November 24, 2025
Open source, open season
Pebble Watch Software Is Now 100% Open Source
Fans cheer, skeptics grumble: “Is it really open—and when do we get ours?”
TLDR: Pebble says its watch software and phone app are now fully open, with a backed-up app store. Fans cheer, while others flag “binary blobs,” question Chinese New Year shipping delays, and ask if the new screw-off back stays waterproof—making this a big win with a side of spicy debate
Pebble just dropped a mic: the watch and its phone app are now 100% open source, meaning anyone can see and fix the code. Cue the confetti—then cue the comments. The loudest cheer was drowned out by a spicy chorus asking, “Is it really 100%?” One user cuts in with “Except… some binary blobs”, calling out bits of closed code that still linger like mystery meat in the stew. Meanwhile, shipping drama lit up the thread. With Chinese New Year factory shutdowns looming, a commenter demanded a timeline that makes sense: why does the second batch arrive months after the first? Cue memey “CNY math” jokes and armchair logistics hot takes. On the fun side, color nerds launched Rivian Blue-gate, claiming the blue shown isn’t “Rivian enough,” while practical folks are laser-focused on the new screw-off back: battery swap = yay, waterproofing = wait, do we need a gasket kit? Techies nodded at the new PebbleOS repo and the fresh app’s source, but the real trust play might be the new appstore feed backed up to Archive.org—a long-term, “no more disappearing apps” promise that one commenter says clearly responds to “last week’s stories.” In short: fans are thrilled, purists are policing the “100%,” and everyone’s refreshing for shipping dates
Key Points
- •Pebble’s entire watch software stack, including the mobile companion app, is now open source.
- •Pebble Appstore supports multiple feeds and offers a publicly available backup; Pebble launched its own feed and Developer Dashboard.
- •PebbleOS has been fully open source since January, with committed ongoing open-source improvements.
- •Pebble Time 2 features improved repairability (screwed back cover, user-replaceable battery) and targets shipping starting January with most units arriving March/April.
- •Hardware design files for Pebble 2 Duo, including KiCad projects, are published on GitHub for building PebbleOS-compatible devices.