_{26.09.30 13:01}

Put FastMedia on Your Watch

Level: Beginner • Time: ~5 minutes • Device: Wear OS smartwatch paired with an Android phone

Two versions. The version from Google Play is a small first release: Calculator, Stopwatch, Mini-game, Settings and the Programs tile. Music, photos, network shares and phone features are in the full version only, a direct APK download from Downloads.

FastMedia Wear is the watch half of FastMediaSorter. Once it is on your wrist you can play music and view photos straight from the watch, reach folders shared by your paired phone, and open network shares the watch connects to on its own. This page gets it installed and paired.

What You Will Need

A smartwatch running Wear OS 3.0 or newer
An Android phone with FastMediaSorter installed and the watch already paired to it in the system settings
A Wi-Fi or mobile connection on the watch, or on the phone it is paired with, for the download

Step 1 - Install FastMedia Wear on the Watch

On the watch, open the apps list and tap Play Store.
Search for FastMedia Wear.
Tap Install and wait for the download to finish. The watch will show the app in its apps list when it is done.

Watches vary in how much they let you type. If searching on the wrist is awkward, open the Play Store on your phone, find FastMedia Wear, and choose your watch as the install target - the watch downloads it by itself.

No Play Store? Install an APK through ADB

Use this route when your watch has no Play Store access. You need a computer with the Android SDK Platform-Tools (adb) and a local Wi-Fi network shared by the computer and watch. It does not work through the internet alone.

Download one APK from the Direct APK Release page:
- FastMediaSorter_wear_debug.apk is the debug build for testing. It installs as com.sza.fastmediasorter.debug.
- FastMediaSorter_wear_release.apk is the signed non-debug build. It installs as com.sza.fastmediasorter.
- The two builds have different package names, so they can stay installed side by side. Do not try to install a Play Store .aab file with ADB.
On the watch, enable developer mode: Settings → About watch → tap Build number seven times. In Developer options, enable ADB debugging and Wireless debugging.
In Wireless debugging, choose Pair new device. On the computer, enter the pairing address and code shown by the watch, then connect with the separate connection port from the main Wireless debugging screen:
```
adb pair <watch-ip>:<pairing-port> <six-digit-code>
adb connect <watch-ip>:<connection-port>
adb devices
```
Accept the debugging prompt on the watch. The pairing and connection ports are different.
Install or update the APK. Use the command matching the file you downloaded:
```
adb -s <watch-ip>:<connection-port> install -r ".\FastMediaSorter_wear_debug.apk"
adb -s <watch-ip>:<connection-port> install -r ".\FastMediaSorter_wear_release.apk"
```
-r updates the same package while keeping its app data. It does not convert a debug build into a release build, because these are separate apps.

Open FastMedia Wear from the watch app list. If needed, start it from ADB:

adb -s <watch-ip>:<connection-port> shell am start -n com.sza.fastmediasorter.debug/com.sza.fastmediasorter.wear.MainActivity
adb -s <watch-ip>:<connection-port> shell am start -n com.sza.fastmediasorter/com.sza.fastmediasorter.wear.MainActivity

This method requires a Wear OS watch. Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Watch Active and Active 2 run Tizen and cannot install Wear OS APKs. When finished, turn off Wireless debugging unless you need it for another update.

Step 2 - Turn On the Wear Companion on the Phone

The phone side is switched off until you say you own a watch.

Open FastMediaSorter on the phone.
Go to Settings and open the Management tab.
Find the Wear OS group and expand it.
Turn the Wear companion checkbox on.

The checkbox switches the whole companion on: the button that opens its window appears right below, an entry for it joins the programs list, and it becomes available as a panel tile and a launcher shortcut.

Builds without the watch bridge do not show this group at all. If you cannot find it, you are running a flavor that ships without Wear support.

Step 3 - Choose What Travels to the Watch

In the same group, tap Wear companion. Its window opens over the app.
Pick the resources you want the watch to see. Nothing is sent until you choose - an empty selection sends nothing rather than pushing your whole library.
Adjust the watch’s own preferences here as well: view mode, keep-awake behaviour and the sections shown on the watch home screen.

Step 4 - Check That Both Halves See Each Other

Open FastMedia Wear on the watch.
The home screen lists its sections - Phone, Local, Resources, Streams and Apps.
Tap Phone. The folders you selected in Step 3 appear.

If the Phone section is empty, return to the companion window on the phone and confirm that at least one resource is selected.

Tip: You can navigate back from any screen on your watch using the visible universal back affordance button on the left edge, swiping from the left edge, or pressing your watch’s hardware back button. On the main home screen, tapping the back affordance shows an exit icon (an arrow leaving a box) to leave the app or a double-chevron («) to minimize background playback. On every screen that shows that button, a black-screen button (a phone with a dark screen) faces it at the right edge and blanks the watch screen; a double tap, a press and hold, or the hardware button brings it back.

Step 5 - Add the Watch Face

The watch face is a separate, free app, so it is installed on its own. It needs Wear OS 6 or newer.

On the watch, open Play Store and search for FastMediaSorter Watch Face. You can also open its page from the Wear settings of the phone app, which offers to open it on the watch. Or use this link: FastMediaSorter Watch Face.
Tap Install and wait for the download to finish.
Press and hold the current watch face, find FastMediaSorter Watch Face in the picker and tap it.

The face shows a large time, the date, waves and drifting particles, battery bars and up to eight round buttons for FastMediaSorter shortcuts or other watch data. The buttons appear together with the FastMediaSorter watch app.

If Something Does Not Work

The watch app does not appear in the Play Store. Confirm the watch runs Wear OS 3.0 or newer. Older watches use a different app model and are not supported.
The Wear OS group is missing from the phone settings. The build you are running does not carry the watch bridge.
The Phone section on the watch is empty. Nothing is selected in the companion window, or the watch and the phone have lost their pairing - check the pairing in the system settings first.
Resources, Phone and Phone camera are missing from the watch home screen. They appear only while a phone with FastMediaSorter is connected, and a short line under the home rows says which of the two is missing: “Connect your phone” or “Install FastMediaSorter on your phone”. Resources also stays when at least one network resource is saved on the watch itself, because the watch reaches it without the phone. To install the phone app, answer the offer the watch shows once, or open Settings - About - Install FastMediaSorter on phone on the watch - the store opens on the phone.
Playback stutters over the phone connection. Bluetooth between watch and phone is narrow. For long listening, transfer the files to the watch or connect the watch to a network share directly.

Where to Go Next

Music on Smartwatch - play your collection on the watch, with cover art, shuffle and bezel volume.
Connect Watch to Network Shares - reach a NAS or a PC share from the watch over Wi-Fi, without the phone.

Put FastMedia on Your Watch - FastMediaSorter v2

A complete shell for your Android device: home screen, media player, live streams, app launching, a replacement for stock apps, a watch companion, device monitoring and a full file manager for local, network and cloud storage.