Anyone managed to log into the pebble account on graphene?
To use google auth, I need to install google credential services. Well I would not have graphene and just buy a garmin/fitbit over a pebble, if I wanted to share my data.
Github auth just has the “Authenticate” greyed out. I am not sure if this is a browser issue or an OS issue. Perhaps it might work if I changed the browser.
Apple account I dont have but would be the thing to try next
Anybody out there who solved it and can guide me on what to try next?
I have a separate profile where I run the Play Store. There, I can install apps and then save them as APK files using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lb.app_manager.
After that, I transfer the APK to my computer and then switch to my main profile without any Google stuff. There, I installed SAI | F-Droid – Freies und quelloffenes Android-App-Repository from F-Droid. I then transfer the APK from my computer to my main profile and install it there using SAI.
I did the same thing with the Pebble app. However, I’m no longer sure whether I had already logged into the pebble app with my GitHub account before creating the APK, or whether I logged in for the first time in my main profile.
I can’t say if this is the best way, but at least I now have the Pebble app in my main profile without Google.
The downside is that you have to repeat this process whenever a new version of the Pebble app is released. However, the data in the app remains intact, and you don’t have to log in again.
It is about the login. I use the sandboxed play which works fine also with all the google apps I sadly need. So the app is installed and it works fine. However, I cannot log into the account. Google needs that extra install, and github auth seems to be broken or not working with the current setup
Good question. My next phone will also be de-bigtech’d and that is the main reason I have a pebble
Mind you, github is just another Microsoft login.
A reasonable approach would be to use Fediverse accounts to log in. That way, the burden of secret-keeping is delegated and there is a plethora of auth hosts to choose from or self host.
This is informative and unfortunate.
Well, it’s good to know that I don’t have to hold on to my Pebble anymore in the hope that an open-source project will get rid of the dependency on big tech’s surveillance machine.
Fair point to assume that Android or IPhone users will have their respective account anyway. However, I guess people who buy a pebble want to have a bit more sovereignty and some wish for privacy, which are two different things… but both share that you want to stay away from big tech. So I guess this is a thing that will keep popping up.
But just to sum up:
I can use the android app without logging in at all. I can download and install apps, and I guess that is all there is? I dont know what features I am missing from being logged in. Is there anything?
(I hope it stays this way, as I’d just keep it that way.)
Google login does not work without an additional install. Even when you use graphene with google play and the google apps, like a normal android.
GitHub is web based but the auth button is greyed out. Perhaps one could try to change the default browser to chrome and see if one gets it to work this way.
Apple seems to work according to @WitheringWallaby (thanks, for checking)
So in terms of missing features without a login you miss two things as far as I know:
Submitting bug reports.
Using cloud based speech processing.
On point 2 local speech processing seems to have a bug on Pixel devices where it won’t work if the phone is locked. So you functionally have no speech to text unless you log in.
Also, I ran into a bug when I initially was using the app without a login but used it later to submit a bug report. Basically after a few hours of logging in my watch and app reset themselves. After staying logged in though it’s been fine.
Whilst appreciating your efforts to open source the app and OS, I think you’re missing the mark when it comes to the demographics of your users.
The big change from 10 years ago is the pervasiveness of big tech trying to be our big brothers.
Whether you’ve realised it or not, one of your key demographics now are we - the GrapheneOS/privacy minded individuals.
Considering the android app has been rebuilt from the ground up, it has certainly been an oversight on Core’s end to provide an alternative login method.
no one is stopping you from using Pebble. In fact it is the absolute most open source option out there! You can fork the app, fork the OS, build your own auth-less version, post it on fdroid etc. Try doing that with literally any other mainstream smart device!
At this time, we have enough work making it work well for people on Android/iOS. We don’t want to take on support for GrapheneOS right now. That might change in the future!
Thanks again for your thoughts, and you’re right about most of that.
Which is exactly why it’s baffling to many of us why forcing a big tech login (or missing out on a subset of features) - bottlenecking all of that open goodness.
Though can we just be clear on one point - it’s not about supporting GrapheneOS.
The point in contention here is simply the lack of a local/privacy respecting login method for the app.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle here.
I get why they’re just sticking with the 3 platforms to log in with. If they allowed log in through email, there’s additional overhead with dealing with all that account data. They only have a few people on the team, so I get not wanting to deal with that.
The battery thing also does make some sense if you look into it since it was a quick way to get that feature up and running based on some code they already had. You also have viable alternatives to that in Munnin.
The bug reports thing is a little more problematic, they really seem to push sending in through the app and you need a login for that. I guess you could submit right to the GitHub, but I guess that’s it’s own problem right there. Since they already go to the trouble of letting you select what you send to the bug report, I think they could maybe let you generate a report and send it in another way?
Dictation seems like a grey area. Like if you’re someone who doesn’t want to log in with any of the big 3, are you really keen to send your voice data to Wispr cloud? That said, offline dictation doesn’t seem to work while the phone is locked on Pixel phones, so that should get fixed.
Backups could just have a local file export/import function? You chuck that file in a folder somewhere and back it up yourself.
TLDR, I don’t mind that they require that login, but they could do more to make it less irritating not to have it. Also the APK for the mobile app on GitHub would be nice too.
I think it makes perfect sense. They have like what a 10 person team or less?
They cannot be managing password resets for an account option. Forcing logging in with a established provider also prevents less ill intent and bots and everything else.
There doesnt seem to be a review process for pushing your app or watchface it just instantly goes up. They need a way to hold people accountable and its a lot easier to do so from a support standpoint when you have an established link to a well secured account platform.
It may be disappointing, but nothing is stopping someone from creating their own fork and doing just that. You could always create a google account that you use for nothing else and then just link it without even using it.
Even if you sign in with google or whatever the platform is way more privacy respecting and feature rich than anything else out there that you can purchase wearable wise.
Supporting a federated OAuth option would mean they don’t have to worry about password resetting or anything like that. It’d work exactly the same as any other OAuth provider.
yes exactly. I am saying this is why they went with big tech logins. It prevents issues.
If they were to offer another way to log in that is privacy respecting or whatever, but I dont know of any privacy respecting company they could use as a one click sign in provider that works well.