AsteroidOS 2.0 Brings an Open, Linux-Based Replacement OS to More Smartwatches Than Ever

The team behind AsteroidOS, a Linux-based replacement operating system for a growing number of smartwatches, has announced the milestone release of AsteroidOS 2.0 — adding support for always-on displays and major performance gains in the user interface.

"Asteroids travel steadily, occasionally leaving observable distance. It has been a while since our last release, and now it's finally here," the team says of the new software launch. "AsteroidOS 2.0 has arrived, bringing major features and improvements gathered during its journey through community space. Always-on-display, expanded support for more watches, new launcher styles, customizable quick settings, significant performance increases in parts of the User Interface, and enhancements to our synchronization clients are just some highlights of what to expect."

AsteroidOS was launched as an alternative to the all-too-frequently locked-down stock operating systems provided with modern smartwatches. Built atop the Linux kernel using QT and QML, the idea is to give smartwatch users improved control over exactly what runs on their wrists — and better privacy than commercial software is likely to offer. In its latest release, it includes a number of slick-looking watch faces plus a calendar app, alarm clock, calculator, compass on devices with suitable hardware, a basic game, "flashlight" mode, heart rate monitor where sensors are available, a media remote, a stopwatch, a timer, and a weather app, plus the ability to synchronize to a phone for notifications.

The new release also brings initial support for step counting, a new quick-access settings system, additional app launcher styles, a "nightstand" mode for use as a beside clock while charging, optimizations to the rendering system to improve performance and make for smoother animations, better battery life, increased stability, and more than 20 new translations to bring the total number of supported languages to an impressive 49.

AsteroidOS 2.0 also brings with it support for a broader range of smartwatches: in addition to those already supported in previous releases, the new version supports Fossil Gen. 4, Gen. 5, and Gen. 6 watches, the Huawei Watch and Watch 2, LG Watch W7, Moto 360 2015, MTK6580, OPPO Watch, Polar M600, and the Ticwatch C2, C2+, E, S, E2, S2, Pro, Pro 2020, LTE, and Pro 3, with "partial support" for Casio WSD-F10 and -F20, LG Watch Urbane 2, first-generation Moto 360s, and the Samsung Gear 2 and Gear Live. Many of these, it must be noted, are entirely out of software support — meaning AsteroidOS can bring an otherwise abandoned watch back to life.

Full details of the new features in the latest release are available on the AsteroidOS website, along with instructions on downloading and installing it on your smartwatch; source code is available on GitHub under a mixture of licenses including the GNU General Public License 2 and 3.