from Hacker News

How to help us build open source Pebble software

by cmbailey on 2/7/25, 2:18 PM with 33 comments

• by schneems on 2/7/25, 3:18 PM

  I want a kids app where a parent can send a task to the watch and have it display, possibly with an occasional alarm or vibration. Ideally with a picture and text. Bonus points for a function to read the task out loud (for kids who cannot read yet).

  Basically Brilli but for a watch.

  Kids generally want to follow directions but get distracted and forget what they are working on. I want an easy and consistent place for them to check “oh right, I was packing working on X when I got distracted”.

  It might sound dystopian for people without kids but as a parent the fewer times I have to remind/check-in on an individual task the less frustrated I am and more patience I have. It makes me realize that when my mom complained “I’ve told you to unpack your backpack 10 times” they probably weren’t exaggerating and I only remembered the last one.

  I’m possibly interested/able to write my own apps, I made an android app and I’m relatively fluent in a few languages. I would be most productive in Rust.

• by jdenning on 2/7/25, 7:30 PM

  I loved my pebble and pebble time, but they really lost my trust with the “Pebble Time 2” kickstarter - it really felt like the kickstarter was just a ploy to enable their sale to Fitbit. Now they are hoping for some free dev work so that they can do it again? Pass.

  Edit: Want community trust? Give some guarantee (eg open hardware) that you’re not going to just kill the hardware (again) for another big buyout. I would be more excited about new pebble hardware that did NOT involve the original founder/team.

• by zibw on 2/7/25, 2:58 PM

  As someone who didn't know much about or ever own a Pebble, can someone sell me on it and explain why it was so popular?

• by klabb3 on 2/7/25, 3:31 PM

  What are the challenges with replicating raspberry pi success of open(?) hardware for other form factors such as tablets, ”smart” (I prefer dumb) displays, and yes watches. Without bells and whistles, but still appealing enough that people like me (neither a hardware guy nor an embedded guy) can buy, use, and play around with it without accidentally bricking it?

  I know HN is biased toward open stacks, and I know economies of scale fuck up most idealistic startups who try, or become extreme niche hobbies. Yet, I am hopeful that there’s an incentive sweet spot where a healthy ecosystem can grow around open commodity hardware.

• by resource_waste on 2/7/25, 3:22 PM

  Can someone explain if they are asking for free labor? Or this actually moves the world forward?

  I don't know if the hardware or any layer is patented.

  Could I remake the watch, send over the software/firmware, and sell the watches legally?

• by solarkraft on 2/7/25, 5:05 PM

  > Please don’t get your hopes up that the new watch will have X/Y/Z new feature. It’s going to be a Pebble and almost exactly as you remember it, except now with open source software that can you can modify and improve yourself.

  That’s largely pretty cool. I explicitly don’t want a touch screen, for example. However some more tracking or longer battery life (Amazfit Bip shows it’s possible) would be appreciated. Styling wise I’ll be completely happy with the Pebble Time 2.

• by TechDebtDevin on 2/7/25, 3:20 PM

  Thinking of joining in on the Discord Hackathon if I have time!

• by yjftsjthsd-h on 2/7/25, 4:14 PM

  Now I'm probably going to buy a rebble watch (or whatever they get called) regardless, but in the meantime there's a pinetime sitting on my desk. I wonder if it's possible to port the pebbleos software to that existing hardware.

• by TechDebtDevin on 2/7/25, 3:23 PM

  Is there a reason you forward to the Pixel watch when someone clicks "No" on the "Do you want a new Pebble" lmao?? Cool animation transition though :P