Pebble Apps Collection

13 fun Pebble smartwatch apps — watchfaces, games, and utilities — all targeting Pebble 2 and up.

Apps

App	Type	Description
binary-clock	Watchface	Time displayed as BCD binary dots
magic-8ball	App	Shake for fortune, accelerometer-powered
pomodoro-timer	App	25/5 work-break cycles with progress bar
reaction-tester	Game	Measure your reflex time in milliseconds
game-of-life	Sim	Conway's cellular automaton, 36x42 grid
morse-time	App	Vibrate the current time in Morse code
dice-roller	App	D4/D6/D8/D10/D12/D20, shake to roll
breathing	Wellness	Guided breathing (4-7-8, Box, Simple patterns)
pixel-invaders	Game	Space invaders with wave progression
snake	Game	Classic snake with persistent high score
tally-counter	Utility	Persistent counter with haptic feedback
stopwatch	Utility	Precision timer with lap tracking
compass	Utility	Digital compass with rotating dial

Target Platforms

All apps support:

• Diorite — Pebble 2 / Pebble 2 Duo (144x168, B&W, 64KB)
• Basalt — Pebble Time / Time Steel (144x168, 64-color, 64KB)
• Emery — Pebble Time 2 (200x228, 64-color, 128KB)

Apps use PBL_IF_COLOR_ELSE() for color-aware rendering on basalt/emery while staying clean B&W on diorite.

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Local Development Setup (macOS)

Prerequisites

You need Homebrew, Node.js, and the uv package manager.

brew install node
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Install the Pebble SDK

# Install pebble-tool (uses Python 3.13 in an isolated env)
uv tool install pebble-tool --python 3.13

# Download the latest SDK (4.9.127+)
pebble sdk install latest

# Verify
pebble --version
pebble sdk list

Apple Silicon note: The SDK's bundled ARM cross-compiler and QEMU emulator are x86_64 binaries that run via Rosetta 2. Install Rosetta if you haven't: softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license

Build an App

cd snake
pebble build

This compiles your C code for all target platforms and produces a build/<appname>.pbw file.

Test in the Emulator

# Launch the QEMU emulator for Pebble 2 (B&W)
pebble install --emulator diorite

# Or test on color platforms
pebble install --emulator basalt
pebble install --emulator emery

# View logs
pebble logs --emulator diorite

# Take a screenshot
pebble screenshot --emulator diorite

The emulator maps keyboard keys to the four physical buttons (Up, Down, Select, Back).

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Deploy to a Real Pebble Watch

Method 1: WiFi via Phone IP

1. On your phone, open the Pebble (or Core Devices) companion app
2. Go to Settings > Developer Mode > Enable
3. Tap Developer Connection and note the IP address
4. On your Mac:

cd snake
pebble build
pebble install --phone 192.168.1.XXX   # your phone's IP

# Watch live logs from the real device
pebble logs --phone 192.168.1.XXX

Method 2: CloudPebble Connection

pebble install --cloudpebble

Authenticates via GitHub — no IP address needed. Still requires Developer Mode in the companion app.

Method 3: Sideload the .pbw File

After pebble build, share the build/<appname>.pbw directly:

• AirDrop / email it to your phone
• Open it with the Pebble companion app
• It installs to the watch automatically

Method 4: Publish to the App Store

Upload your .pbw to dev-portal.rebble.io with screenshots and metadata. Apps appear in both the Rebble and Core Devices stores.

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Updating an App After Code Changes

After editing src/main.c or any source file, follow these steps to get the updated app onto your watch:

# 1. Rebuild
cd binary-clock
pebble build

# 2. Pick ONE of these to deploy:

# Option A: Direct install via WiFi
pebble install --phone 192.168.1.XXX

# Option B: Copy to iCloud Drive, then open .pbw on phone
cp build/binary-clock.pbw ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Pebble\ Apps/

# Option C: AirDrop the .pbw to your phone
open build/   # opens Finder, then AirDrop the .pbw file

Bulk rebuild all apps:

cd /path/to/pebble
for app in */; do
  [ -f "$app/src/main.c" ] || continue
  echo "Building $app..."
  (cd "$app" && pebble build)
done

Bulk copy all .pbw files to iCloud:

for app in */build/*.pbw; do
  cp "$app" ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Pebble\ Apps/
done

The .pbw file in build/ is the compiled app. Every time you change code, you need to pebble build again to regenerate it. The old version on your watch gets replaced when you install the new .pbw.

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Browser-Based Alternatives (No Local Setup)

If you don't want to install the SDK locally:

Option	URL	What It Does
CloudPebble	cloudpebble.repebble.com	Full IDE with compiler + emulator in the browser
GitHub Codespaces	cloud.repebble.com	VS Code in browser with SDK pre-installed
WebAssembly Emulator	ericmigi.github.io/pebble-qemu-wasm	Boots real PebbleOS firmware in your browser

CloudPebble is the fastest path — create a project, paste in src/main.c and package.json, click Build, and run on the emulator.

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Running Tests

Static Analysis (no SDK required)

# Install cppcheck
brew install cppcheck

# Run the full test suite
./test.sh

The test suite checks:

1. cppcheck static analysis — catches bugs, memory issues, portability problems
2. Project structure — verifies all required files exist
3. Platform targeting — ensures diorite/basalt/emery are in package.json
4. Code quality — checks create/destroy balance, main() entry point, event loop
5. SDK build — compiles all apps (only if pebble CLI is installed)

Full SDK Build Test

Once the SDK is installed, ./test.sh automatically detects it and builds all 13 apps.

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Project Structure

pebble/
├── README.md
├── CLAUDE.md           # AI assistant context
├── test.sh             # Test suite
├── .gitignore
├── info.md             # Pebble dev reference guide
├── binary-clock/
│   ├── CLAUDE.md       # Per-project docs
│   ├── package.json    # Pebble manifest
│   ├── wscript         # Build config
│   └── src/
│       └── main.c      # App source
├── snake/
│   └── ...
└── (11 more apps)

Troubleshooting

pebble command not found after install:

# Ensure ~/.local/bin is in your PATH
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Emulator fails to launch on Apple Silicon: The QEMU binary needs Rosetta 2. If the emulator times out, try running the command again — first launch can be slow.

Python version too new: The uv tool install --python 3.13 flag handles this automatically. Don't use your system Python.

Build fails with missing SDK:

pebble sdk install latest
pebble sdk set-channel release

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Resources

• Developer Docs (Rebble) — archived original Pebble docs
• Developer Docs (Core Devices) — actively updated, includes Alloy
• CloudPebble IDE — browser-based development
• Rebble Discord — #app-dev channel for help
• r/pebble — community forum
• pebble-examples — official example projects
• Learning C with Pebble — free textbook