AsteroidOS is an
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
operating system designed for
smartwatch
A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While e ...
es. It is available as a firmware replacement for some
Android Wear devices. The motto for the AsteroidOS project is "Hack your wrist."
Wareable.com reviewed version 1.0 and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Software Architecture
AsteroidOS is built like an embedded
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and, often, a package management system. Linux users usually obtain their operating system by downloading one ...
with
OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded is a build automation framework and cross-compile environment used to create Linux distributions for embedded devices. The OpenEmbedded framework is developed by the OpenEmbedded community, which was formally established in 2003. O ...
.
It works on top of the
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is a free and open-source, monolithic, modular, multitasking, Unix-like operating system kernel. It was originally authored in 1991 by Linus Torvalds for his i386-based PC, and it was soon adopted as the kernel for the GNU ope ...
and the
systemd service manager. AsteroidOS also includes various mobile Linux
middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement com ...
s originally developed for
Mer and Nemo Mobile such a
lipstickan
MCE
The user interface is completely written with the
Qt5 framework.
Applications are coded in
QML with graphic components coming from
Qt Quick
Qt Quick is a free software application framework developed and maintained by the Qt Project within the Qt framework. It provides a way of building custom, highly dynamic graphical user interfaces with fluid transitions and effects, which ar ...
an
QML-Asteroid An
SDK with a
cross-compilation toolchain integrated to
Qt Creator
Qt Creator is a cross-platform C++, JavaScript and QML integrated development environment (IDE) which simplifies GUI application development. It is part of the SDK for the Qt GUI application development framework and uses the Qt API, whi ...
can be generated from
OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded is a build automation framework and cross-compile environment used to create Linux distributions for embedded devices. The OpenEmbedded framework is developed by the OpenEmbedded community, which was formally established in 2003. O ...
for easier development.
Asteroid-launcheris a
Wayland compositor
Wayland is a communication protocol that specifies the communication between a display server and its clients, as well as a C library implementation of that protocol. A display server using the Wayland protocol is called a '' Wayland composito ...
and customizable
home screen managing applications, watchfaces, notifications and quick settings. Asteroid-launcher runs on top of the
libhybris compatibility layer to make use of
Bionic GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mo ...
drivers.
AsteroidOS offers
Bluetooth Low Energy synchronization capabilities with th
asteroid-btsyncddaemon running on top of
BlueZ5.
A reference client name
AsteroidOS Syncis available for Android users.
Shipped Applications
As of the 1.0 release, the following applications are shipped and pre-installed by default in AsteroidOS:
Provides simple event scheduling capabilities
Alarm Clock Makes the watch vibrate at a specific time of day
Calculator Allows basic calculations
Music Controls a synchronized device's music player
Settings Configures time, date, language, Bluetooth, brightness, wallpapers, watchfaces and USB
Stopwatch Measures an elapsed time
Timer Counts down a specified time interval
Weather Provides weather forecast for five days
See also
*
Wear OS
Wear OS (also known simply as Wear and formerly Android Wear) is a version of Google's Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables. By pairing with mobile phones running Android version 6.0 "Marshmallow" or newer, ...
*
Sailfish OS
Sailfish OS is a Linux-based operating system based on free software, and open source projects such as Mer as well as including a closed source UI. The project is being developed by the Finnish company Jolla.
The OS first shipped with the ...
*
OpenEmbedded
OpenEmbedded is a build automation framework and cross-compile environment used to create Linux distributions for embedded devices. The OpenEmbedded framework is developed by the OpenEmbedded community, which was formally established in 2003. O ...
*
Hybris (software)
*
Qt (software)
Qt (pronounced "cute") is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems wi ...
References
Smartwatches
Wearable computers
Free software operating systems
Mobile operating systems
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