
Ask HN: Any Pebble Alternatives? - guzik
Are there any programmable Pebble alternatives nowadays? I&#x27;ve heard of Pebble Versa 2, but people are complaining that it&#x27;s not possible to create an always-visible custom watch face.<p>My goal is to create a TODO&#x2F;Pomodoro watch app (as I had on my good, old Pebble) that is always on.
======
vanous
I would suggests Amazfit Bip. Amazing battery life, steps, hr, gps,
notifications, no need for official app (use Gadgetbridge) and can flash
alternative firmware for which you can develop in c.

[https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Amazfi...](https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Amazfit-
Bip)

The following link takes you to a Wiki page about BipOS. In the wiki is all
you might need to know:
[https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Amazfi...](https://codeberg.org/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Amazfit-
Bip-OS)

~~~
Pxtl
While I realize that everybody is manufacturing in China, is it responsible to
buy an actual Chinese branded piece of electronics with Chinese software on
it? Right now?

It may just be splitting hairs, but it seems like in general those brands
should be avoided, between Huawei's alleged espionage and the human rights
problems these days, it feels like we should be making the minimal effort to
avoid those brands.

Of course, I'm a total hypocrite writing this on a Motorola/Lenovo phone.

~~~
kgarten
Huawai is doing it alleged ... nobody has proof. For Cisco, Amazon, Google
etc. we have proof :)

~~~
skrebbel
I'm usually the first to criticize the US government, but if I'm forced to
choose I'd rather the NSA have everything on me than their Chinese
counterpart.

------
gbraad
PineTime ?

[https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PineTime](https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PineTime)

~~~
stamps
You can actually get a devkit that's the full watch (just not sealed/glued
shut) and it will ship within a couple days.

[https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-
kit](https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-kit)

~~~
ninjin
As someone with a PineTime Dev Kit on their desk in front of them, I would say
that “just not sealed/glued shut” is not the entire story. Sure, you could
glue it shut. But you would be stuck with somewhat bog standard software that
is neither exciting nor updateable unless you hook the device up via Serial
Wire Debug (SWD) to flash it – which requires yet another piece of kit to
achieve. PINE64 are not joking around when they state that: “The PineTime Dev
Kit [is] aimed solely for development purpose only, this is not for end
user[s] who [are] looking for [a] ready to wear Smart Watch. More
specifically, [we] only intend for these units to find their way into the
hands of developer[s] with extensive embedded OS experience and an interest in
Smart Watch development.” [1].

That being said, I have had a lot of fun learning embedded systems over the
holidays and highly recommend getting a dev kit if you want a rewarding hobby
that is likely to contribute to this watch coming out “for real” with a lot of
fun software some time next year. Admittedly my reading list is very Rust
biased, so feel free to ignore parts of it. But I highly recommend the
embedded Rust “Discovery Book” [2] and “The Embedded Rust Book” [3]. Also,
anything written by Lup Yuen Lee (李立源) so far has had the highest quality of
all writing related to PineTime development. The only downside is that it is
on Medium (yuck!), but do start with the one where he breaks his PineTime open
for the first time and go from there [4]. There is also of course the PineTime
sub forum [5]. Lastly, if you are new to embedded systems (such as myself) it
may also be worth getting the development board that corresponds to what is
inside the PineTime [6]. Happy reading and hacking!

[1]: [https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-
kit](https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-kit)

[2]: [https://docs.rust-embedded.org/discovery](https://docs.rust-
embedded.org/discovery)

[3]: [https://docs.rust-embedded.org/book](https://docs.rust-
embedded.org/book)

[4]: [https://medium.com/swlh/sneak-peek-of-pinetime-smart-
watch-a...](https://medium.com/swlh/sneak-peek-of-pinetime-smart-watch-and-
why-its-perfect-for-teaching-iot-81b74161c159)

[5]:
[https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=134](https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=134)

[6]: [https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-
Ki...](https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-
Kits/nRF52-DK)

~~~
panpanna
How are the ergonomics? Can you actually wear and use it as a watch (sw issues
aside).

~~~
ninjin
You certainly can, I just have not tried it. It comes with a strap and
everything. User “maiden” has an awesome setup that makes it both flashable
and wearable for testing, have a look [1].

[1]:
[https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=8129&pid=52537#p...](https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=8129&pid=52537#pid52537)

------
asandweech
Could just go with a garmin. There are already multiple pomodoro apps for
them, I use one of them. Just search for pomodoro at
[https://apps.garmin.com](https://apps.garmin.com)

If you dont like how they implemented it you could easily write your own, the
api is fairly straightforward:
[https://developer.garmin.com/downloads/connect-
iq/monkey-c/d...](https://developer.garmin.com/downloads/connect-
iq/monkey-c/doc/Toybox/Background.html)

~~~
JeremyNT
I'd second Garmin. To me the killer features of my Pebble were the lack of a
touchscreen, the long battery life from the passively lit display, and the
ability for developers to write their own software - all qualities that the
Garmin line possesses.

The only downside of the Garmin devices is the extra fitness sensors (gps,
hrm, pulseox) which not all Pebble users might want. As a runner and cyclist
myself these features are all upside, but not everybody will use them and they
add to cost / size.

I can recommend the forerunner series. I have the 945 which is marketed at
runners but it has the same features as their other high end devices, just in
a smaller and lighter plastic case.

------
h4waii
I would continue to purchase Pebbles. I have a few (too many than I want to
admit) in storage that I take out, update with my settings, half charge, and
then put back in my fire safe.

There really isn't anything else that I've found to fill the gap. Good battery
life, well supported by an open source community, and it really just continues
to work very well for my uses.

I've heard good things about the Amazfit models, but they aren't as "open" as
Pebble as far as I'm aware. Keep an eye on PineTime [0], it looks promising.

0\.
[https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PineTime](https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/PineTime)

~~~
gnicholas
Where do you go to report issues with Pebble/Rebble? I did a Runkeeper update
a while back and was saddened to see that it broke the Pebble integration
(which allowed me to see how long I'd been exercising and pause/resume my
ride). I assume Runkeeper won't fix this because there are so few Pebble
users, but presumably the Pebble community might be interested in fixing the
issue?

~~~
pimeys
I remember seeing in Runkeeper's changelog they removed the wear support
altogether. Now using Garmin and no Runkeeper functionality here either.

~~~
gnicholas
I really wish I could roll back to the old version of Runkeeper!

------
KirinDave
I've yet to find a programmable watch that is competitive, but...

I've been working on a DIY smartwatch firmware that uses the OLED version of
the DSTIKE ESP32 watch development kit. This kit is less than $40 and is
basically a small ESP32 dev board with a few LEDs and a mono OLED screen.

It has the following features of use for a developer: 2.4ghz wifi, BLE, 2
cores and an interesting ULP core that can actually do a fair amount of logic
(such as detect buttons) while still drawing microamps, A modestly accurate
RTC that survives deepsleep, An internal white LED, which as packaged can be
used as a reading light, A neopixel on the front, a square wave driven buzzer
on the front, and a 600mah LIPO battery, and power management with discharge
protection and .

It is not by ANY means waterproof, but with some work (3d printing an
enclosure and using a sealing spray) it can be modestly water resistant. At
its price, you can actually buy more than 1 as backup in the event of serious
water damage though.

The predecessor to this was an ESP8266-based system (a much less capable chip)
for mass wifi deauth attacks.

It's a very interesting project writing a smartwatch firmwatch from scratch.
Currently I'm trying to get to where I can use Rust (which I don't really know
yet, so: learning opportunity) to write the core event loops I need. I won't
be able to use Rust for the ULP cores (that has to be done in assembler) or
OLED drivers, but I'm fairly sure the normal Rust binding generators will work
fine.

I highly recommend trying something like this if you have the time and
inclination. It's very fun to incrementally add features to the watch.

~~~
jsilence
Do you open source your project? If yes, where? I'd be interested to try it.
Received the ESP8266 version a couple of days ago...

~~~
KirinDave
Sadly very little I do will be useful to you. The 8266 version is very, very
limited. You'll be able to deauth and set the time with nntp, and that's about
it.

But also: I'm trying to work out a way to open source my work. My employer
produces software for smart watches and wearable tech. Even if I don't know
about that part of the business, they're kinda tricky about open source
project policies.

------
slartibardfast0
Are you aware of bangle.js?

[https://banglejs.com/](https://banglejs.com/)

~~~
INTPenis
Wow this looks very interesting. LCD screen instead of LED or any e-ink-
similar display. Claim of 20 hour battery life.

I'm willing to back this project even with a Fossil HR on my wrist.

~~~
threwerwe4234
> Claim of 20 hour battery life.

This isn't something of note now is it ? Xiaomi's watches have insane 2 week+
battery lives these days.

~~~
INTPenis
Depends on the screen. An LED screen like the Apple Watch needs to be charged
almost every day. But an e-paper or LCD screen might last much longer. Also
some makers do a dual screen with an LED screen underneath some sort of
overlay that can be always on. I'm no expert in this, just very interested in
finding a good smartwatch.

------
ksmith14
From the blog post announcing the FitbitOS 4.1 SDK it sounds like custom
always-on clocks are in the works:

[https://dev.fitbit.com/blog/2019-12-19-announcing-fitbit-
os-...](https://dev.fitbit.com/blog/2019-12-19-announcing-fitbit-os-sdk-4.1/)

(Disclosure: I work at Fitbit but not on any of the SDK or device stuff. This
is my own personal opinion and should not be considered the official position
of my employer.)

~~~
VectorLock
When will the spo2 feature ever materialize on existing Fitbits that have the
hardware for it?

------
jbj
Just get a pebble.

I got a replacement pebble of ebay, works great with the "solanum" app
(pomodoro) and GoogleTasks for pebble as a todo list that syncs to a google
account.

I have the rebble subscription as a support for the maintanance team although
I rarely use the voice to text capability.

I wear my pebble everyday. Just because the company doesnt exist doesnt mean
the products are useless.

you may have to track down the apk file if you are on android and dont want to
use gadgetbridge from F-droid

EDIT: I extracted my pebble apk with apk extractor [1]:

size 26589168 md5 3edeeffdca616336adc27eaf6189e85e sha1
b3b3642ceaf125049eb241fee2e28f573bf2a04f

correspondingly the one on apkmirror is slightly smaller [2]:

size 26589160 md5 eb057a463e688b0f51c2820227fb0520 sha1
41ad7557920e94ab05081e7bab07f0accd759e50

I am actually surprised that the version I have is 8 bytes larger.

[1]
[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/axp.tool.apkextractor/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/axp.tool.apkextractor/)
[2] [https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/pebble-technology-
corp/pebble/...](https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/pebble-technology-
corp/pebble/pebble-4-4-2-1405-62d45d7d7-endframe-release/)

------
nl
[https://github.com/Jeija/esp8266-smartwatch](https://github.com/Jeija/esp8266-smartwatch)

Just need a nice case. No, I haven't tried it myself.

There's a version on Aliexpress but it is preconfigured to be a WiFi Deauther
rather than a watch.

[https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000522565001.html?spm=a2g0o...](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000522565001.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000023.1.53065b8fkyauws)

Edit: this one looks like a good version
[https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000302271246.html?spm=a2g0o...](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000302271246.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.22.5b684d1c2T78Qe&gps-
id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.13338.128125.0&scm_id=1007.13338.128125.0&scm-
url=1007.13338.128125.0&pvid=6db97dd3-a8bd-4bf5-8cdd-270654624a32)

~~~
k_sze
Dip it in conformal coating and you get a baremetal, but waterproof
smartwatch! Cool!

------
gnicholas
I just posted a comparison review of the Pebble vs Fossil Hybrid Smartwatch.
[1] I'm still on the fence about whether to keep the Fossil. The main con is
that it doesn't allow notifications from any app (just a dozen or so they've
hand-picked, for now), and that the light does not come on easily. But the
battery life is comparatively amazing (2 weeks).

The most interesting thing I've noticed is that because it doesn't look like a
smartwatch, when I look at my wrist to check a notification, people ask if I'm
OK on time. They assume it's a regular watch, and therefore the only thing I
could be checking is what time it is. Kind of a funny side-effect of having a
well-camouflaged hybrid smartwatch.

1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9RiP70_5M0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9RiP70_5M0)

~~~
borgel
I was under the impression that they recently fixed the limited set of
notifications problem, though I'm having trouble finding the source at the
moment.

~~~
gnicholas
It looks like they had an app update (at least on iOS) a week ago that offers
"enhanced notification support". [1] I wish they'd pushed a notification to
let me know about this!

They added a bunch more apps — there's maybe 40 or 50 now. The best news is
that they're clearly aware that this is an issue and will presumably be adding
more in the future. Some of my important apps are still missing, though
they've added some important ones (Facetime, Slack, Skype).

Thanks for pointing this out!

1: [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fossil-hybrid-
smartwatches/id1...](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fossil-hybrid-
smartwatches/id1027370544)

------
swiley
The pinetime looks really good, I’m planning on getting a couple for me and a
friend since we’re both decent embedded devs and the lack of a preinstalled OS
probably won’t be so bad for us.

------
thatcat
The pinetime dev kit is only 25$ and would be a good platform for this.
[https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-
kit](https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-kit)

------
xrd
Buy a supported device from eBay and then install AsteroidOs (AsteroidOs.org)

------
snek
I've just kept using my pebble. consistent week long battery life, it gives me
notifications and tracks my activity, not much else needed.

------
Wowfunhappy
Why not get an actual Pebble? That's what I did!

------
meremortals
The newly released Xiaomi Mi Watch may be worth investigating, as it runs
customized Android (MIUI): [https://xiaomi-mi.com/mitu-watches/xiaomi-mi-
watch-black/](https://xiaomi-mi.com/mitu-watches/xiaomi-mi-watch-black/)

Xiamoi also makes the aforementioned Amazfit series watches

------
duelingjello
Find its predecessor, the Alerta InPulse watch. It has a very simple but
usable SDK.

~~~
VectorLock
I've never heard of this and Googling for it turned up nothing. Perhaps its
known by something else?

------
sheinsheish
Have you considered a good old Casio g-shock with a repeating sports timer?

------
davidandgoliath
No, but the google fossil wear (no idea re: name) watch is great.

