FlickStart is an Android app that harnesses the power of all the motion sensing capabilities we wear on our wrists or just keep in our smartphones as normal. The idea with FlickStart is that you can set up a motion or gesture to start or do whatever you want on your phone or Android Wear smartwatch. Actions include being able to take a photo or skip to the next song. For tinkerers and those out there that enjoy a little DIY, FlickStart is absolutely packed full of different settings and customization options as well. Let’s go ahead and take a closer look, shall we?
As with most Android apps, you’ll need to download Flickstart from the Play Store. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be introduced to some new features an an introduction to the app.
The best way however, is to just watch this video from the app developer, which does a great job of showing you just what Flickstart can do:
Honestly, I find Flickstart fairly confusing, and this is probably because I haven’t read everything, but also because there’s just too much information here. Setting up a new action for instance, can be a lot more difficult than it ought to be:
The above is a look at what you need to setup in order to put together an action. It’s all a little too much to be honest, and there are choices here that even I don’t fully understand and I’m pretty knowledgeable about Android. Only developers of an app are likely to know how to use the right bits. But creating a command to just start an app is done easily from the HANDHELD or WEARABLE tab.
This was a command to get a photo with my G Watch R, and while I did get this to work, I was less impressed to be honest. It took a while for the motion to be registered by my watch, and getting this action set up in the first place was a chore. There are predefined “tags” set up for you to choose from as well:
On the watch, you end up having to deal with this as well:
There is a card constantly present when you have Flickstart on, and it does also drain battery a little more as well. Which is a shame, but there’s a massive selection of gestures and movements available, including some fairly complex ones:
I tried out Flickstart on my Android Wear watch, and while I can see oodles of potential in the app, it’s just too complicated. For those willing to take the time and configure something properly, this is an excellent app, but if you just want to set up a quick action and do it, this is a little over-the-top. For instance, creating or even figuring out how to set up a quick gesture on your wrist to flick to change the song forward or back is much more difficult than it needs to be. I wish there were a simplified version of the app, but as it stands there’s a lot on offer here for those that like to tinker and have good fun with things. With a ton of potential, Flickstart needs some more polish to make things easier to use and more friendly towards the casual user.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Both the app and the Android Wear app are fairly speedy, it just takes longer than I’d like for the gestures to respond.
- Features (5/5) – No doubt about it, Flickstart is PACKED, with gestures, ideas and different tags to give you a lot of flexibility when it comes to using gestures to control things.
- Theme (4/5) – While not the nicest looking app out there, there’s nothing offensive about the app or anything like that.
- Overall (4/5) – It might not be for me, but there are those out there more patient than I am that will absolutely love this sort of thing and all of the different gestures and such.
Pros
- Lots of different gestures to use when setting up new commands and such.
- Great for those that enjoy doing things on their own, gives a lot of freedom.
- Genuinely works, there’s no messing about here, it just works.
- Works with either your smartphone or Android Wear device.
Cons
- Can be quite complicated to set up commands and such.
- Interactive tutorial would be an excellent inclusion for new users.
Well worth taking a look at if you enjoy spending the time setting things up just how you like them, Flickstart has a lot going for it, and it’s worth spending the time getting things going. It might not be something for those that are just looking for a quick solution, but it’s good fun either way. Besides, it’s free to give a try!