Android Wear has been out for almost a year but it has taken quite a bit of time for developers to dig through the code and find some of the more interesting bits inside it. Today I wanted to talk about a feature that you might want to try out the next time you reset your Android Wear device.
Since all Android Wear devices are essentially running the same version of software, I am expecting this retail mode to work on all of them. So, if you have a Moto 360, LG G Watch, LG G Watch R, Gear Live, etc., then you should be able to activate Retail Mode on any of them. As a fair warning, unless you have root access to your Android Wear device, a factory reset is required to both enable it as well as disable it.
I don’t expect anyone to do this on their smartwatch unless they are bored or have just done a factory reset and want to see what Retail Mode does.
Android Wear Retail Mode
Factory Reset the Device
Tap and Hold Anywhere on the Initial Setup Screen
With Another Finger, Tap on Another Part of the Screen 5 Times
Explanation
That should be about it. As I said, you need to do a factory reset on your smartwatch so to do this, you’ll need to open up the Settings. Then scroll down to the Reset Device option and then tap on the green check mark button. This will shut down your Android Wear smartwatch and then perform a factory reset. Once this process is complete, you will be taken to the initial Android Wear setup screen and this is where you’ll need to activate Retail Mode.
So, using one finger, tap and hold down on any open area on the screen. Then, with another finger, tap on another open area on the screen five different times. If done properly, then you should see the device go into Retail Mode. It’s also said that at this setup screen, you can swipe Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right and it will enter Retail Mode as well. Again, unless you have root access, you will need to factory reset to get both in and out of Retail Mode.
If you have root access then all it takes is a simple modification to the “/data/data/com.google.android.apps.wearable.settings/shared_prefs/com.google.android.apps.wearable.settings_preferences.xml” file in order to toggle it on or off. Credit to finding this goes out to Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh. He has been working on Android Wear a lot lately. You can follow him on Twitter at @MohammadAG and his website is linked in the source below.
Hi I’m new here. I just bought a Moto 360 in Bestbuy. However, I accidentally enter the retail mode and can’t quit it. When I searched google, many people said that I have to factory reset the watch, but when I did that, the watch turn off and did neither restart nor show up the initial setup screen.
What should I do??
Can you help me get this retail mode off???
If you put the Moto 360 on the charger for a few hours, can you turn it back on then?
But I’m asking if it turns on at all. If it boots up into Retail Mode then we should be able to get you out of it. I’m just trying to find out if it boots at all
Oops sorry, misunderstood it.
The watch can always be turned on, but only into retail mode.
The factory reset option should restart my watch and enter into initial setup screen. However it just turn off the watch and doesn’t do anything else. I can manually turn on the device but boot only into the retail mode.
Are you doing the rest of the steps mentioned in the tutorial?
– Tap and Hold Anywhere on the Initial Setup Screen
and then
– With Another Finger, Tap on Another Part of the Screen 5 Times
?
Yes I did, but nothing happened. Just poped up the watch face selecting option.
Did you ever find a solution to this? Because I am having the exact same problem.
Yes. There’s something you should know. I accidentally wore my watch while swimming in sea water, so it broke. I had my watch fixed by some Nonoffical repair services. The guy who helped me fix the watch forgot to seal some wire back so it wouldn’t factory reset and restart. So it’s probably hardware problem rather software problem. I guess you should have your watch disassembled and check very carefully.
I hope this will help you.
Ah, okay. It’s a brand new watch so I would rather just exchange it. Thanks!