Quick update about my Pixel Watch project

Progress so far:

• Wear OS and Android apps
• Stable and reliable Bluetooth connection between these two
• Basic Flask backend server
• Postgresql for data persistence

The Wear OS app runs the Bluetooth server to which the Android app connects to. After a lot of troubleshooting and testing, i've managed to make it work.

Even though i'm not sure why. Google claims that the Wearable Data Layer API is the only communication one can use. They even explicitly state that you cannot open a low level socket.

I will now start building my own wearable API via the existing Bluetooth implementation. I'm very proud of the progress so far. I wasn't sure if this project will be possible.

I will also try to reproduce the setup process so that one can setup the watch without needing to install the official Pixel Watch app even once.

#google #pixel #pixelwatch #bluetooth #api #googleplay #googleplayservices #wearable #coding #dev #backend #development #privacy

Pixel Watch 2 - Privacy Preserving Setup

I've been trying everything i could think of to make the watch work under GrapheneOS - Here is what i learned:

• Unpairing the Watch means factory resetting it.
• Every feature (literally everything) is google dependent (who would have thought.. i know)
• Pairing with your phone requires the "Pixel Watch" -App to be installed on your main profile (not work, not private space) alongside Google Play Services. There's no way around.

This is obviously unacceptable. So i did a bit of research and found a way that will not only be way more practical, it will also be private.

First i created a second user on my Phone, installed Google Play Services and the pixel watch app on it, logged in with a newly created google account and completed the setup.

I know some people use a chinese version of the WearOS app to bypass the google login. Since i don't want a chinese app to configure my watch, i didn't even try that.

After the watch was set up, i continued and:

• Deleted the user profile from which i connected the Watch
• Enabled wireless debugging
• Debloated the watch as good as possible (i will have to root the watch in the future to properly do it)
• Removed the Google account in the settings
• Cleared all Bluetooth preferences
• Enabled Bluetooth discovery
• Installed KDE Connect on it (not meant for WearOS but it does work barely)

The watch is now in a state where i can use it daily.

But i also want to make use of all those fancy quality-of-life features, like heartrate monitoring, sleep tracking and so on.

Now comes the fun part.

I've created a basic Kotlin project with both a mobile and WearOS app.

I will implement features like:

• Notification sync
• Call notifications
• Media Player Control
• Weather (openweathermap)
• Heartrate monitoring
• Sleep tracking
• Do not Distrurb Sync
• Homelab integrations (Nextcloud, Immich, Uptime Kuma, ..)
• And much more ..

The goal is to keep the watch offline, let the phone do the heavy lifting and communicate with a selfhosted database. I may even add a frontend and an API so people can integrate it for their needs.

Sounds good but why don't you just buy an #opensource #smartwatch like the #pinetime - You may ask.

Because as much as i hate to admit it, i love the design, the look and feel of the pixel watch. And i'm sure that i'm not the only one.

I also bought this one cheap for around 120€ #refurbished. So the value i can get out of it seems pretty good to me.

So much for today. I haven't even started tackling the Bluetooth connection yet 😅. Let's see how that turns out

I have added a poll to this post to see how many people would be interested in a setup like this. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, ideas or expertise in that regard.

Cheers.

#privacy #security #android #google #pixel #pixelwatch #degoogle #degoogling #degoogled #adb #rooting #grapheneos #smartwatch #development #wearos #bluetooth #qualityoflife #GooglePlay #GooglePlayServices #frontend #api #selfhosting #selfhosted #homelab #opensource

I just bought a #refurbished #Google #Pixelwatch2 to try to build my own "Pixel Watch" companion app. Can i make the Pixel Watch 2 work with faked API's? How much can i improve the privacy ? So many ideas. That will be a fun project!

Let's see how that will go.

#privacy #surveillance #google #pixel #foss

#GamesOnWhales is by far the coolest thing i've set up in 2025. I have an #AMD #Radeon RX 9060 XT, 48GB of ram and a #Ryzen 5 in there. Being able to build custom desktops using #Docker and use them without any latency is AWESOME! Now i can play games on my #thinkpad, spin up various different desktops for any usecase, or use my #kalilinux desktop from whatever device i want to. I can even play #Cyberpunk on my #AndroidTV. I have no words to describe how much i love this 😁

#gaming #docker #gow #gamesonwhales #cloudgaming #cloudcomputing #selfhosting #selfhosted #homelab

This makes perfect sense, right?

Excluding a process from windows defender will be detected.

Excluding a process and a path from windows defender won't.

(this is windows 10 on it's last security update)

#windows #windows10 #windowsdefender

#ChatControl is over and i can't believe that shit was actually threatening our privacy. Kind of surreal this was a thing.

#privacy #PrivacyIsARight

I love improving my #homelab. I installed the #docker-socket-proxy to allow #UptimeKuma to access the #Docker #sockets of all my #VMs in a secure manner. The advantage by doing so is that i can now monitor every service including the ones that don't expose a port like #watchtower. And i can also restrict access to given functionalities.

#selfhosting #homelabs #security #monitoring #uptime #docker #linux #server