-areas
12. Customization lock complication
13. Dim complication optional combined with grouped layers
14. Enhanced right mouse button support (rename/delete …)
15. User customizable app access
16. Font/shape/object color change tag (via script or VAR)
17. Customizable indices dial generator within creator
18. Simplified tag access for standard complications (User friendly for newbies)
19. Two more VAR functions
20. Visibility option for weather icon
21. Full apple watch support with all facer functions
22. Floor display, automated calculations from steps to km/mi

And all of the entries/wishes above from all others…

Thanks to the whole Facer team for the current facer creator version - it´s already great!

Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone, GAUSS.

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Could we have a way to let us know when we are getting near the Limit of Memory or Processing power on a design rather than working to the point where the Creation does not work at all. I note with interest that when the Facer.io gets stuck it is the same on my Samsung Active.

Could we have folders for our creations . So Tests and Finished work can be separate .

However it is fantastic to be able to Create Faces for my watch.
Thanking you .

All the Best for the New Year.

Russell

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What could i want?

  1. No lag in the hands when i awake my watch
  2. More shapes ( semicircle - ellipses etc) and fonts in Creator
  3. Always in Creator i would have circular text

Cheers

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Sorry, i would have one more thing.
I would have the possibility to arrange my faces in alphabetical order or to arrange them as they were “tiles” as it happens in many apps. I’m talking about Web Facer, not the app for the phone.

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Lots of great ideas already. Top of my list would be:

  1. Layer Groups - to begin with this could just be a UI feature so you can expand/collapse layers in a group/folder and perform basic actions on the group itself such as; “lock”, “delete”, “move up/down the stack”. More advanced features could then be added.
  2. Layer Masks - Masking effects can currently be achieved by creating the necessary graphic layers with cut-outs but this can be somewhat static. If an entire layer was mask-able (is that a word?) it would open up so many options for effects, especially with text layers.
  3. HEX Colour Codes Fields - The ability to alter the colour/tint of a layer using HEX value based on other tags/variables, e.g.
    ** If VAR_1==1 then BLACK else WHITE
    ** $(#ZHR#>150)?FF0000:FFFFFF$
  4. More control over Designer’s profile page - The ability to sort designs as you see fit e.g. Recent first, Most popular first, custom sort (drag designs around)
  5. More options within Creator collection page - Sort designs by (Recent, Popular, Free/Premium), view in list/thumbnail format

Happy New Year everyone!

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My wishlist:

  1. Grouping

    • Including design time actions like move, delete, show/hide in active/dim, etc
    • Including runtime settings like group opacity, group x/y, group rotation, etc

  2. Asset re-use

    • Load an image and reuse it in different layers, etc

  3. Global vars that can hold expressions

    • Vars that can be defined globally and usuable in multiple watchfacces
    • Have them contain expressions and be reused as a tag
    • See point 2 of @mikeoday

  4. Copy between faces

    • Copy layers (and groups) from one face to another

  5. Proper scripting

    • Support something like LUA or JavaScript

  6. Show the inspect icon in the community forum preview as well.

    • A lot of newbies are unaware where to find the inspection mode when a watch is posted

  7. Consistency in app/browser functions

    • Make all functionality available on all mediums (like replying to a comment on a watchface)

  8. Allow viewing of the settings of a locked layer

    • it cannot bve selected at all at the moment, one has to unloc it to view it

  9. Allow all options and tags on all fields of all elements

    • Some elements do not support tags in all fields or have all the options, like the radius of a progress or arc does not support tags/expressions in it

  10. Ability to control location/lat/lng, sunrise/sunset, etc at design time in creator

    • Currently the location is always Los Angeles and ss/sr is always 7:14 / 18:34

  11. Support for “sprites” (for animation or icons, etc)

    • Currently all images are resized by facer creator, so one cannot for example make a large image with several sprites and move it in the correct location to do an animation or change an icon.

  12. Include TAGS in searches

    • See second issue below

Fix outstanding issues/requests (in order of importance):

  1. Issue 50990: Seconds out of sync with minutes/hours

    • The seconds are out of sync with the minutes and hours.
      I have a Fossil gen5 (Carlyle). When using a non-facer watch face I do not have any issues, but when using a Facer watch face there is a delay between the seconds going from 59 to 0 and the minutes/hours going to the next minute/hour.
      There is a short video and explanation in this thread: Seconds out of sync
      While visually only annoying, it is a real issue when trying to make animations based on hour + minutes + seconds + milliseconds in situations where #DNOW# cannot be used.
    • A #DNOW# for the current timezone instead of UTC would fix this issue as well

  2. Issue 52284: issue with search: tags not included

    • Currently tags are not included in the search for a watchface. It seems only title and description are.

  3. Issue 50989: Keeping width and height when selecting a new image

    • It would be nice if image width and height is kept when setting a new image. When I resize my image to 200x200 I do not want it 320x320 again everytime I update the image

  4. Issue 52285: facer beta welcome message

    • The beta welcome message is shown all the time, everywhere. Every time I open the creator, and on every embedded watchface in the community forums. This could be removed

  5. Issue 55823: progress and arc radius on android is incorrect

    • When adding progress or an arc to a watch face, it’s radius is incorrect in the Android prieview app. It is shown too narrow

  6. Issue 59388: Tag difference between Creator and watch/android preview

    • There is a difference in the #DMR# tag (day of month rotational code).
      In creator it is always based on a 31 day month (#DMR# => #Dd#/31*360),
      on the watch it uses the current month’s number of days (#DMR# => #Dd#/#DIM#*360).

  7. Issue 54314: Facer logo remains when syncing in DIM mode

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I would like the ability to have more flexibility when it comes to Apple. Hopefully Facer and Apple can partner up…

One Day;…

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Replace the archaic syntax and these endless brackets with something more suitable for programming. Add loops, user defined variables, etc. Make it a proper programming engine.

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@facer_official
Do watch faces you create autosave? my pc crashed and I lost all my progress on a watch face. If they do not autosave then that would be my biggest request!

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Ability to message followers somehow, either via messages/direct messages or by posting something on our profiles.

Selectable colors via Theme.

Code “packages”- have pros develop code “chunks” that users can “apply” without coding.

All elements have transparency.

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