Thanks to RePebble, Schwitzerdütsch can now be installed again on Pebble watches. If you still use a Pebble or have brought yours back to life, you can download the watchface again from the RePebble Appstore.
I’ve revisited this project, because somebody asked me to implement a more precise display of the time. Instead of displaying “zäh vor nüni” at 8:52, it now displays “acht vor nüni”. I’ve decided to create a new app for this, as some users may prefer the older version without accurate timing, because it feels more relaxed. It also now runs on all newer versions of the Pebble.
Why did I create this project
When I first got my pebble one of my goals was it to create a watchface or app for it. Also I found the idea of being able to read the time in my native language amazing.
How did I implement the solution
Apps and watchfaces for the pebble have to be written in the language C. The development is a bit simplified because the pebble developer provide us with some really useful libraries. They can be used to draw text or images on the screen without having to access the hardware directly.
Because of my nonexistent experience with C I also had to learn the basics of the language before starting to develop. For this task I used http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/ which gave me as a fast learner a quick start with the language. For the actual development I’ve used https://cloudpebble.net/ which is a IDE in the cloud and is pre-configured for the development with the pebble smartwatch.
I put the sourcecode for my watchface on Github so everyone can have a look how badly ;) I implemented my solution. https://github.com/nahakiole/schwitzerduetsch
What difficulties did I encounter
C is a really hard language to learn, if you started with a dynamic language like PHP, but I still had a blast learning it. It also helped me get into development of desktop apps in C. However I’m nowhere near the intermediate level. In the first few versions I had some problems with displaying the wrong time, but the latest version is stable.
Schwitzerdütsch in the Repebble Appstore