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Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

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Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#101

Post by Rondom »

netsharc wrote: post #55
robbles wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Synergy ( https://symless.com/synergy ) does exactly this, cross platform, and really effectively. You don't need to write your own using a Logitech driver - it works with any standard keyboard / mouse.

Synergy stopped working for me one day, and it seems all machines have to use the same version. And they pivoted from free to charging for money. I guess Logitech is doing the same thing, but if they actually implemented it by unpairing the input devices from one receiver and pairing it to the other, that would be cool, it means I can turn off the unpaired computer, and input still works on the paired machine.

It's still open source. So you can compile it yourself, if you want.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#102

Post by zodPod »

dirtbox wrote: post #84
zodPod wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the battery life difference you mention? The lack of external servers or do you mean because it'll have linux on it now?

It lasts up to 10 days on one charge and the app has been decentralised, meaning it's not reliant on external servers.

Aah ok you meant the pebble in general. I agree I loved how long the pebble lasted! I was hoping there was some upgrade that made it last even longer haha. I might have to do this though, attempt to install linux on it!

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#103

Post by zodPod »

Crespyl wrote: post #89
zodPod wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the battery life difference you mention? The lack of external servers or do you mean because it'll have linux on it now?

I understood the comment to be referring to other fancier smartwatches that are designed around ~daily charging.

Aaah, makes a lot of sense! Thank you for the clarification!

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#104

Post by evv »

bbryant wrote: post #100

Oura Ring ( https://ouraring.com/ ) has a solid cloud API. However: 1. No GPS 2. Sleep and activity metrics are digested time slices, not raw measurements. 3. Gen-1 only has night time HR, and gen-2 isn't out till April.

A "cloud API" is exactly the opposite of what the OP is looking for. Why can't we get data out of our devices without having to transmit it to their servers, or through black-box software?

I definitely expect better treatment of privacy from a young nordic company like Oura. The product looks pretty great, so I would be a hugely loyal customer if they fixed these privacy issues.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#106

Post by scaphandre »

pavlov wrote: post #51

Samsung's latest generations of fitness wearables (e.g. Gear Fit 2) run the Tizen OS, which is a complete Linux stack. You can actually SSH into the wearable over wi-fi. The development stack is kind of a mess, but if you know Linux, I would look at those.

Interesting. I had assumed Tizen was a greatly reduced Linux-inspired OS. Do you have a source for the ability to SSH?

Might it not be easier to have an Android app that grabs data from the watch using their API?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40233692/how-to-integrat...

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#107

Post by peterburkimsher »

dublinben wrote: post #79
peterburkimsher wrote: post #61

On a related note, is there a wristband with a vibrating alarm clock that can set multiple alarm times and doesn't need a phone to trigger it? I'd like to pre-program the wristband to wake me up in case my phone (my main alarm clock) turns off for some reason.

You can do this with the $20 Xiaomi Mi Band 2. It's the MVP of a smartwatch in the best way possible.

"Q2: Can use smart alarm clock when leave the phone? A: Certainly can, or else how to call smart alarm clock? After pair Mi band, set once in the Mi band app, and then switch off the phone, no problem."

I still need a phone to set it though. I'm still using a 64GB iPhone 4S, and I don't plan to buy a new phone just so I can set up another alarm clock. In fact, if I buy another phone, then I can just use that as the secondary alarm! (but it wouldn't be silent)

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#108

Post by peterburkimsher »

amorphid wrote: post #63
peterburkimsher wrote: post #61

On a related note, is there a wristband with a vibrating alarm clock that can set multiple alarm times and doesn't need a phone to trigger it? I'd like to pre-program the wristband to wake me up in case my phone (my main alarm clock) turns off for some reason.

I found this on Reddit... https://www.reddit.com/r/deaf/comments/28dvr8/vibrating_watc... Hope that helps!

Some good discussion, but I still didn't find a suitable product.

Someone recommended the Casio Pathfinder (doesn't need a phone!), but the Casio ProTrek WSD-F20 model that has multiple alarms costs $500. I could buy another phone for cheaper.

It seems like a good discussion group for another idea I had about vibrating wristbands linking to a GPS app to give directions.

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#109

Post by pavlov »

scaphandre wrote: post #106
pavlov wrote: post #51

Samsung's latest generations of fitness wearables (e.g. Gear Fit 2) run the Tizen OS, which is a complete Linux stack. You can actually SSH into the wearable over wi-fi. The development stack is kind of a mess, but if you know Linux, I would look at those.

Interesting. I had assumed Tizen was a greatly reduced Linux-inspired OS. Do you have a source for the ability to SSH? Might it not be easier to have an Android app that grabs data from the watch using their API? https://stackoverflow.com/questions/40233692/how-to-integrat...

Do you have a source for the ability to SSH?

I've used it myself on several models: Gear S2, Gear S3, Gear Fit 2.

Tizen is a full Linux. If I remember correctly, it even runs X for the GUI (although I think it's been replaced with Wayland in Tizen 3).

Re: Ask HN: Is there a fitness wristband that is hackable?

#110

Post by [deleted] »

j45 wrote: post #24

From a fitness & android perspective - android wear has very few devices with many of the useful sensors in one watch. I have recently ordered a TIQwatch from the most recent kickstarter and hope between it, TaskerWear, etc, that it might be the first androidwear device that values both sensors and optimizing battery life. I know I should be able to get at the data in it how I want. Companies like Samsung have left A…

[deleted]
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