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Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

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Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#361

Post by poisonborz »

xrd wrote: post #133
delecti wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One problem with the smartwatch market is that it's hard to know what "comparable" means to any given person. I've found an Amazfit Bip to be a totally satisfactory replacement for my Pebble Time, but it doesn't cover every single usecase. It does have a battery life measured in weeks though (usually 3-4 for me, less if I use the GPS to track a bunch of exercise), which is a pretty nice selling point.

Do you build your own apps for it? I'm interesting in understanding how hackable it is? For example, can you write an app that pulls the GPS data from a run off it, or is that data readily accessible somehow?

You can add your own apps vi a patched firmware.

https://github.com/Freeyourgadget/Gadgetbridge/wiki/Amazfit-...

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#362

Post by morjom »

c0wb0yc0d3r wrote: post #351
balfirevic wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steve Jobs obsession that the mouse should have only one button was probably right for the computer LOL. Mine has 12, of which I regularly use 10.

What do you have? (Crossing my fingers you don't say Razor)

Not the person you asked from but I have the SteelSeries Aerox 9 (wireless). I play MMOs on the regular and dabble in power-user land and 3D-modeling w shortcuts.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#363

Post by unsafecast »

womod wrote: post #270
unsafecast wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never ever ran into a situation where holding the power button for ~15 seconds didn't reset the phone. This stuff runs at a _way_ lower level than the software you can mess with. Non-removable batteries are still stupid though.

I recently managed to "hard-brick" my Motorola one 5g ace after updating magisk, getting stuck in a bootloop, and naively deciding to attempt to boot from the B slot instead. On qualcomm-based devices you can get into EDL (Emergency DownLoad) mode where you have nothing that is actually bootable on the device, and the phone will remain entirely unresponsive save for appearing as a serial device when plugged in over U…

Funny, I've gotten close to doing the exact same thing, though I realized my mistake before ruining it completely. Reset sequence worked the whole time (I think it would even in EDL mode, though you wouldn't _see_ anything).

You can definitely mess it up really bad, but I don't know if you can get to a point where there's no reset path. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#364

Post by unsafecast »

whitexn--g28h wrote: post #253
unsafecast wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never ever ran into a situation where holding the power button for ~15 seconds didn't reset the phone. This stuff runs at a _way_ lower level than the software you can mess with. Non-removable batteries are still stupid though.

I have seen newer 1+ phones lock up and it fail to respond to the reset sequence. After receiving a call the modem crashes and it reboots. No other input can reset the device.

Interesting. Never heard of this.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#366

Post by ciceryadam »

c0wb0yc0d3r wrote: post #351
balfirevic wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steve Jobs obsession that the mouse should have only one button was probably right for the computer LOL. Mine has 12, of which I regularly use 10.

What do you have? (Crossing my fingers you don't say Razor)

I'm using a Logitech G604 at work, I have 15 buttons of keyboard shortcuts on it.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#367

Post by igorsantos07 »

etothepii wrote: post #293
Pfhortune wrote: post #290

Folks ITT will talk about watches that are similar in hardware, but what was magic about Pebble was the software and ecosystem. The OS was just a delight to use, fast, wonderfully animated, and let you sideload whatever you want. I've tried a couple of Garmin watches (Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 55) and the Amazfit Bip, and this is where they all fall completely flat. The UX is just horrible by comparison. It's like…

I'll buy an Apple Watch, but I'd pay through the nose for an Apple Watch with four buttons. Steve Jobs obsession that the mouse should have only one button was probably right for the computer, but the input device had over 80 buttons minimum. (Keyboard) Clearly whoever makes the call about Apple Watch buttons doesn't swim, sprint or cycle. All the marketing about "sports" is to make you feel sporty not because it's a…

I had a really, really hard time finding a decent smart watch when my Pebble drowned. Two years and five(!!!) Ticwatches later (first was too slow, the other 4 were drowning in different ways when I was swimming)... I felt in love with the Samsung Watch 4 classic.

Not that expensive, slick UI, full of features, great Android integration and a wonderful dial/crown which is well used in a couple of apps to make it all easier - you can use it to answer/cancel calls or finish/repeat alarms/timers.

AND THEN Samsung launches Watch 5 and DROPS THE FREAKING CROWN! Back to 1.5 buttons - because the second one, as the Apple Watch, is stuck to Samsung Pay (can't even set it to Google Pay) and recent apps, no app uses.

WHY? WHYYYY? The crown is amazing for scrolling through screens when I'm biking (shaky) or swimming (touch disabled). It's WAY better for scrolling in that tiny screen. It's awesome as interaction aid. WHY REMOVE IT??

I do miss the long battery and buttons, but I must mention that a touch screen gives you many more UI possibilities.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#368

Post by TeMPOraL »

will0 wrote: post #42
solarkraft wrote: post #27

That few? I wasn't a huge fan of Pebble, the company - they didn't sell replacement parts, for instance (the watch for geeks? yeah, sure). For some crazy reason, though, to this day, this watch is still almost the only one that gets such a basic thing right: Telling the damn time. The formula is as simple as it is unreplicated: - Always telling the time - Good battery life - Buttons Why nobody else makes such a watch…

The actual number of Pebble users is likely far higher, this is just the count we get from our side at Rebble. There are more Pebble users out there using Gadgetbridge for example.

> There are more Pebble users out there using Gadgetbridge for example.

There could also be many more users using neither. For example, my wife is still using the OG Pebble (the monochromatic one) with the official app and stock firmware, today. I was using my Pebble Time with the OG app/firmware as well, until couple months ago when I broke my phone and couldn't transfer the app to the new one, at which point I decided to go the Rebble route.

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#369

Post by pmontra »

posguy wrote: post #326
pmontra wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I opened my Samsung A40 two days ago and replaced a camera that didn't autofocus anymore. 20 Euros with shipping. The battery can be replaced too. Actually I had to disconnect it to remove the upper motherboard and access the camera. It seems a pretty serviceable phone. You should check YouTube for tear down videos about your model.

No Android 12 (released October 4, 2021) or 13 for the Galaxy A40 phone has been released by Samsung :c OS updates make or break devices long term.

I'm still getting system upgrades. Actually I wish they didn't upgrade to Android 10 because it made Syncthing much less useful as it can't access all the files anymore (but file managers can, even open source ones, so maybe it's a problem with Syncthing itself.)

Considering that I've got the phone in June 2019, I paid less than 100 Euro per year. If I had to buy a new phone to have Android 12 (and I don't understand why I should - I'd be fine with Android 8 or even 4 if I'd get security patches), 100 Euro per year is acceptable. The big problem with buying a new phone is that I'm not buying from Apple and I'm not going to find an Android one as small as the A40, which is already too big IMHO. I wish it was 3/4 or one inch shorter (2 or 2.5 cm.)

Re: Over 16k people still use a Pebble smartwatch

#370

Post by balfirevic »

c0wb0yc0d3r wrote: post #351
balfirevic wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steve Jobs obsession that the mouse should have only one button was probably right for the computer LOL. Mine has 12, of which I regularly use 10.

What do you have? (Crossing my fingers you don't say Razor)

I use Logitech G502 Lightspeed.
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