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How to Sideload the Legacy Facer Watch App (for pre-WearOS 6 watches)

Facer Team
Updated

⚠ Important:

  • This is intended for technically savvy users or people with a tech savvy friend who can help.
  • We offer this more as a support mechanism to help subscribers who already paid for Premium but have lost access to get access again (i.e. may have accidentally deleted the Facer app on their watch during a watch reset to fix another issue).
  • You take on some risks of damaging your watch when doing this.
  • We may (though unlikely) provide an update at some point and you would need to manually install that update (Google Play will not distribute it even to existing installs).
  • You proceed at your own risk.

Step 1: Enable Developer Mode on Your Watch

  1. Open Settings
  2. Go to System → About
  3. Tap Build number 7 times until Developer Mode is enabled
  4. Go back to Settings
  5. Open Developer options
  6. Enable:
    • ADB debugging
    • Debug over Wi-Fi

Note the IP address shown on the watch.

Step 2: Install Android Studio on Your Computer

  1. Download Android Studio:
    https://developer.android.com/studio
  2. Install it on your Mac or Windows PC.
  3. Open Terminal (Mac) or Command Prompt (Windows).

Android Studio includes ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which you’ll use to install the app.

Step 3: Download the Legacy Facer Watch APK

Download the legacy Facer watch APK from our support page and save it to your computer.

It is available here.

Step 4: Connect to Your Watch

Ensure:

  • Your computer and watch are on the same Wi-Fi network.
  • Debugging is enabled.

For smartwatches running Wear OS 2.x and 3.x

In Terminal or Command Prompt, run:

adb connect [WATCH_IP_ADDRESS]

Example:

adb connect 192.168.1.15

Approve the debugging prompt on your watch if it appears.

 

For smartwatches running Wear OS 4.x and 5.x

Wear OS4 has removed the “Debug over Wi-Fi” option, from the Developer tools section, on the watch. A new method to connect must be employed on devices running Wear OS 4.

To pair the watch:

  1. Open developer settings, scroll to, and tap on “Wireless debugging”
  2. Switch the “Wireless debugging” toggle to ON
  3. Tap on “Pair new device”
  4. Open the terminal window on your computer and run:
adb pair [WATCH_IP_ADDRESS]:[PORT]

The [WATCH_IP_ADDRESS] and [PORT] values are replaced by the values shown in the “IP address & port” section of the “Pair new device” screen. Approve the debugging prompt on your watch if it appears.

  1. When prompted in the terminal, enter the “Wi-Fi pairing code” shown on the related section of the “Pair new device” screen.

     

  2. For Linux or Microsoft Windows only - After successfully pairing the devices, run: 
adb connect [WATCH_IP_ADDRESS]:[PORT]

Use the IP address and port under Wireless debugging.

  1. Done! Your device should now be connected. To confirm, run:
adb devices

in the terminal. This will display the device ID→ look for the entry that starts with “adb..”
 

Troubleshooting if the device doesn’t appear as connected after step 5

  • Run: 
adb kill-server 

in the terminal (to kill the adb process) and restart from step 1

  • Restart the watch device and restart from step 1

Step 5: Install the APK

Navigate to the folder containing the APK, then run:

adb install facer_legacy_watch.apk

If successful, you will see:

Success

Facer should now appear in your watch’s app list.


 

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