Amazfit BIP - Suggestions for improving the software

[frofa]

Just the other day I received my Amazfit BIP, and I am impressed by the little but powerful device. However, seeing and knowing what it can do, but not having a way to benefit from it in the best way, is a bit frustrating. I thought it might be a good idea to start a thread here to collect ideas from users, that can either be implemented by official developers, or by modders who know how to do these things. So, let's get started with a few ideas of mine:

1. It would be great to have either a permanent measurement of the heart rate, or at least a way to set up repetitive measurements, e.g. every minute or every two/five minutes. I know it is possible, because the device does it when in "activity" mode, e.g. "running".
1b. Talking about heart rate, it would be nice to have the watch vibrate after measuring the heart rate on the "Status" page (in the same way the MiBand 2 does it).
2. As the device has GPS, it would be great to have a possibility to use it to show the location on the display (in my eyes, it would fit perfectly onto the "Status" page). Just showing coordinates would be sufficient, and could be incredibly helpful in emergencies.
3. For notifications, it should be possible to delete them separately, by some swiping action or a long press on the screen
4. On the watchface, it should be possible to change the display of the date from MM/DD to DD/MM, as this is usual way in many countries.
5. As to the brightness of the display, I find that the lowest setting is still to bright for me at night. It would be great to have a setting that is lower than the lowest present one, but not "off".

 

[frofa]

nobody interested?

 

[paleopterix]

Totally agree

Yep, in fact the only reason I bought the watch was the GPS and the compass. And I never imagined that you can't even see the current GPS position on the watch itself!!! Showing the current coordinates on screen should be extremely simple and I think this is a must for a GPS watch!!! If I needed the smartphone to see the coordinates, why the hell would I need to have GPS on the watch itself.. almost every smartphone these days have their own GPS????

 

[frofa]

Yep, in fact the only reason I bought the watch was the GPS and the compass. And I never imagined that you can't even see the current GPS position on the watch itself!!! Showing the current coordinates on screen should be extremely simple and I think this is a must for a GPS watch!!! If I needed the smartphone to see the coordinates, why the hell would I need to have GPS on the watch itself.. almost every smartphone these days have their own GPS????

At least the guys from Huami are very responsive: displaying GPS coordinates is now possible, along wirh air pressure (measured by the BIP's barometer), and altitude. To see these data, swipe left from the compass). This new feature came with Mifit 3.1.6 and firmware 0.9.49.

 

[catmio]

9.49 is not an official firmware

 

[frofa]

9.49 is not an official firmware

Wrong, it's as official as it can be. Its beta, but stable enough for daily use - and updates come every few days anyway. Check them out here: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/anhui-huami-information-technology-co-ltd/mi-fit/

 

[catmio]

Well, it does not apear on my phone through MiFit app. Also some are complaining on facebook that this firmware eat a lot of battery.

 

[frofa]

Well, it does not apear on my phone through MiFit app. Also some are complaining on facebook that this firmware eat a lot of battery.

As I said, it's a beta. I am now on 0.9.59, and have zero problems with battery life. Yes, it does need some more energy, when you use new features such as continuous heart rate analysis or displaying GPS often, but it's totally worth it for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

[catmio]

As I said, it's a beta. I am now on 0.9.59, and have zero problems with battery life. Yes, it does need some more energy, when you use new features such as continuous heart rate analysis or displaying GPS often, but it's totally worth it for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Good to know.

 

[catmio]

Another must have, would be the possibility to set up 0 (zero) second to the notification delay.

 

[frofa]

Another must have, would be the possibility to set up 0 (zero) second to the notification delay.

agreed! The minimum now possible, 3 seconds, appears a bit too long. Maybe there is a technical reason for this, but I would definitely also prefer to set the delay to zero.

What I noticed yesterday, and what I find super annoying, is the behavior of the auto-pause in activities. This feature is very useful, no question, but the way it is implemented drives me crazy. It starts too quickly (2 seconds or so), which is not practical, given that sometimes you have to stop running or walking, e.g. when crossing a street safely. It would be nice to have the possibility for a custom delay (several seconds). But what's even worse is that it has problems to be resumed - whenever I click resume, it basically immediately pauses again, often three to four times, and totally independent of whether I am running or walking again (which often I CANNOT when I have to handle the resume button several times!). I think this is just a bug, but if it isn't, there should be some way that suppresses auto-stop after pressing resume, for at least 10 seconds or a minute (if someone wants to stop it again during that time, for good reason, he can still do it manually anyway!).

 

[paleopterix]

Thanks

At least the guys from Huami are very responsive: displaying GPS coordinates is now possible, along wirh air pressure (measured by the BIP's barometer), and altitude. To see these data, swipe left from the compass). This new feature came with Mifit 3.1.6 and firmware 0.9.49.

Thanks for the info, I will check into it.

---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 PM ----------

As I said, it's a beta. I am now on 0.9.59, and have zero problems with battery life. Yes, it does need some more energy, when you use new features such as continuous heart rate analysis or displaying GPS often, but it's totally worth it for me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

Could you share the link where to download this firmware version, please?

 

[Kéno40]

Thanks for the info, I will check into it.

---------- Post added at 10:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 PM ----------



Could you share the link where to download this firmware version, please?

Just use last MiFit version and it will update.

The only problem IO have so far is a deconnexion when I go far from the watch. The miFit app seems to be freezed and faile to reconnect.
I think my problem comes from Oreo.

Notify & Fitness has way more options compared to Mi Fit and that's good to have the choice.
For ex, notifications can be customized. (hello 3 sec delai from Mi Fit ).

For ex : 2 vibs // showing SMS // 22 Bibs
Instants vibs for phone ....

 

[yoyurinig]

4. On the watchface, it should be possible to change the display of the date from MM/DD to DD/MM, as this is usual way in many countries.

it's possible. Use bitbucket.org/valeronm/amazfitbiptools
unpack watchface: WatchFace.exe wf.bin
replase in *.json (sample)

    "MonthAndDay": {
      "Separate": {
        "Day": {
          "TopLeftX": 143,
          "TopLeftY": 31,
          "BottomRightX": 158,
          "BottomRightY": 40,
          "Alignment": 18,
          "Spacing": 2,
          "ImageIndex": 11,
          "ImagesCount": 10
        }
      },
      "TwoDigitsMonth": 1,
      "TwoDigitsDay": 1
    },

To replace two widgets (sample):

    "MonthAndDay": {
      "Separate": {
        "Month": {
          "TopLeftX": 56,
          "TopLeftY": 40,
          "BottomRightX": 82,
          "BottomRightY": 57,
          "Alignment": 18,
          "Spacing": 1,
          "ImageIndex": 11,
          "ImagesCount": 10
        },
        "Day": {
          "TopLeftX": 93,
          "TopLeftY": 40,
          "BottomRightX": 119,
          "BottomRightY": 57,
          "Alignment": 18,
          "Spacing": 1,
          "ImageIndex": 11,
          "ImagesCount": 10
        }
      },

packaging:
WatchFace.exe wf/wf.json
result:

 

[wodow]

It would be nice to have more activities to choose like gym...

 

[malevoli]

For me, discard single notifications by swiping rigth/left on it and open on the phone by swiping on the opposite side would be AWESOME.
An app to control the music and video player on the phone would be an extra of awesomeness, so when your'e riding to the work or making some sports, if you could change/pause/volume down/up the music without grabbing the phone or when being at home viewing via plex some tv shows and pause the video when you must go to the oven for the pizza would made your existence a bit happier

 

[Robermix]

It would be nice to have more activities to choose like gym...

Or indoor cycling like the Pace.

 

[catmio]

Also I'll like to have the notifications displayed for longer not just 3-4 seconds as it is now.

 

[frofa]

Also I'll like to have the notifications displayed for longer not just 3-4 seconds as it is now.

Like always, it would be great to have this customizable. For me, 3-4 seconds is ok, because I can display it at any time later anyway by swiping up from the watch face. It would be nice, though, to have some indication on the watch face to show that there are unread notifications.

 

[frofa]

it's possible. Use bitbucket.org/valeronm/amazfitbiptools
unpack watchface: WatchFace.exe wf.bin
...

Thanks for this tip, cool to know! I'd prefer to have it in the official firmware, though. Not because I don't like modding, but because these modifications are always being overwritten whenever there is an official update.