Standalone Hangouts (Send/Receive Messages While Paired Phone is Disconected) on Wear 2.0

Before Wear 2.0 was officially released, I was running the 2.0 Developer Preview on my old LG Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. After installing the developer preview, I was pleased to see that there was a standalone version of Hangouts available via the Play Store on the watch. I used it for a bit and it worked well. For some reason, they have discontinued the standalone version of the app (for now, a least). The new non-standalone version seems a bit snappier, but it requires a paired phone to be connected to a network (and operating normally) for the watch version to work. That is a problem for me, since I want to be able to send messages/texts via Hangouts even if my phone is in a ditch somewhere. Here are instructions to sideload the standalone version of the app on Wear 2.0.

--

Before we begin...

• If you have another version of Hangouts installed on your watch, uninstall via Settings -> Apps.
• If you haven't already, download and install ADB Minimal & Fastboot.
• If you haven't already, enable developer mode on your watch.
• Download APK: http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/hangouts-android-wear/hangouts-android-wear-17-0-145656208-release/hangouts-17-0-145656208-android-apk-download/
• (On my system, ADB Minimal installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\. I suggest saving the apk file in that directory. Depending on your system, I may install in :\Program Files\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\)

--

To install...

• Follow these instructions to Connect the watch to a WiFi network and Enable WiFi debugging.
  
  Once you get the step 3 and have the IP address, come back to our instructions.
  
  Also, make sure your computer is connected to the same network and their aren't restrictions on the network limited devices ability to see each other.

• Navigate to your ADB install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\)
• Hold the shift button on your keyboard and right click in the folder and select "Open Command Windows Here".

• In the command prompt, type "adb connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" filling in your watch's IP address from earlier. (ex. adb connect 192.168.1.101)
• In the command prompt, type "adb install com.google.android.talk_17.0.145656208-23831282_minAPI25(armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk".
  
  If you renamed the apk, use that name here. Make sure the file is saved in the same folder

You should now see Hangouts on the watch. Open the app to test that it works.

--
Shout out to /r/JustRollWithIt for their work on this! Their original post is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidWear/comments/5lkif7/automating_the_watch/dc4bd19/

Theater Mode Hardware Button Shortcut in Android Wear 2.0

Thanks to someone much smarter than I, we now have the ability to map a hardware button to Theater Mode. Many users are very frustrated that double-tapping the power button/crown in Wear 2.0 no longer enables Theater Mode as it did in Wear 1.5. While this is not exactly the same, it is a good workaround for watches with more than one hardware button (since the main power/crown button cannot be mapped). These instructions will describe how to install the app via WiFi and should work on any device running Android Wear 2.0.
--

Before we begin...

• If you haven't already, download and install ADB Minimal & Fastboot.
• If you haven't already, enable developer mode on your watch.
• Download the apk: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B92jImnvrUMjLWtQT2ZORV9GbW8
  (On my system, ADB Minimal installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\. I suggest saving the apk file in that directory. Depending on your system, I may install in :\Program Files\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\)

--

To install...

• Follow these instructions to Connect the watch to a WiFi network and Enable WiFi debugging.
  
  Once you get the step 3 and have the IP address, come back to our instructions.
  
  Also, make sure your computer is connected to the same network and their aren't restrictions on the network limited devices ability to see each other.

• Navigate to your ADB install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot\)
• Hold the shift button on your keyboard and right click in the folder and select "Open Command Windows Here".

• In the command prompt, type "adb connect xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" filling in your watch's IP address from earlier. (ex. adb connect 192.168.1.101)
• In the command prompt, type "adb install Toggle_Theater_Mode.5.apk".
  
  If you renamed the apk, use that name here. Make sure the file is saved in the same folder.

• In the command prompt, type "adb shell" and press Enter.
• In the command prompt, type "pm grant com.tasker.wear.toggletheater android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS"
• In the command prompt, type "exit"

You should now see an app named "Toggle Theater Mode" on the watch. Open the app to test that it works.

If it works, you can customize your hardware button by going to Settings -> Personalization -> Customize Hardware Buttons and selecting the app.

--
Shout out to /r/JustRollWithIt for their work on this! Their original post is here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidWear/comments/5lkif7/automating_the_watch/dc4bd19/