Downgrade to 1.5

[OMFGitsST6]

I own a Moto 360 Gen 2 that I've been enjoying very much and using daily for about a year and a half. The other week, I downloaded the Android Wear 2.0 update and the device has since become almost unusable. The entire reason why I bought it--as a convenient extension of my phone--is gone.

Let me list the features that I DON'T like:

• Right to left swipe changes watch face instead of opening app menu
• Left to right swipe changes watch face instead of opening app menu (why two gestures?)
• If I have no notifications, why open the notification screen instead of just showing the white "there's nothing here" bumper like before?
• Why does swiping left OR right on a notification clear it instead of expanding it? They trashed the intuitive system of swiping right to advance deeper into a vertically arranged card system
• No bundled notifications, making the notification list clunkier
• No "Undo" button after clearing notifications
• Charging screen isn't true black any more, making it more invasive since and gaudy looking I use it as a bedside clock.
• Charging brings up the "customize" menu
• Crown button opens app menu instead of locking. I don't always want to palm my watch face with my potentially dirty hands.
• Messages don't auto send after I enter them by voice
• No full gesture operation
• More complex music controls screen. I can barely see the time and the buttons are tiny, requiring me to look at the watch and carefully press the touch areas.
• Map directions no longer appear on screen
  "Traffic report" brings up a totally useless map instead of text like before. What am I supposed to do with that?

Features that I DO like:

• Airplane mode in the drop down menu is convenient
• New app menu is nice
• Favoriting apps is a great feature to keep stuff I use the most at the top, but the apps I put there get reset, thus defeating the point.

I use my watch frequently while driving. 1.5 was simple enough that I rarely had to even glace at the watch to operate it. It could accept all off my voice commands and act as a hands-free device. The music controls were also simple enough and designed with large enough touch areas so that I could operate them without having to look at them.

Ultimately, I want to downgrade from 2.0 to 1.5. It was just so much better in every utilitarian way. The new update has turned my watch from an extremely useful tool and extension of my phone into a simple toy.

This software update has managed to utterly ruin a $300 purchase. I just want my smart watch back and this completely ridiculous toy to go away.]

GOOGLE. GIVE US A DOWNGRADE OPTION.

 

[Gus_Gutz]

I have to agree with some of your assessments. Charging at night is horrible now. The bleed through on the black makes it unusable as a night stand clock anymore. The black is bright and the numbers seem to be dimmer.

Why even swipe for a display change. I have one that I like and do not want another. After a year of use, I am sure most of us have picked a face and are not going to change often.

You are right about being able to control the volume and other media controls in the old version. I cannot see the controls now.

I have not tried maps yes as I use waze so I have no comments on that

 

[wrmoore47]

I absolutely agree on messaging and driving directions, 2 of the most useful formerly hands-free operations on the watch. Why would these be eliminated? I now have to touch the watch twice to send a text, and the driving directions are gone! Makes no sense to me. I'm also always accidentally changing to a new watch face by swiping left or right.

 

[cz9h3d]

Although I haven't used my M360 extensively yet since upgrading to 2.0, I generally agree. The watch as an extension of my phone was simple. The watch as a standalone device is much less usable to me (for now). I actually do usability testing for a living! Where I could generally figure out how to make 1.5 do what I wanted, I'm somewhat lost at present, and am going to have to spend some time doing some reading to figure out how to operate the new interface - talk about making a fringe product even more fringe?

BTW - I always turn my screen off when charging - I had awful image retention at one point that was tied to this (and I miss the double press of the button to accomplish this!).