Keeping tech alive: The open-source communities fighting against unsupported devices

Thanks to dedicated online forums, many people have been able to use crowdsourced, publicly available software to resuscitate otherwise-bricked devices.

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Imagine buying a smartwatch or speaker that works perfectly, only for the company behind it to suddenly pull the plug, rendering your device unsupported, vulnerable and ultimately useless. Manufacturers often decide it’s not worth their time or resources to continue supporting a device, leaving it to die a slow death without bug fixes or security updates.

In more extreme cases, companies will decide to cut off internet-connected devices from cloud support, making them immediately nonfunctional. For example, in 2023, Amazon cut off support for its Halo devices, leaving users who had spent more than $100 with products useful only as paperweights—or bricks. This is why we sometimes say that a device is “bricked” when a company remotely deactivates something you already bought.

But what if users didn’t have to accept the fate of planned obsolescence? Thanks to dedicated online forums, many people have been able to use crowdsourced, publicly available software to resuscitate otherwise-bricked devices.

PIRG’s Designed to Last campaign parallels these grassroots endeavors by advocating for products that are durable, repairable and modifiable by their owners. PIRG, itself comprised of grassroots supporters, envisions a marketplace where everyone can make their devices last as long as they want, even if they lack the technical expertise or cooperative communities of these open-source success stories. Furthermore, because these anti-consumer practices undermine product ownership, we need corporate accountability for both the harm companies inflict upon users and their products’ contribution to the toxic e-waste problem that affects us all.

Pebble watch.

Pebble watch.Photo by Pebble Technology | CC-BY-SA-2.0

The Fall of Pebble and the Rise of Rebble

The tech startup Pebble broke records with its smartwatch’s 2012 Kickstarter fundraiser. When Pebble began shipping watches to backers in the beginning of 2013, it was the first smartwatch to break into popular consciousness, received universally positive feedback and sold millions of devices.

The Pebble would seem simplistic next to today’s smartwatches, but it broke new ground and seemed, at the time, like the tech world’s next smash hit. However, the launch of the first Apple Watch in 2015, with its full color screen and extensive tracking capabilities, dashed any hopes of Pebble remaining competitive in the smartwatch market.

Pebble announced it was shutting down at the end of 2016. When Fitbit acquired it shortly after, it marked the end of Pebble hardware and support for existing Pebble smartwatches. The fall from grace was as swift as it was dramatic, but the end of 2016 also marked the birth of Rebble.io, a community of still-passionate Pebble users determined to retain the functionality of their devices.

“There have been dozens upon dozens of contributors along our journey,” wrote David J. Groom (aka ishotjr), a founder and leader on the Rebble developer team. “Every contribution—whether a simple graphical asset, or an entire swath of functionality—is a work of passion, and something for which the entire Pebble community is eternally grateful.” 

Among those dozens of contributors are professional software engineers, tech hobbyists, and even industry insiders, including Katharine Berry, a former software engineer and developer at Pebble who played a major role in recreating the web services that kept the smartwatches functional.

The tech world instantly noticed Rebble: Tech website Wareable ranked the company’s work number 15 in its predictions of the top 50 “tech, themes and trends” for 2018, ahead of offerings from Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia. In July 2018, Rebble followed through on its potential, launching its own web services and restoring Pebble features such as the app store, dictation and weather functionalities. Some of these services are available for free, while others require a subscription fee to cover operational costs.

Over the past few years, Pebble development has grown to be my most beloved hobby,” wrote Groom. “Some of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had have been seeing my work on someone’s wrist or learning of others’ appreciation of my silly ideas.”

Today, Rebble’s projects include multiple wikis and mobile apps in addition to a volunteer-created operating system designed to replace Pebble software. What began as an unofficial developer group has become a community that has been active for more than seven years and continues to prevent dead smartwatches from becoming e-waste.

Reviving the Spotify Car Thing

Spotify’s Car Thing was introduced as a dedicated device to control music playback in vehicles and enhance the in-car streaming experience. Spotify released it widely in early 2022 but discontinued it just five months later. The company also chose to brick all existing Car Thing devices by the end of 2024.

In response to this discontinuation, a community of enthusiasts emerged, seeking to repurpose and extend the functionality of the now-defunct hardware. The subreddit r/carthinghax became a hub for discussions on hacking the Car Thing device, exploring possibilities such as removing restrictions to use personal music libraries or integrating with other applications. Additionally, platforms such as GitHub hosted projects dedicated to reverse-engineering the device, with communities forming on Discord to share information and support related endeavors.

Spotify’s intentional deactivation of existing devices brought on plenty of controversy and criticism, including a short-lived class action lawsuit from indignant consumers. Once again, despite the online community’s ability to organize and voluntarily uncover and share solutions for bricked devices, a larger systemic problem is at hand. Between the high-profile failures of short-lived hardware such as Google Glass and Snap Inc’s first attempt at Snapchat Spectacles, people are starting to notice the pattern, and we can probably expect more backlash as similar incidents continue to occur.

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Authors

Stephanie Markowitz

Designed to Last Campaign, Associate, PIRG

Steph works on the Designed to Last Campaign, where she conducts policy outreach to build expert and public support, researches industry wide product disposability, and writes about the cycle of disposability and manufacturers' role in unnecessary consumer spending and e-waste. She lives in the New York suburbs with her family and spends her free time doing the crossword, scrolling through Goodreads, and following the cat from room to room.