CosNFXCosNFXManual
Field manual

Set up your gesture FX.

Everything CosNFX does, in plain English, from your first gesture to a whole synced show with lights, smoke, and DMX. Follow it top to bottom, or jump to what you need.

For watch 2.15.1 and phone companion 1.2.0, published September 3, 2026.

01 Get started

CosNFX is a standalone Wear OS app; it runs on the watch itself, so a phone or Wi-Fi is optional.

  1. Install CosNFX from Google Play onto a compatible Wear OS watch. Google Play shows availability for your device. Gestures are tested and tuned on Galaxy Watch 7; rehearse on your own watch before a performance.
  2. Open it. You land on the HUD: a ring of gesture buttons around the active identity's name, with the watch's IP address and a 6-digit PIN at the bottom (those two are for the browser control panel, later).
  3. That's it: the watch is ready to fire sounds. Everything else below is about customizing it.
Free vs Pro. The whole experience (all 30 identities, the full sound & visualization library, every gesture, and the browser control panel) is free. An optional one-time US $4.99 Pro unlock (no subscription) adds your own uploads, custom-recorded gestures, real prop control, extra Mission Control screens, and Battle mode. Pro features are marked Pro below.

02 Arm & disarm

The watch only fires effects while it's armed: so it stays quiet while you get into costume.

  • Tap the identity name in the centre of the watch HUD to arm, and tap again to disarm.
  • In Mission Control or the phone companion, use the Stage centre control to arm or disarm.
The released watch version 2.15.1 also disarms on a sharp wrist flick. Use the on-screen control for a deliberate change, and check the armed state if effects stop during a forceful move.

03 The gestures

A fresh install enables all seven built-in gestures. Existing setups keep their saved settings. Perform them with the arm you wear the watch on:

  • Underhand flick: a quick upward flick of the wrist.
  • Overhand flick: flick the wrist downward.
  • Forward strike: a straight thrust ahead.
  • Down-punch: drive a fist down, like a landing.
  • Hip-thrust: a sharp forward thrust, pulled down and toward you.
  • Fist-clench: a firm clench, like pulling a trigger.
  • Overhead raise: raise your arm overhead and hold.

Each gesture plays that identity's sound for it. Set the correct wrist in System and check that the gesture is enabled. Underhand, Overhand, Down-punch, and Strike also offer free calibration.

04 Identities

An identity is a character preset: its colour, its sound kit, its energy field, and its backdrop. CosNFX ships with 30 (heroes, monsters, and mages), and they're your starting point.

  • Switch identities from the Stage profile switcher in Mission Control or the companion app.
  • Build your own from scratch, or duplicate one and change it; new, duplicate, rename, and delete all live in the profile bar.

05 Mission Control & the companion

You configure everything from one of two control surfaces; use whichever you have handy.

Mission Control (any browser)

  1. Put the watch and your phone or laptop on the same Wi-Fi.
  2. In a browser, go to the IP address shown on the watch HUD (for example 192.168.1.11:8080).
  3. Enter the 6-digit PIN the watch displays. You're in: a full control panel with four zones: Stage, Show, Library, and System.
Keep the watch on Wi-Fi. Some watches turn Wi-Fi off when they're paired to a phone over Bluetooth. If Mission Control won't load, check the watch's Wi-Fi settings and keep it connected. If your watch offers an Always on option, enable it; menu names vary by watch.

Companion app (Bluetooth)

Install the CosNFX companion on your Android phone to edit identities, gestures, sounds, looks, props, and calibration over Bluetooth, even with Wi-Fi off. It also provides phone audio, visuals, and camera-flash effects. The paired phone is already trusted; the PIN step is for browsers. Uploading media and testing a prop action open browser Mission Control and need the same Wi-Fi.

Find a control

  • Stage: select an identity, tap a pad to edit its gesture and sound, or scroll to Look for backdrops and effects.
  • Show: record custom gestures, build combos, configure Battle, and wire Props.
  • Library: browse sounds and visuals. Use browser Mission Control to add your own files.
  • System: choose your wrist, audio outputs, power saver, and Calibration. The phone companion also has the Pro upgrade here.

Unlock Pro

On the watch, Unlock Pro opens the updated phone companion to finish checkout in Google Play. If it does not open, start CosNFX on the phone and tap Unlock Pro in System. Install watch and phone under the same Google account for the shared unlock; Google Play shows your local price.

06 Sounds & your own audio

Each pad can have a main sound and an optional support sound. Audio routing decides which device carries each layer.

  • Pick from the library: a big built-in set of themed effects, all free. In Mission Control or the companion, open Stage, tap a pad, and choose its sound.
  • Bring your own Pro: upload your own WAV, MP3, or OGG in browser Mission Control → Library, then assign it to a pad in Stage, so a character sounds exactly the way you hear it.
  • Set a per-gesture volume and sensitivity in the pad editor.

07 Control the look

Shape what the watch shows behind the HUD in Stage → Look.

  • HUD backdrop: a cinematic scene, the identity's emblem, a solid colour, or black (which saves battery).
  • Your own art Pro: upload a PNG, JPG, or GIF through browser Mission Control → Library, then choose it as the backdrop.
  • Energy field: a translucent effect that idles softly and bursts on a gesture; pick its style or turn it off.

08 Custom gestures Pro & combos

Record a custom gesture

  1. In Show → Gestures & combos, tap Record Gesture.
  2. Perform your move once (about a second) and the watch learns how you throw it.
  3. Name it, then assign it to a button and give it a sound, just like a built-in.

Chain a combo

Build a sequence of gestures, with your own timing between them, that fires a finisher sound when you land the whole chain. In Show → Gestures & combos, add gestures and waits, choose a finisher, and save. Combos are free.

09 Calibrate to you

Calibration is free for Underhand, Overhand, Down-punch, and Strike. Fist, Raise, and Hip thrust use built-in detection (Auto). Calibration is saved with the current identity.

  1. Choose your wrist in System, arm the watch, then open System → Calibration and tap Calibrate beside one of the four gestures.
  2. Hold the starting pose you plan to use, then perform the gesture when the countdown reaches GO.
  3. Rehearse it several times. Use Redo if needed, or Reset to defaults to clear this identity's learned motions.

10 Route & multi-device audio

Choose the outputs in System → Audio output and the support layer destination in Support sound. Watch, companion, and one browser client are available without Pro.

  • Route the sound to the watch, your phone, or any browser running Mission Control, in any combination.
  • Split the main and support layers across devices (for example, the watch plays the main hit while the phone carries the support layer).
  • Extra Mission Control screens Pro: connect additional browser clients on other phones or screens and a gesture plays across all of them, turning the room into a surround rig.

11 Props: lights, smoke, DMX & OSC Pro

Fire real-world gear on the same gesture, over your Wi-Fi. In Show → Props, give each gesture an action:

  • HTTP: a GET/POST/PUT to a device on your network: WLED LED strips, Philips Hue, Home Assistant (drive smoke machines & fans through a smart plug), and ESP32/Arduino builds.
  • OSC: send an OSC message to QLab, lighting software, or Ableton.
  • DMX via Art-Net: address a channel on a lighting console or Art-Net node to hit a fixture directly.

Enter and save the target for a gesture, then use Test to check that prop action. In the phone companion, Test opens browser Mission Control on the same Wi-Fi. During performance, the gesture triggers the configured sound and prop action.

The phone companion can act as the network bridge: a watch gesture goes to the phone, and the phone reaches your rig over its stronger Wi-Fi.

12 Battle mode Pro

Link two or more watches over Wi-Fi for versus play.

  1. In Show → Battle, turn Battle mode on and set a shared code; add each opponent's IP.
  2. Arm up. A strike deals damage to a linked opponent: their health ring drops and their damage sound plays.
  3. Hold an overhead raise as a strike lands to block it. Health regenerates while you're disarmed.

13 Battery & power saver

  • Power saver (System → Battery) lets the screen sleep while you stay armed; gestures and sound keep firing; tap to see the HUD again.
  • At a low battery the watch enables power saver on its own to keep you running longer.
  • For the longest life, set the HUD backdrop to black and leave the energy field off.

14 Troubleshooting

Mission Control won't load

Confirm the watch and browser are on the same Wi-Fi, open CosNFX on the watch, and check its Wi-Fi connection. Some models reduce Wi-Fi use while paired over Bluetooth; use Always on if your watch offers it.

The companion shows "offline" on the charger

When the watch sits on its charger, its screen backs out to the charging face and the system can pause the app. Open CosNFX on the watch to reconnect. During normal use (armed, off the charger) this doesn't happen.

A gesture won't fire

Make sure the watch is armed, the gesture is enabled, and the wrist setting is correct. For Underhand, Overhand, Down-punch, or Strike, try calibration. Fist, Raise, and Hip thrust use built-in detection; adjust sensitivity in the pad editor and rehearse.

A sound plays the wrong thing or a thin fallback

Re-pick the sound in Mission Control; uploaded files should be WAV, MP3, or OGG.

Still stuck? Email cosNFX@jonathancapone.com.