Got myself a Watchy (v2.0 clone off Aliexpress) and slapped a 803040 1000mah battery on it for the lols, so designed a shell and strap for it.
Also uploaded it to Thingiverse if anyone else with one of these wants to make one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6971561
#watchy #diy #3dprinting
One last blog post to close out 2024!
Talking about my experiences, recommendations, and future plans with Watchy, an open-source basic E-Ink smartwatch:
https://meander.site/my-watchy/
A while back, I made a Bitsy Jam game about trying and not quite managing to make a watch that displays the time in Cistercian numerals: https://damonwakes.itch.io/hibernation-hassle
Almost two years on, I'm happy to say that I've finally done it! I'd still like to add a battery indicator (and if I'm feeling really fancy, numerals for the date and a step counter), but I'm quite happy with the minimalist look of this as-is.
#ESP33 #CPP #Watchy #watch #Cistercian #CistercianNumerals #programming #microcontroller
The Watchy arrived today, significantly earlier than the ETA range that was provided!
Rather glad with spending a bit more to get it with a metal case, since it makes the watch feel a bit more premium; it might even be anodised aluminium? I know that E-Ink is renowned for crisp text, but I'm still surprised by how readable the tiniest text is on the watchface it came with (Starfield) without squinting. Can't wait to explore it further, try out various firmwares for it, and perhaps even create watchfaces for it!
Slowly building up my e-ink device collection again 
Here the SQFMI #Watchy assembled with a nice red Gameboy themed case, and with a Boox Palma with the clock screensaver running sitting on the desk below.
(The times don't match as they are currently set to update their displays at different intervals)
It appears the #Watchy did not like my handling, which included a bunch of moisture and drops. It's probably mostly the moisture that did it, probably in some ribbon cable connector somewhere. It still works fine, even though the temp sensor always indicates it's 105C somehow haha. If you get one I recommend printing or getting one with a casing around it. I'll probably use it as a wallclock near the bathtub or something, maybe fix it some day, (currently using/testing a different watch)
My #Watchy is still going over two weeks after the initial charge, battery is still 3.73v so pretty far from empty. Disabling wifi makes a huge difference!
It also got wet a few times because I do a lot of outdoor/sweaty/gardening/etc work, but so far it shrugged all of that off, despite being the open non-enclosed version
my #Watchy is still going 13 days later without a recharge (battery is still 3.87v!).
Main reason is probably having not been using Wifi/Bluetooth though, but even just as a wristwatch with stepcounter, date and temperature, it's a lovely device, I can really recommend e-paper to anyone thinking of building their own smartwatch
#Watchy made me realize how amazing e-paper is for smartwatches.
The tiny battery lasts a week, whilst being ALWAYS on, extremely readable under almost any light condition except pitch black can't see your own hand level darkness.
Just the fact I can put it besides my bed or bathtub and always see the time from a distance (without it ever turning off for power saving because of no movement), already puts it above many other smartwatches out there imho, no matter how pretty OLED is.
@revk@toot.me.ukI don't know much about it, but I gather people in to minecraft like chunky pixels? Hope my grandson approves. #Watchy
blog! “Discord is not Documentation”
I'm going to be slightly contrarian and say that I like Discord. It's great to be able to get real-time help on a problem. And it is fun to see, again in real-time, what other people are working on and struggling with. In truth, Discord is no harder to sign up to than Slack, Matrix, […]
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/07/discord-is-not-documentation/
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#documentation #OpenSource #rant #watchy
blog! “An eInk, Wrist-Mounted, TOTP Generator”
Behold! Thanks to the power of the Watchy development platform, I now have all my 2FA codes available at the flick of my wrist! HOWTO This uses Luca Dentella's TOTP-Arduino library. You will need a pre-shared secret which is then converted into a Hex array. Use the OTP Tool for Arduino TOTP Library to get […]
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/07/an-eink-wrist-mounted-totp-generator/
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#2fa #arduino #eink #security #watchy
@revk@toot.me.ukI have the display working nicely now.
My test of #Watchy code was nearly 3 weeks on a charge.
My first test of my code, running flat out with WiFi set to no power save and display not set to sleep, worst case basically, is 2½ hours.
Next test is display sleep and WiFi on max power save.
After that I need to go for proper processor sleep mode, but need RTC first to retain state and know the time on start up after sleep.
Then buttons, and accelerometer, and well, loads.
But fun...
@revk@toot.me.ukI was pondering what apps I could put on a #Watchy when I have made my own code base under ESP IDF.
There are fun apps, but I am not sure I would use it as I have a nice watch already. But maybe someone else would.
But even so, what can it do that would not just be on a phone already.
Then it occurred to me - I would have killed for a watch that include my timetable when I was at school. And schools don't let the kids use a phone (I think). So maybe some of the grandkids would like that. Hmm.
blog! “Stupidly Small eInk Font”
I have the new Watchy eInk watch. It has a cute little screen with a resolution of 200x200 pixels. How much text can we cram in there? A typical watch face looks like this: My new watch face is far superior and looks like this: That's using the GNU Unifont - which works brilliantly on […]
Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/07/stupidly-small-eink-font/
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#arduino #eink #watchy
Well, now *I* have a #Watchy, too.
I thoroughly and completely blame @edent for my own total lack of willpower in the face of a shiny gadget.
@revk@toot.me.ukIt is a very small step towards my own #Watchy code, from scratch, but it is a start. SSD1681 driver coded for full update - needs some partial update and stuff yet.
But yay, progress.
