Inspiration
We are frequent users of reddit platform and we enjoy reading some jokes or stories every time we have a free minute. Pebble smartwatch is a perfect hardware platform to integrate reader client, because it's small, it's always with you, and you don't need to pull out your phone often.
What it does
It shows hot topics from selected subreddits in text mode on Pebble watch, so you can enjoy jokes, news and stories from around the world anytime.
How we built it
We used PebbleKitJS framework to fetch Reddit API, transform and map it and later display it in convenient format on Pebble Watch.
Challenges we ran into
Reddit does provide extensible API to fetch posts in JSON format, however it lacks comprehensive guidelines and docs, so tinkering around it was rather challenging. Also, reddit API lacks some features we would be interested in, so we needed to implement it on our own. To be more specific - you can't select only text posts from subreddit, so we implemented gradual data load&filter via multiple API calls. Another thing that raised some troubles was understanding how code runs, because javascript is executed on a "JerryScript" platform, which differs from NodeJS and Web platforms slightly.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We made multi-feature, easy-to-use reddit client for smartwatches without even touching smartwatches before. Exploring new platform is always fun, however when everything works as expected it's a delightful feeling.
What we learned
CloudPebble, Pebble watch and PebbleKitJS platform, public reddit API, JerryScript (which we will use later, because it is suitable for IOT). Also, a little bit of python.
What's next for rePebble
Image viewing from your pebble watch, reading comments, opening post on your phone, saving posts to favourites, adding your own subs.
Built With
- javascript
- pebble
- pebblekitjs
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