[williaml]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.

I have spent the whole day with giving HL another try but it was not worth the effort. T2W has really grown (and it will continue to grow further ) and it has simply too many functions for a HL app with a very strict resource limit (3 MB RAM).

There is a lot happening in the background: Bluetooth, GPS, message services(email, sms), JavaScript, phone calls, webservices (FB/Twitter) and other things - and in the worst case everything is active at the same time. The result of my tests today was that the app stops working as soon as one of the 'big' resource consumers is active (JavaScript, message services). This is definitely caused by the resource limit.

My plan for the future is to add more functions to the app and make it compatible with Pebble Time. This means that a HL version of the app will become even more unrealistic (as long as BB does not change the resource requirements). I personally do not miss it.

And before anyone asks: I will never make a reduced function version of the app


Some good news:
The next T2W Pro update will contain Android Wear like notification actions. That means that you will be able to send reply messages to emails, mark them as read and favorite or retweet Twitter notifications in a much simpler way. It is already implemented and working fine.
The T2W API is already updated and contains methods to use this kind of notifications in other BB10 apps.

Thanks for the detailed response! Let's hope BlackBerry changes these limits in the future.

In the mean time, would you consider adding an active frame with the connection status (useful and a bit more visually pleasing than the current minimized app)?

Thanks again!

Posted via CB10 from my Passport

[tfp]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.

I have spent the whole day with giving HL another try but it was not worth the effort. T2W has really grown (and it will continue to grow further ) and it has simply too many functions for a HL app with a very strict resource limit (3 MB RAM).

There is a lot happening in the background: Bluetooth, GPS, message services(email, sms), JavaScript, phone calls, webservices (FB/Twitter) and other things - and in the worst case everything is active at the same time. The result of my tests today was that the app stops working as soon as one of the 'big' resource consumers is active (JavaScript, message services). This is definitely caused by the resource limit.

My plan for the future is to add more functions to the app and make it compatible with Pebble Time. This means that a HL version of the app will become even more unrealistic (as long as BB does not change the resource requirements). I personally do not miss it.

And before anyone asks: I will never make a reduced function version of the app


Some good news:
The next T2W Pro update will contain Android Wear like notification actions. That means that you will be able to send reply messages to emails, mark them as read and favorite or retweet Twitter notifications in a much simpler way. It is already implemented and working fine.
The T2W API is already updated and contains methods to use this kind of notifications in other BB10 apps.

When do you think this next update will be released? My dog recently decided that she wanted to play with my pebble and this is the result:




So I'm hoping to get a replacement for my b-day in a couple of weeks

Posted via CB10

[tmurphx5]

When do you think this next update will be released? My dog recently decided that she wanted to play with my pebble and this is the result:




So I'm hoping to get a replacement for my b-day in a couple of weeks

Posted via CB10

Ouch.. must not have been the Pebble Steel..... and 'Give that dog a bone'.

Passport running on 10.3.1.2480

[lotuslanderz]

^
Ouch!!

Posted via CB10

[tmurphx5]

Thanks for the detailed response! Let's hope BlackBerry changes these limits in the future.

In the mean time, would you consider adding an active frame with the connection status (useful and a bit more visually pleasing than the current minimized app)?

Thanks again!

Posted via CB10 from my Passport

Yes an updated active frame is a great idea.

Passport running on 10.3.1.2480

[lotuslanderz]

Personally, I prefer not to run apps headless.
I'm just hoping that BlackBerry or Pebble provide a fix for the battery issue on the watch.
Anyway, it's been impressive watching (!) the advancements in T2W and companion apps! Thanks developers :-)


Posted via CB10

[freighter1]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.

I have spent the whole day with giving HL another try but it was not worth the effort. T2W has really grown (and it will continue to grow further ) and it has simply too many functions for a HL app with a very strict resource limit (3 MB RAM).

Would it be possible to create a headless companion app for t2w that was solely responsible for checking that t2w is running and connected to the watch? Something along the lines of powerbot, or is that not allowed by BlackBerry?


Posted via CB10

[tfp]

Ouch.. must not have been the Pebble Steel..... and 'Give that dog a bone'.

Passport running on 10.3.1.2480

Nope, it was an original Pebble. She, the dog, has plenty of toys and bones scattered around the house to play with. For some reason, she thought my Pebble wanted to play lol

Posted via CB10

[RodgerLeblanc]

Would it be possible to create a headless companion app for t2w that was solely responsible for checking that t2w is running and connected to the watch? Something along the lines of powerbot, or is that not allowed by BlackBerry?


Posted via CB10

This is a great idea on paper, but unfortunately not doable for Talk2Watch. Powerbot is an headless app that calls (invokes) another headless app (Power Tools) when the second one stops working. The difference here is that the headless app would have to call (invoke) a standard app (Talk2Watch), and that�s not doable without a user input, either by a Hub notification or a dialog box. If you need to take your phone to see if it's still running, there's no real advantage.

Posted via CB10

[CrackberryQ]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.

I have spent the whole day with giving HL another try but it was not worth the effort. T2W has really grown (and it will continue to grow further ) and it has simply too many functions for a HL app with a very strict resource limit (3 MB RAM).

There is a lot happening in the background: Bluetooth, GPS, message services(email, sms), JavaScript, phone calls, webservices (FB/Twitter) and other things - and in the worst case everything is active at the same time. The result of my tests today was that the app stops working as soon as one of the 'big' resource consumers is active (JavaScript, message services). This is definitely caused by the resource limit.

My plan for the future is to add more functions to the app and make it compatible with Pebble Time. This means that a HL version of the app will become even more unrealistic (as long as BB does not change the resource requirements). I personally do not miss it.

And before anyone asks: I will never make a reduced function version of the app


Some good news:
The next T2W Pro update will contain Android Wear like notification actions. That means that you will be able to send reply messages to emails, mark them as read and favorite or retweet Twitter notifications in a much simpler way. It is already implemented and working fine.
The T2W API is already updated and contains methods to use this kind of notifications in other BB10 apps.

Thanks for the explanation! It makes perfect sense, just a question though for conversation sake, and bear in mind I am NOT a developer, do you think you can split the app into two parts, both paid (and I read your reduced version comment loool) , one handles the communication with pebble headless and the other has the large functionality? Is that possible, or does it sound jibirish from a developers point of view??

Posted via CB10

[techtechnique]

Is there any way to add a Call Answer function to the incoming ringing alert so we can choose to take a call as well as reject it via the watch?

[Mioedwitnir]

No, not possible on BB10

Posted via CB10

[ruhban]

I thought we already could do that?

What's HL? Headless?

Posted via CB10

[techtechnique]

No, not possible on BB10

Posted via CB10

Really? Other BT devices can Answer / Reject calls, surely it's not an impossibility?

[Mioedwitnir]

That is right but these functions cannot be called from a native app. Those devices also had caller id way before 10.3

Posted via CB10

[Nathan_Weiss]

OK. I had the disappearing text issue again last week, so I reloaded 10.3.1.2267 to my Z30. I did not connect any other Bluetooth devices to my phone. Battery is awesome on the pebble 2 cycles now. Took off this morning and still at 90% now. Maybe the issue with the sniff mode is when other devices connect to the phone?



Posted via CB10

[LukeFromOz]

Hi all, great app, thanks a lot to the dev!

The one thing I'm having a problem with since installing the app yesterday is notification popups on the pebble. When I first launch Talk2watch, I get the 'hello pebble' notification popup, but no other notifications pop up other than that. The watch vibrates when a new notification is received and I can see all the notifications in the notification menu on the watch... but no popups.

Has anybody else experienced this or have any suggestions?

Posted via CB10

[tmurphx5]

Hi all, great app, thanks a lot to the dev!

The one thing I'm having a problem with since installing the app yesterday is notification popups on the pebble. When I first launch Talk2watch, I get the 'hello pebble' notification popup, but no other notifications pop up other than that. The watch vibrates when a new notification is received and I can see all the notifications in the notification menu on the watch... but no popups.

Has anybody else experienced this or have any suggestions?

Posted via CB10

I get them for mail, texts, phone, BBM (just pop-up with unknown sender).

Do you have them all toggled on? I have facebook and twitter toggled off.

Passport running on 10.3.1.2480

[James St-Pierre]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.

I have spent the whole day with giving HL another try but it was not worth the effort. T2W has really grown (and it will continue to grow further ) and it has simply too many functions for a HL app with a very strict resource limit (3 MB RAM).

There is a lot happening in the background: Bluetooth, GPS, message services(email, sms), JavaScript, phone calls, webservices (FB/Twitter) and other things - and in the worst case everything is active at the same time. The result of my tests today was that the app stops working as soon as one of the 'big' resource consumers is active (JavaScript, message services). This is definitely caused by the resource limit.

My plan for the future is to add more functions to the app and make it compatible with Pebble Time. This means that a HL version of the app will become even more unrealistic (as long as BB does not change the resource requirements). I personally do not miss it.

And before anyone asks: I will never make a reduced function version of the app


Some good news:
The next T2W Pro update will contain Android Wear like notification actions. That means that you will be able to send reply messages to emails, mark them as read and favorite or retweet Twitter notifications in a much simpler way. It is already implemented and working fine.
The T2W API is already updated and contains methods to use this kind of notifications in other BB10 apps.

Any chance to see a settings to disable JavaScript or stuffs like that so we don't reach the 3mb limit then ?

Posted via CB10

[johnnyuk]

So the battery drain/Bluetooth issue is causing the connection drops and app crash problem too?

Posted from the CB10 app on my BlackBerry Z30 STA100-2/10.3.1.2267 on O2 UK - Activated on BES10.2.5

Thanks. I knew about the Bluetooth problems causing the Pebble battery drain, and that BlackBerry have a fix coming, but I hadn't heard about it causing the other problems.

Posted via CB10

[ede_kowalski]

Hi Mioedwitnir,

will you check the http get issue in pro version?
Thanks in advance,

Ede

[gunnerfitzy]

I'm having three problems with my Pebble.

First, battery drain. Waiting patiently for BlackBerry to fix this.

Second. Even though I have deselected my Yahoo email account from the messages accounts in the talk2watch pro app, I still get notifications on my Pebble.

Third. I am not getting calender notifications on my Pebble. The calendar (Gmail) is selected in the app.

Can anyone help with the last two issues?

Posted via CB10

[Amonchakai]

I have some news on that topic. And I can already say - not good news.
....

You can also ask BlackBerry to give you more than 3MB of memory. They are flexible if you have a good reason, e.g. not because of memory leaks...

I can't remember where I saw that in the doc & where is the application form. I guess you should already be in touch with the person in charge of headless non stop permission. If you explain clearly your constrains, he may redirect you to the right person. Or even give you the right permissions.

[Amonchakai]

Also... personal trick...

As you know, the memory limit is only for allocation on the heap, allocation on the stack can be as much as you like.
So make sure you to only do allocation on the stack every time you can.

That include the HeadlessApplication class:
HeadlessApplication headless(&app);
instead of the:
new HeadlessApplication(&app);
suggested in the default project

and similarly, many things can be pre-allocated on the stack...

[dkonigs]

Also... personal trick...

As you know, the memory limit is only for allocation on the heap, allocation on the stack can be as much as you like.
So make sure you to only do allocation on the stack every time you can.

That include the HeadlessApplication class:
HeadlessApplication headless(&app);
instead of the:
new HeadlessApplication(&app);
suggested in the default project

and similarly, many things can be pre-allocated on the stack...

This trick isn't going to save you more than a few bytes of heap allocation, in the majority of cases.
The way almost all Qt (and BB10/Cascades/C++) classes are designed, is using a version of the C++ pImpl (private implementation) idiom. What this means, in practice, is that the class you instantiate has a single data member. That member is a pointer to an instance of a private implementation class that's allocated on the heap. As such, creating the class on the stack is only going to allocate that pointer on the stack. Everything else will still be allocated on the heap.

The real problem here, of course, is that most of the APIs the developer is using on this platform weren't designed with the assumption of such ridiculously minuscule memory limitations. (Seriously, the average dev on now-ancient BBOS could probably get away with using more RAM in the background.) So the best course of action is to get the necessary permissions to use more memory.

If there were a C version of the PIM API, or enough documentation to write one, it would also likely be possible to do a lot of this with far more careful control over memory usage. The way the PIM APIs work is a little weird, though. First, they use PPS for events and to get some auth tokens from the PIM service. Then they use libcurl (under the covers) to basically make web requests via HTTP over a loopback network connection to get bulk data. All this could be done in a far more memory-conserving way, if the need and documentation were there. Of course it would also be a lot of work to implement.