Ask HN: Any Pebble Alternatives?
85 comments
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...
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/Amazfi...
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...
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.
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.
I agree with the sentiment, I think it's important to put your money where your mouth is when it comes to values, especially when there are alternative options (although many still with Chinese components or assembly). I was considering switching from an Apple to a Huawei but after reading William Holstein's The New Art of War which details some of the things China is doing in terms of industrial espionage, coercing students/expats/Chinese descendent people, etc. I decided to not make the switch.
Huawai is doing it alleged ... nobody has proof.
For Cisco, Amazon, Google etc. we have proof :)
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.
That is very true. However I'd rather have the US government be able to spy on me than the CCP. It's much easier to upset the CCP.
Just don't whistleblow, might go to jail.
between Huawei's alleged espionage and the human rights problems
NSA backdoors Cisco and Juniper gear, and the United States imprisons a significantly higher percentage of its citizens than the PRC.
NSA backdoors Cisco and Juniper gear, and the United States imprisons a significantly higher percentage of its citizens than the PRC.
Imprisonment percentage is fairly relevant when discussing free nations, but it is absolutely not a measure of freedom by itself. Especially when you consider the monstrous cultural difference between the two countries.
Exactly - so far we don't have a government facilitated (if not outright managed) social credit score in the U.S. that dictates who I can and can't speak with, where I go, the jobs I get, etc.
Who needs to imprison people when societal norms and other citizens effectively do the job for you?
Who needs to imprison people when societal norms and other citizens effectively do the job for you?
I mean to take sides with this comment... but I needed a second read tell if that was satire.
Since your credit score decides where you can get housing, how much you pay for things like phone access, can affect which jobs you can get, has been shown to affect personal relationships (https://www.brookings.edu/research/credit-scores-and-committ...)
And some of the most dystopian examples in China's system apply to ours. Like if you get a ticket jaywalking and don't pay, the ticket can go to collections, and your score will go down if it does.
Not saying they're the same, but there are way too many parallels to ignore.
Since your credit score decides where you can get housing, how much you pay for things like phone access, can affect which jobs you can get, has been shown to affect personal relationships (https://www.brookings.edu/research/credit-scores-and-committ...)
And some of the most dystopian examples in China's system apply to ours. Like if you get a ticket jaywalking and don't pay, the ticket can go to collections, and your score will go down if it does.
Not saying they're the same, but there are way too many parallels to ignore.
Yeah, I meant to be a little tongue in cheek because there are a lot of similarities but I should have been more obvious about it.
However, I think the real difference with most of these is that they're not (as far as I know) state-controlled in the U.S. even if they end up with the same result in some cases. It may seem small because the outcome may be the same but I think it's a very important distinction - I don't love the Equifax and Experian and whoever gives me a credit score but the government should be an impartial adjudicator if there's a conflict between myself and these people about the score - what makes me nervous is when the government has no culpability and not only sets the rules but also enforces them with no recourse. Not to say I don't think that this happens in the U.S., it does all the time, but it's a whole different level compared to China or non-Democratic societies.
However, I think the real difference with most of these is that they're not (as far as I know) state-controlled in the U.S. even if they end up with the same result in some cases. It may seem small because the outcome may be the same but I think it's a very important distinction - I don't love the Equifax and Experian and whoever gives me a credit score but the government should be an impartial adjudicator if there's a conflict between myself and these people about the score - what makes me nervous is when the government has no culpability and not only sets the rules but also enforces them with no recourse. Not to say I don't think that this happens in the U.S., it does all the time, but it's a whole different level compared to China or non-Democratic societies.
It's so much worse than that.
China has combined this with (a) 500MP camera which can clearly identify anyone in a stadium full of people and (b) forcing all citizens to present biometric information when signing up for a phone plan.
China has combined this with (a) 500MP camera which can clearly identify anyone in a stadium full of people and (b) forcing all citizens to present biometric information when signing up for a phone plan.
Again, I'm not saying we have China's system, but the end of the comment talks about the citizens acting as enablers.
US citizens are not that far off from them...
You could sell a lot of people on 500MP cameras to detect people in stadiums "for terrorism", and in fact I'd be surprised if we don't already do something similar
After all, we already saw private citizens scanning faces at events: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/future-en...
And we've actually tried to make prepaid phones require ID (which is the spirit of the biometrics)... no suprise, with the terrorism excuse: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawmakers-require-id-to-buy-pre...
US citizens are not that far off from them...
You could sell a lot of people on 500MP cameras to detect people in stadiums "for terrorism", and in fact I'd be surprised if we don't already do something similar
After all, we already saw private citizens scanning faces at events: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/future-en...
And we've actually tried to make prepaid phones require ID (which is the spirit of the biometrics)... no suprise, with the terrorism excuse: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawmakers-require-id-to-buy-pre...
So what? Ever heard of [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon_Stare ?
And does it even matter if there are uncounted companies and agencies having deployed their own CCTV-networks? Traffic counting, toll-roads, security, public transportation, inner city-surveillance, advertisement displays, and sharing that information combined with the SSID/MAC-address/IMEI of your phone via WIFI/GSM/UMTS/LTE/Bluetooth and sharing that information with who knows who for whatever reason and goal?
Watch out for the blimps!
Now playing: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kE8565_xrc (Tiga & Zyntherius Sunglasses At Night, 3m42s)
And does it even matter if there are uncounted companies and agencies having deployed their own CCTV-networks? Traffic counting, toll-roads, security, public transportation, inner city-surveillance, advertisement displays, and sharing that information combined with the SSID/MAC-address/IMEI of your phone via WIFI/GSM/UMTS/LTE/Bluetooth and sharing that information with who knows who for whatever reason and goal?
Watch out for the blimps!
Now playing: [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kE8565_xrc (Tiga & Zyntherius Sunglasses At Night, 3m42s)
What exactly is it with this jaywalking thing? Where and when exactly does that apply? Are there zones where you are forbidden to walk, and it is treated like trespassing, or what?
Did you know that China separates Uighur women from their husbands and has them father children with mainland Chinese men ? All in order to systemically wipe out the Uighur people. Or how about China kidnapping anyone critical of the government (regardless of whether they are a citizen or not) and having them tortured/killed.
It really is a mini-Nazi 2.0 situation and so the comparison with anything that the US has ever done is really disgraceful.
It really is a mini-Nazi 2.0 situation and so the comparison with anything that the US has ever done is really disgraceful.
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Seconding this, it's a fantastic watch if you don't have high needs. Most importantly it has a transreflective display (e-paper like) so it doesn't need backlight. When not using GPS or heart rate it can do crazy 50-60 days on a single charge.
Seconding this. I was a Pebble user and have moved to AmazeFit, it’s a great alternative. So much that I went on to buy about 6 more for all my family!
It's fantastic. I charge it once a month, and can't imagine using a watch that needs to be charged every night.
But I'm worried about the data it sends back.
But I'm worried about the data it sends back.
> I'm worried about the data it sends back.
https://gadgetbridge.org/ ?
https://gadgetbridge.org/ ?
Do you have some kind of repo, list or suggestions of extra apps for it?
Yes, it is in the wiki...
https://github.com/MNVolkov?tab=repositories
And also here on the forum (Google translate link):
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&...
https://github.com/MNVolkov?tab=repositories
And also here on the forum (Google translate link):
https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&...
Just as an aside, the pine64 team also has a phone, laptops and others...
https://www.pine64.org/
https://www.pine64.org/
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
it is based on a very common CPU; the nRF52832 and therefore easy to develop for; I do not have the PineTime (or devkit) myself, but made one according to the schematics and BOM for development.
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
[2]: https://docs.rust-embedded.org/discovery
[3]: https://docs.rust-embedded.org/book
[4]: https://medium.com/swlh/sneak-peek-of-pinetime-smart-watch-a...
[5]: https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=134
[6]: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Ki...
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
[2]: https://docs.rust-embedded.org/discovery
[3]: https://docs.rust-embedded.org/book
[4]: https://medium.com/swlh/sneak-peek-of-pinetime-smart-watch-a...
[5]: https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=134
[6]: https://www.nordicsemi.com/Software-and-Tools/Development-Ki...
How are the ergonomics? Can you actually wear and use it as a watch (sw issues aside).
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...
[1]: https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=8129&pid=52537#p...
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
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...
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...
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.
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.
I replaced my Pebble 2 when it broke with a Garmin Vivoactive 3 and it is surprisingly good with almost as long battery life.
I need it mainly for blood glucose monitoring and I keep the watchface on all the time that does this.
The downside is that there is no way to stop Garmin to automatically updating the watch software and once an update broke the http callbacks causing my watchface to stop functioning. Angry comments pushed them to stop the automatic updates until the bugs were fixed and let me to downgrade the OS.
I need it mainly for blood glucose monitoring and I keep the watchface on all the time that does this.
The downside is that there is no way to stop Garmin to automatically updating the watch software and once an update broke the http callbacks causing my watchface to stop functioning. Angry comments pushed them to stop the automatic updates until the bugs were fixed and let me to downgrade the OS.
Seconded. Those devices are unexpectedly good.
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
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
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?
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
If you are going down this route: The M5stack has a wristband accessory. Basically the same thing, but with a nice enclosure.
Are you aware of bangle.js?
https://banglejs.com/
https://banglejs.com/
This is amazing! nrf52 microcontroller, 3 axis accelerometer, 3 axis magnetic field sensor, a GPS, programmable with javascript running on open source interpreter, can be dissembled, a battery that works for the entire day... And ridiculously low price!?
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.
I'm willing to back this project even with a Fossil HR on my wrist.
To me, a eInk/transflective display totally make sense on a smartwatch energy-wise compared to a LCD, even though it's not as visually appealing.
> 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.
This isn't something of note now is it ? Xiaomi's watches have insane 2 week+ battery lives these days.
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.
This looks cool. If I wasn't very happy with my Withings Steel HR I'd consider preordering.
It would be nice if it had NFC for payments though.
It would be nice if it had NFC for payments though.
>It would be nice if it had NFC for payments though.
I find this interesting. I mean, sure, when I'm buying online, having a unified wallet is really, really nice and saves me a lot of effort punching in my credit card with each site I buy from, but in person, I don't see how a phone or watch is more convenient than a credit card; I'm carrying backup cash and ID at a minimum already, so adding a credit card to the mix doesn't really lighten my load. (for that matter, the other day I found myself without a wallet but with cash and my cellphone. I ended up in a bar that took credit cards but not mobile payments or cash. It was awkward.)
What use do you find for a nfc payments solution?
I find this interesting. I mean, sure, when I'm buying online, having a unified wallet is really, really nice and saves me a lot of effort punching in my credit card with each site I buy from, but in person, I don't see how a phone or watch is more convenient than a credit card; I'm carrying backup cash and ID at a minimum already, so adding a credit card to the mix doesn't really lighten my load. (for that matter, the other day I found myself without a wallet but with cash and my cellphone. I ended up in a bar that took credit cards but not mobile payments or cash. It was awkward.)
What use do you find for a nfc payments solution?
In the past year I've switched from using a physical credit card to NFC payments.
I have a copy of my ID in my phone case, and now I can get away without carrying a wallet (except when I drive) 90% of the time. I've only had issues twice in the last 12 months, and in both cases the vendor blamed their equipment for the failure rather than me.
I have a copy of my ID in my phone case, and now I can get away without carrying a wallet (except when I drive) 90% of the time. I've only had issues twice in the last 12 months, and in both cases the vendor blamed their equipment for the failure rather than me.
>I've only had issues twice in the last 12 months, and in both cases the vendor blamed their equipment for the failure rather than me.
that's... about what I'd expect, and personally, for a twice a year event, I'm carrying a backup. (for that matter, my credit card fails a lot less than that, and I still tend to carry backup cash or another card) it just seems like it would be super awkward to eat a meal and then not be able to pay.
that's... about what I'd expect, and personally, for a twice a year event, I'm carrying a backup. (for that matter, my credit card fails a lot less than that, and I still tend to carry backup cash or another card) it just seems like it would be super awkward to eat a meal and then not be able to pay.
I can't imagine any circumstances where paying on a phone wouldn't work in a restaurant here (in Australia). It would be a complete disaster for the restaurant since probably 80% of people are paying on their phone.
The backup here is the "cash via phone" thing. I can use my phone to get cash out of ATM, which is not NFC based (it's an in-app thing with my banking app).
The backup here is the "cash via phone" thing. I can use my phone to get cash out of ATM, which is not NFC based (it's an in-app thing with my banking app).
the comment I was responding to (from you?) said:
>I've only had issues twice in the last 12 months,
which is often enough, for me at least, to want to carry a backup, just 'cause it's super awkward to eat and not pay, regardless of who is responsible for the equipment failure.
(I've been using the atm-via-cellphone thing and it is pretty neat, though mine only lets me use atms branded with my bank, which diminishes the utility for emergency cash. I think mine (at least Bank of America and Chase) does involve some sort of NFC? I can start the process by waiving my phone over the ATM, which resulted in me looking like an idiot, waving my phone trying to get it to work on other bank's ATMs. Reminded me of how when I first got an electric car (not a Tesla) I pulled into a supercharger and it was... several minutes before I figured out that the supercharger was Tesla-only. )
re reading this, I'm beginning to wonder if I have a stronger than usual aversion to seeming like I don't know what I'm doing? it's not something I've really thought about before. Huh.
>I've only had issues twice in the last 12 months,
which is often enough, for me at least, to want to carry a backup, just 'cause it's super awkward to eat and not pay, regardless of who is responsible for the equipment failure.
(I've been using the atm-via-cellphone thing and it is pretty neat, though mine only lets me use atms branded with my bank, which diminishes the utility for emergency cash. I think mine (at least Bank of America and Chase) does involve some sort of NFC? I can start the process by waiving my phone over the ATM, which resulted in me looking like an idiot, waving my phone trying to get it to work on other bank's ATMs. Reminded me of how when I first got an electric car (not a Tesla) I pulled into a supercharger and it was... several minutes before I figured out that the supercharger was Tesla-only. )
re reading this, I'm beginning to wonder if I have a stronger than usual aversion to seeming like I don't know what I'm doing? it's not something I've really thought about before. Huh.
Imagine you're not carrying an id and backup cash, which many people don't.
There you go.
There you go.
> What use do you find for a nfc payments solution?
It's one of these things that you don't understand before you start using it. I was also sceptical about NFC payments, but it's just way more convenient than reaching for wallet and searching for a card. The same with reaching for phone for notifications. On a smartwatch paying and checking notifications is just smoother and instant. It's just a better UX.
It's one of these things that you don't understand before you start using it. I was also sceptical about NFC payments, but it's just way more convenient than reaching for wallet and searching for a card. The same with reaching for phone for notifications. On a smartwatch paying and checking notifications is just smoother and instant. It's just a better UX.
> I don't see how a phone or watch is more convenient than a credit card; I'm carrying backup cash and ID at a minimum already, so adding a credit card to the mix doesn't really lighten my load.
Not the parent poster, but I don't carry a wallet. I quite often head to the store without picking up anything on my way out, with my pockets empty, buy some groceries and pay with my watch.
Usually when I'm out for an evening at a bar or restaurant, I'm out with only my phone and watch.
I find it quite freeing not to have to carry much, but YMMV: I'm in Australia, and I don't think I've seen a 'cash only' vendor in over 6 months, and I haven't seen anywhere that takes card but not NFC payments in literally years.
Not the parent poster, but I don't carry a wallet. I quite often head to the store without picking up anything on my way out, with my pockets empty, buy some groceries and pay with my watch.
Usually when I'm out for an evening at a bar or restaurant, I'm out with only my phone and watch.
I find it quite freeing not to have to carry much, but YMMV: I'm in Australia, and I don't think I've seen a 'cash only' vendor in over 6 months, and I haven't seen anywhere that takes card but not NFC payments in literally years.
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-...
(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.)
https://dev.fitbit.com/blog/2019-12-19-announcing-fitbit-os-...
(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.)
When will the spo2 feature ever materialize on existing Fitbits that have the hardware for it?
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/ [2] https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/pebble-technology-corp/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/ [2] https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/pebble-technology-corp/pebble/...
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...
Edit: this one looks like a good version https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000302271246.html?spm=a2g0o...
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...
Edit: this one looks like a good version https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000302271246.html?spm=a2g0o...
Dip it in conformal coating and you get a baremetal, but waterproof smartwatch! Cool!
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
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
I've had the Fossil hybrid HR for a few weeks now and you pretty much summarized all my thoughts, so I can't do anything but agree.
Could add that after the last update I was able to finally add a battery indicator to my watchface. So I had only todays date on my current watchface and when I tried adding the battery indicator the app forced me to enable location services to continue.
So I went in, enabled location services, added the battery indicator, went back in and disabled location services. Lo and behold, the battery indicator worked fine.
I don't get this obsession with location services unless they have some ulterior motive. It was equally hard to setup a fixed location in the weather app, easy to miss.
I was so happy with the Pebble Time until about a month ago when the battery quickly started deteriorating. I really miss that smartwatch. To me it's of the utmost importance to not need charging every single day and still be able to read notifications. In regards to the Apple Watch, I don't see any reason to have a high resolution image on my watch. It's a practical device.
It's sad that no one picked up the torch after Pebble.
Largely I'm happy with the Fossil HR because it's so practical. I'm sure a software update will bring me my Signal and Pushover notifications that I'm missing, in time.
Could add that after the last update I was able to finally add a battery indicator to my watchface. So I had only todays date on my current watchface and when I tried adding the battery indicator the app forced me to enable location services to continue.
So I went in, enabled location services, added the battery indicator, went back in and disabled location services. Lo and behold, the battery indicator worked fine.
I don't get this obsession with location services unless they have some ulterior motive. It was equally hard to setup a fixed location in the weather app, easy to miss.
I was so happy with the Pebble Time until about a month ago when the battery quickly started deteriorating. I really miss that smartwatch. To me it's of the utmost importance to not need charging every single day and still be able to read notifications. In regards to the Apple Watch, I don't see any reason to have a high resolution image on my watch. It's a practical device.
It's sad that no one picked up the torch after Pebble.
Largely I'm happy with the Fossil HR because it's so practical. I'm sure a software update will bring me my Signal and Pushover notifications that I'm missing, in time.
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.
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...
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...
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.
The pinetime dev kit is only 25$ and would be a good platform for this. https://store.pine64.org/?product=pinetime-dev-kit
Buy a supported device from eBay and then install AsteroidOs (AsteroidOs.org)
I've just kept using my pebble. consistent week long battery life, it gives me notifications and tracks my activity, not much else needed.
Why not get an actual Pebble? That's what I did!
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/
Xiamoi also makes the aforementioned Amazfit series watches
Xiamoi also makes the aforementioned Amazfit series watches
Find its predecessor, the Alerta InPulse watch. It has a very simple but usable SDK.
I've never heard of this and Googling for it turned up nothing. Perhaps its known by something else?
Have you considered a good old Casio g-shock with a repeating sports timer?
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No, but the google fossil wear (no idea re: name) watch is great.
My goal is to create a TODO/Pomodoro watch app (as I had on my good, old Pebble) that is always on.