Android Wear offers multiple ways to synchronize data between the handheld device and the smartwatch. I would like to know when you are supposed to use the MessageApi and when to use the ChannelApi?
When I was first encountered the problem I wanted to use the MessageApi as it is suggested on the Android developer Sending and Receiving Messages website. However, there is written that the MessageApi is not reliability:
Note: A successful result code does not guarantee delivery of the message. If your app requires data reliability, use DataItem objects or the ChannelApi class to send data between devices.
Therefore I use the ChannelApi to send String messages as a byte array between the handheld device and the smartwatch. But why should you even use the MessageApi when it is not reliable?
Use the ChannelApi, if you want to send data in a stream. Use the MessageApi to avoid streams => this has a better performance for small messages.