COREDUMP #003: Pebble's Code is Free: Three Former Pebble Engineers Discuss Why It's Important (PART 1/2)

In this episode of Core Dump, three former Pebble engineers reunite to dive deep into the technical quirks, philosophies, and brilliant hacks behind Pebble OS. From crashing on purpose to building a single codebase that powered every watch, they share war stories, bugs, and what made Pebble’s firmware both rare and remarkable. If you love embedded systems, software-forward thinking, or startup grit—this one’s for you.

Key topics:

• Pebble intentionally crashed devices to collect core dumps and improve reliability.
• All Pebble devices ran on a single codebase, which simplified development and updates.
• The open-sourcing of Pebble OS is a rare opportunity to study real, commercial firmware.
• A platform mindset—supporting all devices and apps consistently—shaped major engineering decisions.
• Pebble’s app sandbox isolated bad code without crashing the OS, improving developer experience.
• The team built a custom NOR flash file system to overcome constraints in size and endurance.
• Core dumps and analytics were essential for tracking bugs, deadlocks, and field issues.
• Collaborations between hardware and firmware engineers led to better debugging tools and smoother development.