Fossil is quitting smartwatches
Fossil is quitting smartwatches
A “strategic decision” from one of the most prolific smartwatch companies.
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I had a Fossil Wear OS smartwatch, I liked it but I barely used any of its features. Basically, I'd use it to notify me of messages and then I could see whether or not to pick up my phone.
I sold it and bought a Fossil hybrid (Collider HR) and I love that thing. The battery lasts about 2 weeks and people always think it's so cool that it has physical hands.
It shows me whenever I get a message or calendar notification (or whatever notifications I want) and that's all I care about.
I haven't looked at the newer generation of watches, but I don't think I'd upgrade or anything.
I also have other Fossil stuff, like belts. They make cool stuff, but they've always been a fashion brand first before a tech brand.
If they stop making smartwatches, are there any other brands that make good hybrid, eink watches?
Also, the article just mentioned they'd stop making Wear OS devices so maybe they'll still make the hybrid watches?
Not hybrid watches but Garmin watches have a passive LCD screen that is readable under reflected light and the app is excellent, albeit proprietary.
I have a Fossil hybrid and Garmin Instinct and wear the instinct most of the time. I find the Fossil app too basic and it drains battery. I have heard about an open source app that can sync to them however.
I recently switched to using GadgetBridge with my Fossil Hybrid. It was a little annoying to set up, but it works.
That's the one, thanks! I better get to it before Fossil pulls the app. You need to extract a private key from the paired app correct?
Yes, there are a few ways to do it. You need to have logged into the Fossil app with an email/password, it didn't seem to work with "login with Google."
I used a python script that I ran on my computer that got the private key from the Fossil servers.
https://gadgetbridge.org/basics/pairing/fossil-server/
NOTE: You need to add the private key before pairing with GadgetBridge, if you add it after then it won't work.
Appreciate the pointers!