If I add an ‘empty’ complication to my Watch5, then customise it on the watch to, for example, heart rate, all it shows is a big red heart. No actual data. I can click it to access the heart rate stuff, but it doesn’t otherwise display the rate.
Same for stress. I just get a big red person torso and no onface data.
Surely that’s not the intended function?
It depends Which Comp you use . I use Long Text Hidden for exactly that reason . You have to make tests with the lot and all the Apps are different .
It is intended.
Samsung’s own HR complication shows the data on their own watchface, when used as a SHORT_TEXT, as that format only appears in their watchfaces.
In other watchfaces, it appears as a SMALL_IMAGE shortcut.
They are declaring two types of services for each custom complication in Samsung Health.
In pre-release Galaxy Watch 4 units, their own Heart Rate Complication was working fine on 3rd party watch faces.
<meta-data android:name="android.support.wearable.complications.SUPPORTED_TYPES"
android:value="SHORT_TEXT,ICON,SMALL_IMAGE" />
After Galaxy Watch 4 release, Samsung Health was updated and guess what. SHORT_TEXT was removed from AndroidManifest.
Now it looks like this:
<meta-data android:name="android.support.wearable.complications.SUPPORTED_TYPES"
android:value="ICON,SMALL_IMAGE" />
Question is, why? Google can provide Heart Rate complication with Fitbit, Fossil too.
Samsung not. We will always receive response that it’s some health data privacy protection etc.
I believe It’s not possible for a watch face to collect custom complication data. Also, heart rate is only showing last value, only when complication is used and if approved by the user.
Edit: with Galaxy Watch 6, SHORT_TEXT type was added but you will only see Complication name in it. Really useful to see “Heart Rate” text.
But when you customise the watch, it asks for permission to use the data. Also, you can get the rate as a tag.