![]() The app will be pre-loaded by default on all Samsung Note 3, S4, and S4 mini devices, and they’re looking to expand beyond those devices but don’t have specific timelines yet for that.ĭiving into the app a bit, the app is segmented into a few core areas: Exercise Mate (pairing to sensors/devices), Food Tracker (food log), Walking Mate (accelerometer based activity tracker), Comfort Level (uhh…happy counter?), and Weight (weight tracking). The S Health app is designed to be a bit of a central hub for fitness and health related activity on the phone. But in other ways, it’s got some very unique things that nobody else has – especially around device connectivity. So I was somewhat skeptical that this might be the same. Now, I’m the first to generally note that there’s probably too many health and fitness apps already out there today on phones. In addition to the core ANT+ changes coming to the Samsung device platform, there’s also the new S Health App. Said another way – if having ANT+ enabled on your S3 is something of value to you, the comments section is a good place to extrapolate on your thoughts in a constructive and thought out manner. Meaning, it seemed to me that they were keen on hearing if there was significant interest from S3 owners on getting it enabled. What was interesting though is it seemed as though that was a bit of a soft-barrier, and not a hard set ‘no’. However, Samsung doesn’t currently have plans to do so. Technically speaking, the S3 actually does have a compatible chipset in the device to be able to enable ANT+ on them. This means companies like Strava or Garmin could develop apps to take better advantage of sensors (right now neither really do much since it’s honestly not worth their time given low adoption numbers).įinally, some have asked about the Samsung S3 phones and ANT+. That device includes ANT+ support and would enable apps to run on either platform (Samsung or Garmin) and do as they please with the sensors. This is further fueled by the Garmin Monterra Android device announced this summer, which is a bit of an experimental product by Garmin aimed at the outdoor/hiking market. What’s interesting here is that I think this could serve as a bit of a catalyst for Android ANT+ apps. Though I think we’ll see a nice expansion of compatible apps – hopefully ones that will also have a heavy focus on beautification of the user experience. There are apps that cover the major scenarios – such as IpBike as a cycling head unit. Today, the number of Android apps that support ANT+ devices is somewhat limited. Further, the S Health app will directly connect to a slew of sensor types immediately, and in the future even ones like the ANT+ racquet sensor. With the addition of ANT+ you’ll be able to connect to any ANT+ sensor with apps that support it – such as ANT+ Heart Rate Straps, ANT+ Power Meter, ANT+ cycling sensors (speed/cadence), and anything else that an application wants to connect to (as you’ll see in later sections). The timeline for this is release within the next month (at latest).Īs you can see in the above development device in the first photo, the ANT+ Radio Service and ANT+ Plugins will also be installed by default on these devices – ensuring application compatibility out of the box for ANT+ connectivity. A funny twofer that lights up both protocols equally. The update enabling ANT+ on these devices will be included as part of the Android 4.3 update – which also brings full Bluetooth Smart compatibility to these devices as well. Which is more about not having to worry about the phone in day to day sports activity (cycling in the rain), than actually using it while snorkeling or swimming. The Samsung S4 Active is unique in that it can go underwater with you to the pool. Yet interestingly (and unfortunately), the Samsung S4 Active variant won’t get the ANT+ support. Probably the most useful device on the above list being the standard Samsung S4 mobile phone (the base/most common model). Further, all future Samsung mobile devices (i.e., the eventual S5) will also get ANT+ support, and will broaden beyond just the above list. This means that ANT+ will immediately become available on more than 20 million S4 devices that were shipped (and that’s as of July, we should get the updated FY14 Q1 numbers any day now). Samsung has now committed to enabling ANT+ on the following devices current/new generation: This built upon the previous announcement made just over a month ago when Samsung unveiled that they were adding ANT+ to the latest Galaxy Note.īut in reality that turned out to be just the beginning. Probably the single biggest bit of news that came out of the ANT+ Symposium last week was Samsung’s announcement that they’ll be releasing ANT+ to all S4 devices in the coming weeks. ANT+ being added to all recent and new Samsung mobile devices:
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