PineTime
I've been looking at getting a new watch for a while now. I haven't used one for many years and, recently, have been realising the perils of checking my phone to see the time and the following time spent checking notifications etc., that come from just checking the time.
I had heard about the PineTime from when I was looking at a replacement laptop; the perenially out of stock Pinebook Pro. The watch, as was, was only available as a development unit and recently became available as a wearable watch. I have no development skills, resultantly I am using and writing this as an enthusiast.
The time had come; watch was purchased.
First Impressions
Very nice wee device. I really like the, relative, simplicity of it; heart-rate monitor, step tracker, timer and, most importantly, the time.
That it connects to android device via Gadgetbridge on F-droid is brilliant.
I had set-up Gadgetbridge before the watch arrived, I downloaded the latest firmware prior to arrival too.
The process to install wasn't as easy as I had hoped or expected. I expected to be able to install the firmware from within gadgetbridge, this isn't so.
I found instructions which explain that the firmware has to be 'open with' gadgetbridge. The installation was quick and painless, I 'validated' the firmware to prevent it rolling back.
Validation
After installation, swipe right, then press settings, scroll down twice to see 'firmware', press that and then 'validate' will be visible.
Surprises
- Heart-Rate Monitor off-device. There is a reddit question about this, which a commenteer has suggested Fito Track. It works straight away, if your phone is connected to the watch, press one of the 4 information panes and select heart rate(found information FitoTrack's codeberg and FitoTrack's wiki).
- The watch uses a 20mm watch strap, so many watch-straps of that width will work.
- It charges quite rapidly with the provided charging puck.
- Once set via Gadgetbridge, the ability to control music on the phone works brilliantly, no need to remove the phone to skip a track!
Gripes
Notifications
I dislike that notifications aren't, currently, removable. They seem to cap at 5 notifications which is grand, but removal would be preferrable. Github discussion
Features
- Sleep tracking, there is a discussion on the forum about it too. I will try to use Sleep as Android to see if it works via the watch.
edit: I have tried to get it to work via Sleep as Android and have been unsuccessful. When setting to 'Pebble Gadgetbridge' the test function times out. I will keep an eye on this and update in the future. - Navigation, there is a discussion on the Pine64 forum. I have failed to get it working with a short walk.
- Weather Notification. I followed the instructions and hope to see a result, however this comment on reddit says that although it is available it is not complete/ready. The InfiniTime github issue.
More Information
- PineTime Wiki
- My PineTime is running InfiniTime
- Other OSs
I will likely write more on this wee watch in the coming weeks. If anyone has questions, feel free to write (via Linux.pizza Masto)and I think comments are enabled now, via remark.as. Discuss...