forecaswatch2

What ForecasWatch2 is

ForecasWatch2 is an open source revival of the beloved ForecasWatch watchface. The README explains that the original ForecasWatch relied on Weather Underground forecasts, and that support broke when the free API was shut down. This project restores that functionality and keeps the watchface alive on Pebble hardware. The author invites contributions and improvement suggestions on GitHub, so the project is community friendly rather than a finished commercial product.

The watchface is built for Pebble devices and shows a 24 hour weather forecast that updates every 30 minutes. The README frames the work as a revival, meaning the look and role of the classic face are preserved while the data source is modernized. Weather Underground support is included through what the README calls a hacky workaround, which is an honest note about the method rather than a hidden implementation detail. OpenWeatherMap is offered as an alternative provider, giving users a second path when one service is unavailable. Because the original API closure is the reason this project exists, the README's emphasis on provider support is the central story: the face is familiar, but the plumbing behind the forecast is new. The result is a watchface that old Pebble owners can install and that behaves much like the one they remember.

Features and supported hardware

The feature list is broad for a watchface. It shows the current time and a battery indicator, a three week calendar, and the 24 hour weather forecast that refreshes every 30 minutes. A Bluetooth connection indicator is present, and the watch can vibrate on disconnect. There is a quiet time indicator and night shading for low light reading. Weather comes from multiple providers, with Weather Underground and OpenWeatherMap named. The face shows current temperature, a temperature forecast drawn as a red line, and a precipitation probability forecast drawn as a blue area, plus the city where the forecast was fetched and the next sunrise or sunset time.

Location can come from GPS or manual entry, and temperatures can be shown in Fahrenheit or Celsius. Users can customize the time font and color, and can set colors for Sundays, Saturdays, and US federal holidays, which is a nice touch for a calendar that spans weeks. The supported hardware is all rectangular Pebble watches: Classic, Steel, Time, Time Steel, and Pebble 2. The README notes this in a platforms section rather than listing round models, so owners of those rectangular devices are the target audience. The combination of a dense information layout and configurable colors is what made the original face popular, and the revival keeps that layout intact.

Installing and the telemetry model

Installation offers two paths. The easiest is through the modern Pebble app via the RePebble listing, which the README says should be the simplest install path on current Pebble software. The Rebble flow is also supported, and the README links the Rebble setup help for people who need to configure their Pebble app first. The two stores share a backend, so they are effectively the same catalog reached through different entry points. For a specific build, a manual install sideloads the forecaswatch2.pbw release file using the modern Pebble app on iOS or Android, which can install pbw files directly.

Privacy is treated as a first class concern. The README describes telemetry that respects the user: precise location and API keys are not collected. Account and watch identifiers are stored only as server side HMAC hashes, enough for rough usage statistics such as daily active users but not as readable identifiers. The collected data covers each weather fetch outcome and duration, the provider, a coarse country code when available, app and watch metadata, and an allowlist of non sensitive settings. Not collected are coordinates, city or state, manual location strings, or API keys. The purpose is to estimate daily active users, see the coarse country mix, spot weather fetch failures, and learn which settings are common. Users can opt out by disabling telemetry in the settings. The license is GPL 3.0.

Editorial conclusion

ForecasWatch2 is distributed under the GPL 3.0 license and targets rectangular Pebble watches, with the source at github.com/mattrossman/forecaswatch2.