“We’re making new Pebble watches,” writes authentic Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky on the “rePebble” launch web page.
Eight years after Pebble’s time as an upstart watchmaker got here to an finish, Migicovsky says that he is working with a small group on “a Pebble-like smartwatch that runs open supply PebbleOS.” There ought to be some new options, however new watches would keep “true to the core Pebble imaginative and prescient.” With sufficient sign-ups, the location claims, that watch will get constructed.
Pebble, launched in 2012, was one of many first smartphone-era smartwatches, promoting 2 million fashions and serving as an early success story for {hardware} crowdfunding. After the comparatively inexperienced {hardware} agency bumped into funding gaps and stiff competitors from the Apple Watch, Pebble stopped making its personal watches after an IP-only sale to Fitbit in 2016. Google acquired Fitbit in 2021, gaining some authentic Pebble staff as nicely, who then helped the Rebble mission launch substitute internet providers for the watch and saved the watch engaged on the latest Android telephones.
Maintaining Issues Easy
Why would somebody need to make 2016’s e-paper watches once more? One massive motive is that Google, pushed alongside by its in-house Pebble vets and Rebble volunteers, has launched many of the supply code for Pebble’s working system. It is lacking some blobs of proprietary chipset and Bluetooth stack code, however it may be constructed, if not totally compiled. There’s “a non-trivial quantity of labor to do to find replacements” for these items, in addition to bringing years-old supply code updated, Google’s put up notes. However anybody who desires to make a Pebble-ish watch can now use Pebble’s code.
With that code, Migicovsky can tackle the second motive for a brand new Pebble—nothing has actually changed the unique. On his weblog, Migicovsky defines the core of Pebble’s enchantment: always-on display screen, lengthy battery life, a “easy and delightful person expertise” centered on helpful necessities, bodily buttons, and “hackable,” together with customized watch faces.
Migicovsky writes {that a} small group is tackling the {hardware} facet, making a watch that runs PebbleOS and “principally has the identical specs and options as Pebble” however with “enjoyable new stuff as nicely.” Crucially, they’re taking a special path than the unique Pebble firm:
Nonetheless Not an Apple Watch—by Design
Ars Technica requested Migicovsky by e mail if modern-day Pebbles would have higher interoperability with Apple’s iPhones than the unique fashions. “No, even much less now!” Migicovsky replied, pointing to the Division of Justice’s lawsuit towards Apple in 2024. That lawsuit claims that Apple “restricted the performance of third-party smartwatches” to maintain individuals utilizing Apple Watches after which, because of this, much less more likely to change away from iPhones.
The core performance Migicovsky detailed on his put up, he wrote, was nonetheless potential on iOS. Sure superior options, like replying to notifications with voice dictation, could also be restricted to Android telephones.
Migicovsky’s website and weblog don’t set a timeline for brand new {hardware}. His final main mission, the multi-protocol chat app Beeper, was bought to WordPress.com proprietor Automattic in April 2024, following a protracted battle with Apple over entry to its iMessage protocol.
This story initially appeared on Ars Technica.
