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Pebble Watch software is now open source

ericmigi.com

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Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#111

Post by infotainment »

zeta0134 wrote: post #35

Honestly this feels like the best possible outcome. It's pretty unusual for an appstore implementation to support multiple feeds[0], but it's great resilience to large company failures when they do. This way, users can totally still access Rebble's feed (and pay for a subscription if they like) just as before, but they are free to also use something else. It is the *end user* who decides which feeds to trust, as it s…

Definitely agree that this is the best outcome for everyone! In particular, with multiple repo support, I'm hoping this can open the door for some kind of "F-Droid for Pebble" with automated builds from source repos. So many Pebble apps are open source anyway I think it would be a good fit.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#112

Post by infotainment »

jpalawaga wrote: post #73
DrammBA wrote: post #57

(Un)related new post made by rebble today: https://rebble.io/2025/11/24/rebble-in-your-own-world.html Doesn't address the multiple feed support for the app store, and seems to be calling Eric to action a few times, but it would be too much of a coincidence that these two posts come out so close to one another.

through all of this, it really feels like rebble didn't know what they want (as they say). the future collaboration with eric also sounds like they don't know what they want. they want a third party mediator for... something. Eric was already prepared to pay them per user, which seemed generous to me to begin with. It sounds to me like Rebble (the board + community) should figure out what they want before trying to p…

It seems like Rebble (the board) really overplayed their hand.

From what they posted, it seems like they wanted more control over what Core was doing, deciding that the best way to do that was to try and hold the app store data hostage.

Now, with the Core app open sourced and multiple app store repos supported, Rebble's position will likely be greatly diminished from what it could have been if they had been satisfied with what they had. I guess in the end though, the outcome was a net win for everyone (fully open source apps), so it works out.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#113

Post by ramses0 »

bhelkey wrote: post #98
apparent wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IDK about Coros or Suunto, but the only Garmins with a battery life approaching 30 days cost ~$1,000. This could be competition for AWU, but wouldn't communicate that there is demand for a more basic/long-lasting Apple Watch.

Smart watches with long battery life exist. Garmin watches generally have ~2 week battery life: * Venu 3 for $350 has 2 week battery life [1] * Forerunner 55 for $150 has 2 week battery life [2] I don't see why you are defining success as 30 days of battery life when the baseline is charging your watch every day. [1] https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/873008/pn/010-02784-00/ [2] https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/741137/

The baseline for watches is changing the battery every 3-5 YEARS! This modernity of charging watches daily is a pox on humanity brought on by Apple.

Pebble (and Fitbit, and others) were always in the "week-plus" timeframe for charging. Meeting the "minimum bar" of 14-17 days battery life (of the OG pebbles) is successful. Shooting for "30 days" is definitively best-in-class performance for smart-watches!

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#114

Post by infotainment »

wvenable wrote: post #87
esrauch wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised by this comment; after the drama last week and after seeing this I fully have to side against Rebble. The nature of driving a healthy open source centered ecosystem is that you don't control it under your iron fist: you make good contributions, users _and_ companies are able to use them in all new ways which comply with the licensing terms. And it seems that RePebble is going way beyond the licensing te…

My impression is that there is a lot more going on than just the facts provided by both sides. Core technologies managed to get Katie Berry to step away from the project[1] and that's extremely significant to me. Her tireless dedication to keeping Pebble alive (and get it open sourced) is how any of this is possible. For her to just up and leave now tells me that Eric and Core are not being as magnanimous and friendl…

Both of those comments seem to just boil down to "Core probably could be more proactive about comms", which hardly seems like a particularly egregious sin.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#115

Post by wvenable »

infotainment wrote: post #114
wvenable wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My impression is that there is a lot more going on than just the facts provided by both sides. Core technologies managed to get Katie Berry to step away from the project[1] and that's extremely significant to me. Her tireless dedication to keeping Pebble alive (and get it open sourced) is how any of this is possible. For her to just up and leave now tells me that Eric and Core are not being as magnanimous and friendl…

Both of those comments seem to just boil down to "Core probably could be more proactive about comms" , which hardly seems like a particularly egregious sin.

"interactions with Core have gone so poorly that they were adversely impacting my mental health"

That seems a little more serious than "could be proactive about comms" especially when this is one of the key people responsible for a lot of the original Pebble tech, rebble tech, and working within Google to get the Pebble OS open sourced.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#116

Post by krabizzwainch »

jsheard wrote: post #65
krabizzwainch wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Coros Pace 2 was my solution to my desire for a less smart watch. It cost $200 when I got it 3 years ago. I run a ton and the exercise features of the Pebble just didn’t do it for me (and I don’t want to keep swapping watches based on what I’m doing). I easily get 2+ weeks with 7-8 exercises with GPS on. The screen is some variation of those transflective LCDs or MIPs LCDs. I can never go back to a 2 day battery l…

> The screen is some variation of those transflective LCDs or MIPs LCDs. They just switched to OLED with the Pace 4, for better or worse. AOD battery life took a hit but it does look a lot nicer than MIP.

Yeah, I’m not sure if I like that choice from them. I really like the look of their non OLED displays. This has been my favorite running watch, and I’ve used it the longest out of all the different watches I’ve had. Although if I want them to keep existing as a company I should consider buying another.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#117

Post by tamimio »

tonetegeatinst wrote: post #103
tamimio wrote: post #79

My current smartwatch is $7 I got from the thrift store. Not only does it offer everything an Apple Watch offers, but it also measures blood pressure (surprisingly accurate) and has a small flashlight, and I charge it once every 3 weeks. The only issue is its app is limited and you can’t customize anything besides the watch faces and the wrist strap. So having that, it’s really hard to compete if you are just going t…

Do you know what algorithm or sensors it uses to calculate BP?

I honestly don’t even know the model, as the Bluetooth pairing name is just some number, the app (iOS) is called “Da fit” if that will help you. I was thinking before about tearing it down but it’s waterproof and I know this process will ruin it and won’t be able to use it while swimming or similar.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#118

Post by Larrikin »

A little surprised there has been no mention of the app being Kotlin multiplatform. https://github.com/coredevices/mobileapp

I had heard of many smaller apps using Kotlin for their iOS app, but this may be the biggest all in multiplatform app I've seen. It would be awesome if there may eventually be support for writing Pebble apps in Kotlin.

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#119

Post by farmerbb »

Larrikin wrote: post #118

A little surprised there has been no mention of the app being Kotlin multiplatform. https://github.com/coredevices/mobileapp I had heard of many smaller apps using Kotlin for their iOS app, but this may be the biggest all in multiplatform app I've seen. It would be awesome if there may eventually be support for writing Pebble apps in Kotlin.

As a Kotlin multiplatform developer myself, this is wonderful to see!

Re: Pebble Watch software is now open source

#120

Post by swaits »

niwtsol wrote: post #89
liampulles wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, and Rebble themselves highlight how inflammatory their initial blog post was in their most recent one: https://rebble.io/2025/11/24/rebble-in-your-own-world.html . They also backed down from their ludicrous position that they are acting as protectors of other people's watchfaces being downloaded in bulk by a particular company they don't like, whereas they are totally fine with the watchfaces being publicly…

Well said and exactly my thoughts on it as well. Eric has done more than he really had to, and it is unclear to me what rebble really wants/is positioning for.

Nobody is saying it out loud. But as always, it’s probably about money.
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