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155 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
155 lines
6.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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# Copyright 2025 Google LLC
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#
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# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
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# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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# You may obtain a copy of the License at
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#
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# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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#
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# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
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# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
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# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
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# limitations under the License.
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title: 4.2-beta4 SDK - Emery Edition!
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author: jonb
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tags:
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- Freshly Baked
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---
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We're incredibly excited to announce the first public beta of the Pebble SDK
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4.2. This is the first time that developers can experience the new 'Emery'
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platform which is specifically created for the upcoming
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[Pebble Time 2](https://www.pebble.com/buy-pebble-time-2-smartwatch).
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## All About Those Pixels
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The new display on the *Pebble Time 2* is almost 53% physically larger, and the
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[Pixels per inch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixel_density) (PPI) has been
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increased from 182 PPI to 202 PPI. This is a massive 200x228 pixels, compared to
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144x168 on the *Pebble Time Steel*, that's an 88% increase in the total amount
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of pixels!.
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Take a look at our
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{% guide_link tools-and-resources/hardware-information "Hardware guide" %} for
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further information about the specifications of the Pebble Time 2.
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Watchfaces and watchapps that have not been updated for the Emery platform will
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run in *Bezel Mode*. This means they will appear centered on screen at their
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original resolution (144x168), but due to the change in PPI, they appear
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slightly smaller.
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<p class="blog__image-text">Left: Pebble Time Steel, Middle: Pebble Time 2 -
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Bezel Mode, Right: Optimized for Pebble Time 2.<br />
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<a href="https://github.com/pebble-examples/concentricity">Concentricity
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Watchface</a></p>
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The increased number of pixels would immediately make you think that you can
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just add more elements to your watchface design, but due to the increase in PPI,
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existing elements and fonts may feel slightly smaller than expected when viewed
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on an actual device.
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The image below simulates how the PPI difference makes a bezel mode application
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feel smaller on the Pebble Time 2.
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<p class="blog__image-text">Left: Pebble Time Steel, Right: Pebble Time 2 - Bezel Mode.</p>
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We've now seen that the increased amount of pixels doesn't necessarily equate to
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bigger text on our devices, due to the change in PPI, that's why we've created
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the new [ContentSize](/docs/c/preview/User_Interface/Preferences/#preferred_content_size)
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API.
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## Introducing the ContentSize API
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All existing Pebble smartwatches provide the ability for users to change the
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size of text for notifications and some system UI components using *Settings >
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Notifications > Text Size*.
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The new
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[ContentSize](/docs/c/preview/User_Interface/Preferences/#preferred_content_size)
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API now exposes this setting to developers, in order for
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them to adapt their application design and layout based on this user preference.
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In the previous section, we saw how the PPI increase on Pebble Time 2 affected
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the relative size of a watchface. In the image below you can see precisely how
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text sizes are affected by the PPI change.
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<p class="blog__image-text">Yellow: Pebble Time Steel, Green: Pebble Time 2.</p>
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To negate the effects of this reduced font size, the Emery platform uses larger
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fonts by default. Developers can use the
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[ContentSize](/docs/c/preview/User_Interface/Preferences/#preferred_content_size)
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API to match this
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behaviour within their own applications.
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The following table explains how the text size setting affects the content size
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on each platform:
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Platform | Text Size: Small | Text Size: Medium | Text Size: Large
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---------|------------------|-------------------|-----------------
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Aplite, Basalt, Chalk, Diorite | ContentSize: Small | ContentSize: Medium | ContentSize: Large
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Emery | ContentSize: Medium | ContentSize: Large | ContentSize: Extra Large
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Developers should aim to implement designs which adapt to the capabilities of
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the device, but also the accessibility requirements of the user. The
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[ContentSize](/docs/c/preview/User_Interface/Preferences/#preferred_content_size)
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API satisfies both of these goals.
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For more information, read the
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{% guide_link user-interfaces/content-size "ContentSize guide" %}.
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## New for Rocky.js
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With the release of SDK 4.2, we're extremely proud to announce that
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[Rocky.js](/docs/rockyjs/) watchfaces can be published into the Pebble appstore!
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As usual, don't publish apps with the beta SDK into the appstore, please wait
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for the final release.
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In addition to finalizing the memory contract for Rocky.js apps, we've also
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added a few new APIs to work with:
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### Memory Pressure
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The `memorypressure` event has been added to allow developers to handle the
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situations which occur when the amount of memory available to their application
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has changed. Initially we've only implemented the `high` memory pressure level,
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which occurs right before your application is about to be terminated, due to a
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lack of memory. If you can free sufficient memory within the callback for this
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event, your application will continue to run. Please refer to the Rocky.js
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[documentation](/docs/rockyjs/rocky/#RockyMemoryPressureCallback) and the memory
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pressure [example application](https://github.com/pebble-examples/rocky-memorypressure).
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### UserPreferences
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The first watchface setting exposed in the new `UserPreferences` object is
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`contentSize`. This exposes the new
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[ContentSize](/docs/c/preview/User_Interface/Preferences/#preferred_content_size)
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API to Rocky.js watchface
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developers. Find out more in the Rocky.js
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[UserPreferences documentation](/docs/rockyjs/rocky/#userPreferences).
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## What's Next
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Check out the [release notes](/sdk/changelogs/4.2-beta4/) for a full list of
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changes and fixes that were included in SDK 4.2-beta4.
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Let us know on [Twitter]({{ site.links.twitter }}) if you built something
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cool using the new APIs! We'd love to hear about your experiences with the SDK.
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Happy Hacking!
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Team Pebble
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