I’ve been meaning to make new dev projects for a while. But finding the time to sit down to just code is difficult for me these days. However I wanted to make a watch face for my new watch and I just said screw it.
Through a mix of using the Pebble SDK documentation, and referencing a few AI chatbots, mainly GPT-OSS I’m running in Alpaca, I was able to make it, make it run, and since it’s in C, I was able to have no memory leaks (according to the logs).
I’ve uploaded the source code to Codeberg if you want to look at it, I’ve yet do document it, so hopefully it’s not too hard to understand and not a spaghetti mess.
https://codeberg.org/the16bitgamer/poketech-dx
** Notes on my experience using AI to aid in coding **
When I was taught to coding, Google-fu was the goto way if/when the documentation fails you. However with both how old, and incomplete the Pebble SDK docs are, Google-fu wasn’t helping since the info it would pull was about a decade or older and mostly out of date or hard to decipher information on Stack Overflow. I would almost say using an AI along with the actual documentation and tutorials was a necessity for me to even finish this project.
The AI wasn’t perfect, endlessly gas lighting me, telling me to do over the top things for functions I already implemented, and putting me down rabbit holes going no-where. But compared to what I could get from Google, and it’s ability to try and break down what the code is doing, it was a lot more helpful than I thought it would be.
Compared to my previous watches.
Pebble Time: It’s a significant improvement, but that was to be expected considering it’s 10 years old. I love the larger display and the slimmer bezels are nice. The build is excellent, and I appear to not have gotten a defective unit, so it’s solid. I put a 3D Printed Bezel on it for the glass, mostly since I wanted to add more color, and partially due to the hoopla about the cracked displays a small number of users are reporting. Currently I’ve only charged my watch once since it arrived to top it off, and I am only at 34% at 19 days in. It looks like I might get close to the promised 30 day battery life. But we’ll see.
Garmin Fenix 6: I prefer to use my Garmin as my exercise tracker, especially with the GPS built it. The Pebble’s battery life is equal since they both have transflective screens. But where the Pebble wins out is being a better watch. Day to day, it has better app support for watch features, like timers, and stop watches. Notifications read better on the Pebble, and on Android more options to respond to messages. I’m still going to use my garmin for bikes and other fitness stuff. But my Pebble Time 2 has outright replaced it at this point.
With that said, I find it hard to recommend a Pebble, if the idea of a Pebble hasn’t already sold you. If you are looking for a fitness tracker you will be much better severed with a Garmin. But the tinkerability of Pebble, it’s long life time (my original time did last 10 years), and the fact the entire eco system of Pebble, from the App to the website is now open source, I would recommend it, if this sounds nice to you.