# PebbleOS 8 Hacker News commenters recommended PebbleOS and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it as an open-source smartwatch OS released under Apache-2.0, with rapid iteration on watch faces and apps possible. Critics say the browser build is slow and unstable, and it still includes some proprietary blobs. ## Why people recommend it - Open-source under Apache-2.0 license (2 comments): "All development is happening in the open, and released under Apache-2.0 license." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45972493)) "they did the Right Thing this year and open-sourced PebbleOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46043178)) ## What people warn about - Slow frame rate in browser (2 comments): "Getting 2 fps on my iPhone SE 2020.. it's nearly usable!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46996829)) "Really slow FPS for me (macOS, Firefox). Not really getting past 1fps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46996606)) - Crashes or unstable in browser (2 comments): "found an assertion just by clicking up/down. doesn't seem too stable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46991178)) "Keeps crashing on iOS safari for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46996096)) - Contains proprietary binary blobs (2 comments): "Getting a functional OS out with "only" a few binary blobs is a massive engineering and legal victory." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045339)) "PebbleOS contains some proprietary blobs for some peripherals in the watch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46040493)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [FreeBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freebsd.md): 335 recommend - [seL4 microkernel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sel4.md): 58 recommend - [Oberon System 3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/oberon-system-3.md): 25 recommend - [Genode OS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/genode.md): 14 recommend - [Ironclad OS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ironclad.md): 12 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "PebbleOS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pebbleos/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).