Ask HN: Programmable Watches with WiFi?

Forget Apple Watch ads – on Hacker News, the real battle is over wifi watches you can actually hack. One user casually drops that their programmable TTGO watch is “mainly a decoration of my drawer,” instantly becoming the mascot for every gadget we swore we’d tinker with and then buried forever. The mood: equal parts ambition, regret, and “yeah I’ll totally build something… someday.”

On one side, the hardcore do‑it‑yourself crowd is screaming “Watchy or nothing!” A commenter hypes the ultra-nerdy Watchy device where you write your own software, talk to websites, and draw your own interface — but warns it’s very “build it yourself,” from battery life to making it not ugly. Their subtext: freedom is cool, just don’t expect comfort.

Opposing them are the pragmatists in Team Wear OS (Google’s watch system). One dev flexes that he writes his own tools on a TicWatch and finds it “fairly painless,” then immediately slams Google for its painful app store reviews. Another quietly admits they just bought a Google Pixel Watch 4 after falling down “rabbit holes,” like a tech version of, “I tried to be special, then I bought the mainstream thing.”

The surprise star is AsteroidOS, a full-on Linux (computer-like) system for watches that you can log into like a tiny server on your wrist. The vibe: the community is torn between turning their watch into a tiny hacker playground… or accepting that, yeah, Bluetooth to your phone is fine and at least the battery survives the day.