#meritislife: how to be notified on a smartband of merits and mentions

[fillippone]

#meritislife
You weren't reading this if you weren't basically agreeing on this.
So why frantically refresh your merit page and hit the "Show new replies to your post" link when you can be notified via haptic feedback and immediately revert to the forum in the rare occurrence of real life interfering with logged in time?

In this guide i will show you how I setup a very quick, easy and cheap notification machine.

This is the plan:

• 1. Buy a simple and reliable smartband
• 2. Subscribe to a Notification Bot
• 3. Configure the smartband to receive the right notifications from the phone.

Let's go!

1. Buy a simple and reliable smartband.

What we need is a smartband to show incoming notification.
We are focused on the forum, so we want it to be reliable,with a long battery life (we don't want to lose notifications because we are charging it). Added features are a bonus.
My choice was on the Xiaomi MI band 4

Here the specs:
https://www.mi.com/global/mi-smart-band-4/specs

Weight	22.1g
Water Resistance Rating	5 ATM
Display Type	AMOLED
Screen Size	0.95"
Resolution	120 x 240 RGB
Colour Depth	24bit
Screen Brightness	Up to 400 nits (max brightness), brightness adjustable
Touchscreen type	On-cell capacitive touchscreen
Screen protection	2.5D tempered glass with anti-fingerprint coating
Button	Single touch button (wake up, go back)
Wrist strap type	Removable wrist strap (Mi Smart Band 4 is compatible with Mi Band 3 straps)
Wristband width	18mm
Wrist strap material	Thermoplastic polyurethane
Adjustable wrist strap length	155-216mm
RAM	512KB
ROM	16MB
Sensors	3-axis accelerometer + 3-axis gyroscope; PPG heart rate sensor; Capacitive proximity sensor
Wireless connectivity	BT5.0 BLE
Battery	LiPo, 135mAh
Charging Type	2Pin Pogo Pin
Charging time	≤ 2 hours
Standby time	Up to 20 days
Motor Type	Rotor
Body material	Polycarbonate
App	Mi Fit
System requirements	Android 4.4, iOS 9.0 or above
Features	Sport Functions: 6 workout modes: Treadmill, exercise, outdoor running,cycling, walking, pool swimming; Count steps, distance, and calories burned
Health monitoring	Workout completion notifications, goal setting, sleep monitoring, heart rate monitoring, all-day heart rate checking, resting heart rate, heart rate chart, idle alerts
Other features	Alarm, proximity sensor, pre-set watch face, customizable watch face, lock screen, timer, stopwatch, phone alarm and notifications, incoming calls, message notifications, calendar notifications, app notifications, weather forecast, Find my phone, phone unlock, event notification, Night mode, Do not disturb mode (works even without phone), music controls on band, Bluetooth broadcasting, battery level display, different ways to wear, OTA updates

I think it is a quite cheap piece of hardware at roughly 30 USD.

You can find it easily on Amazon.


Once we have it on our hand we have to install the companion app, pair with our phone and activate app alerts.

The companion App requires a link to a social profile (Facebook or Google) or an email activation.
If you are concerned about your privacy I suggest you to create a throwaway mail at @protonmail using it only for this specific task.

To activate App notification proceed as indicated below:


As you can see from the above image, I am at 18% of battery having charged it last time 20 days ago. Pretty good considerting I have hearth monitor and sleep tracking activated and other few notification added.

This will allow the smartband to show notification from phones.
We can now subscribe to Notification Bot

2. Subscribe to a notification Bot.

I was so used to @Piggy Bot, that when it suddenly failed, I realised how much eased using the forum.
A good notification Bot is like freedom or good health: one of those underappreciated asset you don't care about until you suddenly lose them.

Regarding the Bot to use, there are at least two main options to choose from: 

		[TelegramBot] Merit watcher and Mention Notification Bot	Giammangiato Bot specific instructions
		[TELEGRAM] Yet Another BitcoinTalk Notification BOT (merits, mentions, topics,+)	TryNinja Bot specific instructions

3. Configure the smartband to receive the right notifications from the phone

I don't know anything about you, but I am in several Telegram channels with thousands of members.
Hence receiving a notification from every channel would be a mess, with constant notification nightmare and a really fast depleting of the battery.
So I decided to setup Telegram to cast notifications for this particular channel only.
Go to
Settings=>Notifications =>Telegram

Toggle Allow Notifications: ON

Those following customisation are optional and deemed viable only for your Mobile UI
Choose your Notification Style for The main device



Then Click to the last row

Code:

Telegram Notification Settings

to be taken to the Telegram Notification Menu.

Here, the relevant section is the first one, as the Bot is classified as a chat.
You have to disable all the notification except for the Bot's one.


Here all

All the other sections (Group/Channel) must be disabled:


In case you want to prevent being notified during sleep hours you can activate a Do Not Disturb function in iOS.



You can read more about this function here.
With these setting notifications are disabled between 23:00- 7.00 when you can sleep concentrate more on the forum without being disturbed by notifications.


The result is the following:

Hairy Wrist Gallery

	Fillippone	VB1001	TheBeardedBaby	Rosilito
	Vod	TheBeardedBaby (MI5)	Fillippone (MI5)	Maus0728
	ChuckBuk	NeuroticFish	TryNinja	Mendace
	cygan

Bot specific instructions for the main Bots:

1. Giammangiato Bot Specific Instructions

Main Bot thread:
[TelegramBot] Merit watcher and Mention Notification Bot


How to join the Bot:

• Open Telegram chat t.me/Btctalk_meritbot
• Type "/start"

Code:

/start

• Subscribe to the merit Bot with your UID

Code:

/uid $$yourBitcoinTalkID$$

• Subscribe to the mention Bot with your NICKNAME

Code:

/nick $$yourBitcoinTalkNICKNAME

The Bot runs every minute. Every time you are mentioned in a post, a post of yours is quoted, or you receive a merit, a Telegram notification will appear on the Telegram chat with the Bot.

Now the last task is to setup Telegram to properly show only the relevant notifications (only the ones coming from the forum bot, of course).

2. TryNinja Bot Specific Instructions

Main Bot thread:
[TELEGRAM] Yet Another BitcoinTalk Notification BOT (merits, mentions, topics,+)

Joining the Bot is very easy, as there is a very convenient setup process guiding you trough the whole process.



I will guide you step by step.

• Open Telegram chat t.me/BTTSuperNotifier_bot
• Type "/start"

Code:

/start

Select the language you prefer to use

• Insert your nickname

Type your nickname and confirm it.

• Insert your BitoinTalk UID

Type your UID and confirm it.


Now specify which notification you want to activate, there are two separate options for mentions and merits:

• Approve the request for mention notification:

• Approve the request for merits notification:

• All done! You can call again the menu with the command

[/list]

Code:

/menu

As you noticed, there is the possibilitiy to customise the interface language. A few languages are already available, and more are on their way. Contact TryNinja to provide translation in your own language.



This post is eligible for my project:

Help me translate my best posts in your Local Board

I am a strong believer in the utility of local boards.
I am lucky enough to be able to express myself in at least a couple of languages, but I know this is not the case for everyone.
A lot of users post only in the local boards because of a variety of reasons  either language or cultural barriers, lack of interest or whatever other reason.
I personally know a lot of very good users (from the italian sections mainly, for obvious reason) who doesn't post in the international sections.

I think all those users they are missing a lot of good contents posted on the international (english) section or on other boards.

If you think you can help here, just visit the thread!

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[joniboini]

Used Mi Band 4 for a few months now. I can agree that it's a good smartwatch. The health feature is more of a gimmick obviously but the rest is good. The battery can last for 20 days or so which is definitely a plus. But keep in mind that you need to have a Mi account to log in to the app before you can use it.

[PrimeNumber7]

You have to really like getting merit if you are getting watch notifications every time you receive merit.

[crwth]

I currently use an Apple Watch to watch notifications, daily activities, reminders, etc. All I need to do is subscribe to that bot. Thanks.

You could add as well like the app Done to see your progress in tracking your habits (like posting, forming a habit, etc)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/done-a-simple-habit-tracker/id1103961876

P.S. Battery life on an Apple Watch depends on the usage and if you have the latest one, Series 5, you could turn on or off the always-on display and save more battery.

[mikeywith]

#meritislife
You weren't reading this if you weren't basically agreeing on this.

I might tend to agree to "meritislife" but this is more like "merit-obsession"  

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

[suchmoon]

This is quite cool despite being creepy AF. Makes it kinda tempting to send you merits at 3 AM, one at a time 5 minutes apart.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Wow this is great actually. In my country, robbing and snatching during late at night is common especially if your riding public transport and that's how dangerous it is. Some users might be checking their phone to see what's new or pop up on forum but with this, maybe it would be avoided such using phones in dangerous places.

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

But this is right. For such option would be expensive and impractical but the feature of notification is really helpful for those users who always received merits.

[taufik123]

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

This is only an option to be able to see merit from various devices. Want to buy a smartband or not it's everyone's choice.

Currently, there are also many who use smartband for daily activities because of its many features and are very helpful for daily activities rather than ordinary watches.

how to see merit on a smartband can also be applied to other devices such as on-screen dashboards in cars and other devices that support Bluetooth connections and have the option to display notifications for telegram applications and other apps.

[1miau]

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

Same here, it's enough for me to request free Merit graphs from LoyceV.  

But +2 Merit for the guide  

The result is the following:

FILLIPPONE

VB1001

MORE TO COME...

And for an improved formatting style, the problem why the size of the first picture in a table is too little, is a known issue.

You can avoid that by adding an empty table row.  

FILLIPPONE

VB1001

MORE TO COME...

Code:

[table]
[tr]

[td][/td]

[td][center]FILLIPPONE[/center][quote author=fillippone link=topic=5209107.msg53713202#msg53713202 date=1580118670]
[img height=320]https://i.imgur.com/Hj5Cc2a.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
[/td]

[td]
[center]VB1001[/center][quote author=VB1001 link=topic=5216512.msg53785496#msg53785496 date=1581013091]
[img height=320]https://i.imgur.com/u2102ZO.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
[/td]

[td]
[center]MORE TO COME...[/center][/td]
[/tr]

[/table]

Edit:
I've also changed width to height to have the pictures in the same position. 

[Upgrade00]

Wow this is great actually. In my country, robbing and snatching during late at night are common especially if your riding public transport and that's how dangerous it is. Some users might be checking their phone to see what's new or pop up on the forum but with this, maybe it would be avoided such using phones in dangerous places.

You should absolutely not be checking your phone in a dangerous place simply to see who merited you on the forum or who mentioned you in a reply. That's a little too much. Also wearing a smart band might give an indication of wealth which would also attract hoodlums.
It can also give your involvement in bitcointalk away and someone could trace your identity to the forum.

I'd rather wait until I have enough free time to check up the forum and catch up with whatever I had missed.

[libert19]

#meritislife
You weren't reading this if you weren't basically agreeing on this.

I might tend to agree to "meritislife" but this is more like "merit-obsession"  

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

Exactly, and it's not like if you don't check the merit notification instantly, someone is going to take it away from you lmao

[fillippone]

You have to really like getting merit if you are getting watch notifications every time you receive merit.

#meritislife
You weren't reading this if you weren't basically agreeing on this.

I might tend to agree to "meritislife" but this is more like "merit-obsession"  

Nice topic but No! thanks, I wouldn't be buying and wearing a smartband just to know when somebody sends me merit, it's a bit too much IMO.

Aha!
Yes, I am slightly obsessed with merits.
Please note that I did this first of all because I like to tinker with all the possible gadgets and idea who come to my mind.
I deliberately overstated a few statements and sentences throughout the post to make my merit obsession bigger than it is ("sleep deprivation because of merits? are you sure?"), but It is an half-jokingly attitude.

Used Mi Band 4 for a few months now. I can agree that it's a good smartwatch. The health feature is more of a gimmick obviously but the rest is good. The battery can last for 20 days or so which is definitely a plus. But keep in mind that you need to have a Mi account to log in to the app before you can use it.

Correct, battery life is quite good. This was one of the main reason because I chose it against an Apple watch (price being the first, by a good distance): I want to focus on forum and merits, not charging the damn thing.
Only advice is that you can use a trow-away mail for this app.

I currently use an Apple Watch to watch notifications, daily activities, reminders, etc. All I need to do is subscribe to that bot. Thanks.

You could add as well like the app Done to see your progress in tracking your habits (like posting, forming a habit, etc)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/done-a-simple-habit-tracker/id1103961876

P.S. Battery life on an Apple Watch depends on the usage and if you have the latest one, Series 5, you could turn on or off the always-on display and save more battery.

As I said, the price point was a barrier for me.
This costs less than 10% of an Apple watch, with inferior performances, of course, bar battery time, where Apple Watch is beaten big time, and the related function of sleep tracking. (even if you don't sleep very much if you are really focused on the forum.

<...>
And for an improved formatting style, the problem why the size of the first picture in a table is too little, is a known issue.

You can avoid that by adding an empty table row.  

It might be a known issue, but not by me! thanks for the head up!
EDIT: Looks like an empty cell, rather than an empty row, but whatever, it worked!

Edit:
I've also changed width to height to have the pictures in the same position.  

Nah, I noticed that before, but I don't like this as it distorts the images. I am going to crop all the images to fit the perfect aspect ratio of my original image!

Merit addicted confirmed . It'd be amazing if there's a bot which can show received merit amount and it's sender.
<...>

I think Giammangiato is working to improve the bot in this way, as per my suggestion. But it requires an external scaper (Like Maggiordomo did) and apparently he was stuck on this.

This is quite cool despite being creepy AF. Makes it kinda tempting to send you merits at 3 AM, one at a time 5 minutes apart.

There's a feature in iOS to disable notifications at set times.
I use it, so you can send merits whenever you want.

Thank you all for the comments.
I am going to implement in the guide asap (Damn RL!)

[TheBeardedBaby]

That's a cool guide. I still have may Xiaomi MI band 2 and I'm so satisfied with it. I'm playing with it right now to test the notifications. If everything is correctly set up this should trigger a notification now, if you have Band 2 you won't be able to read the content, you just get a buzz
@iasenko Let's see

EDIT > It's working.

[ChuckBuck]

Guy, I am testing your bot and I think we have a little bug here 

I used the command and nothing happens, it does not update the information needed for me as your image. Is it an bug that occurred?
I am using apple watch series 3, is it good to receive notifications?

[TheBeardedBaby]

Guy, I am testing your bot and I think we have a little bug here  
http://https ://i.imgur.com/3JOpIst.png
I used the command and nothing happens, it does not update the information needed for me as your image. Is it an bug that occurred?
I am using apple watch series 3, is it good to receive notifications?

You haven't subscirbe for the mention notifications, only for the merit update.
You need to follow the second point of the OP.

Subscribe to the mention bot with your NICKNAME
Code:

Code:

/nick $$yourBitcointalkNICKNAME

In your case will be >

Code:

/nick ChuckBuck

Edit: I haven't got yet any notifications, I guess @iasenko didn't trigger one.. weird. It worked Missed to take a pic

[ChuckBuck]

You haven't subscirbe for the mention notifications, only for the merit update.
You need to follow the second point of the OP.

Subscribe to the mention bot with your NICKNAME
Code:

Code:

/nick $$yourBitcointalkNICKNAME

In your case will be >

Code:

/nick ChuckBuck

Edit: I haven't got yet any notifications, I guess @iasenko didn't trigger one.. weird.

Even NO. I didn't receive any notifications about merit, I'm pretty sure it's an bug  

Code:

/nick ChuckBuck

I did this too, but similarly, nothing happened  
EDIT: I get the message now  Damn it, it's too late It took about more than 20 minutes to send me a notice, this is inflexible  The latency is too large for a notification bot

[TheBeardedBaby]

You haven't subscirbe for the mention notifications, only for the merit update.
You need to follow the second point of the OP.

Subscribe to the mention bot with your NICKNAME
Code:

Code:

/nick $$yourBitcointalkNICKNAME

In your case will be >

Code:

/nick ChuckBuck

Edit: I haven't got yet any notifications, I guess @iasenko didn't trigger one.. weird.

Even NO. I didn't receive any notifications about merit, I'm pretty sure it's an bug  

Code:

/nick ChuckBuck

I did this too, but similarly, nothing happened  
EDIT: I get the message now   Damn it, it's too late It took about more than 20 minutes to send me a notice, this is inflexible   The latency is too large for a notification bot

Strange, I just setup my notification bot a few days ago and it's working fine. Did exatcly what it says in the OP and now I even got a notification on my Band 2 Post your issues in the bot thread : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5209107.msg53330085#msg53330085
Just to be clear, you get no notifications at all, or only on your apple watch?

EDIT: If you don't mind, can send me 1 merit to check the message? I'll send it back to you. This is for testing, not for exchanging merit 

You, merit beggar /jk

[ChuckBuck]

Just to be clear, you get no notifications at all, or only on your apple watch?

LOL I felt it was not necessary to see the notification on the Apple watch, I was active on my PC and didn't have any notifications from the bot at the time. I'm pretty sure it's a bot bug, I don't know how but the delay is too slow for me to receive notification emails. If there was a way to speed it up, it would be better than email, but not now  
EDIT: If you don't mind, can send me 1 merit to check the message? I'll send it back to you. This is for testing, not for exchanging merit  

You, merit beggar /jk

No, don't say that, I'll be sad LOL  
But, damn it, there's no notification here, I wonder how long it will take me to get notified  
Here it is, it takes 8 minutes for me to receive merit notification 

[giammangiato]

@fillippone
great post! i love it!

my bot still up and running.. when i found some spare time i'll fix stuffs

[The Sceptical Chymist]

You have to really like getting merit if you are getting watch notifications every time you receive merit.

LOL, seriously.  And I bet if merits were just a little bit easier to earn for lower-ranked members, they probably would go all-in for a thing like this.  As it stands, however, most of them would just be wasting their time and money waiting for notifications.  But on a serious note, merits are extremely important to any member who's here for bounties, sig campaigns, or who just wants to be a big swinging D on the forum--and I bet a lot of them do constantly check to see if they've earned any new merits.

I don't need merits to rank up anymore, but I still like earning them since it provides validation that I'm still making useful posts that others either like or agree with--but I don't want or need a smart watch to update me.  That would be going laughably overboard, but OP's scheme is amusing to say the least.