GoPro’s latest iOS app update allows you to control the action camera from your Apple Watch. Setup is pretty straightforward, but it does require connecting to the GoPro’s wifi with an iPhone. After that, you can put your phone away and control the camera exclusively through your Apple Watch.
The controls are simple and functional. When you launch the app on your watch, you’re taken right to your camera’s controls where you can select between video, photo, burst shot, and timelapse. Just tap the large button and you’re recording or snapping photos. Scroll to the right, and you can see a preview of what your GoPro is seeing. It’s far from a high-res video feed, but it does serve well to help you frame your shot.
Lag time when snapping photos and recording video is less than a second, but the preview (which GoPro calls Frame Shot) takes 2 to 4 seconds to go live. On some occasions the preview will freeze, but that’s easily fixed by scrolling out of and back into Frame Shot again. Missing from the Apple Watch app is the ability to power the camera on and off. It’s on the iPhone app, and would be a helpful addition to the watch app.
Of course with the Apple Watch, you’ll have trouble controlling your camera if you’re using gloves, and you probably don’t want to take it surfing in saltwater unless you’re daring. This is where the wireless remote would be a much better option. But the biggest advantage the watch app has over the the wireless remote is the ability to frame your shot. It’s really helpful, and despite a few shortcomings the Apple Watch app is the perfect companion to your GoPro.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.