Fastboot mode for Android Wear devices (G Watch, Gear Live, SmartWatch 3)

Putting Android devices in Recovery mode / Fastboot, when you don’t have access to adb, is an art. And Android Wear, where you have only one button (the power button), adds even more entropy to the whole process.

So let’s gather the different procedures for the different watches.

LG G Watch

  • Find the reset button: it is on the back of the device, near the pins to charge it.
  • Press the button using a paperclip, a SIM ejector or your fantasy
  • Wait for LG logo to appears on screen
  • While the logo is showing, swipe from the top left-hand corner to the the bottom right-hand corner in one, diagonal swipe.
  • From the Fastboot menu, you can launch the Recovery Mode
  • Video

LG G Watch R

  • Turn off the watch and then turn it on normally
  • Wait for LG logo to appears on screen
  • While the logo is showing, swipe from the top left-hand corner to the the bottom right-hand corner in one, diagonal swipe, pressing and holding the power button
  • Alternatively, if the swipe doesn’t work, instead of swiping start tapping the screen with two fingers, one on the top left (10) and one on the bottom right (4), pressing and holding the power button
  • From the Fastboot menu, you can launch the Recovery Mode
  • Video

Samsumg Gear Live

  • Turn off the watch and then turn it on normally
  • Wait for Samsung logo to appears on screen
  • While the logo is showing, swipe from the top left-hand corner to the the bottom right-hand corner in one, diagonal swipe, pressing and holding the power button
  • The bootloader appears
  • Select the Fastboot or Recovery mode swiping downward, and swipe to the right to confirm the selection.

Sony SmartWatch 3

  • Detach any USB cable connected to the watch
  • Turn it off holding the power button and keep holding the button until the watch vibrates three times and then switches it off
  • Press the power button and keep holding. A blue screen that prompts to insert an USB cable will display
  • Double tap the power button
  • A black menu will display, with on-screen instructions
  • Move to Fastboot or Recovery Mode pressing the power button, once a time
  • Select Fastboot (or Recovery) by double pressing the power button

For extreme modding, there is also a third mode available, the Download mode.