OwnTone Remote for Pebble

A modern, extensible remote control for OwnTone music server on Pebble smartwatches.

Features (Phase 1)

Player Control

• View current track information (title, artist, album)
• Play/Pause toggle
• Skip to next/previous track
• Volume control (±5% increments)
• Action bar with standard Pebble music controls
• Quick navigation with long-press shortcuts

Search

• Voice search for playlists, artists, and albums
• View search results
• Add selected items to queue (clears queue, starts playback, shuffles by default)

Random Selection

• Get random playlists, artists, or albums
• View results and select items
• Same queue behavior as search

Audio Output Management

• View all available outputs
• Single press on active output: Open volume controls directly (no state change)
• Single press on inactive output: Enable exclusively + open volume controls
• Long press: Toggle output on/off (no playback change)
• Per-output volume control (±5% increments)
• Pause playback from volume screen

Requirements

• Pebble Time (Basalt) or compatible watch
• OwnTone server running at owntone.local:3689
• Pebble SDK 3.x for building

Compatibility

• Basalt (Pebble Time): Full feature support with 64 colors
• Aplite (Pebble Classic): Full functionality with memory-optimized UI
  • Voice/search hidden (no microphone)
  • Black & white splash logo (96x96 PNG8)
  • Memory-efficient icon loading with automatic retry
  • All core features available: player, random, outputs, favorites

Architecture

Modular Design

src/
├── main.c                  # App entry point
├── message_keys.h          # Message protocol definitions
├── messaging.c/h           # AppMessage handling
└── windows/
    ├── main_menu.c/h       # Main navigation
    ├── player.c/h          # Player controls
    ├── search.c/h          # Voice search
    ├── random.c/h          # Random selection
    ├── results.c           # Search/random results
    └── outputs.c/h         # Output management

Message Protocol

Clean command-based system with typed messages:

• Commands: GET_PLAYER_STATE, PLAY_PAUSE, SEARCH, etc.
• Callbacks: Player state, search results, outputs list
• Extensible for future features

JavaScript Layer

src/js/
└── app.js                  # OwnTone API integration

Building

cd owntone-remote-new
pebble build
pebble install --phone <phone-ip>

Usage

Quick Navigation Long-press SELECT button (500ms) for instant navigation:

• From any menu (Main Menu, Favorites, Search, Random, Results): Jump to Player
• From Player: Jump to Outputs list
• From Output Volume window: Jump to Player
• Outputs list preserves existing behavior: Long-press toggles output on/off

This provides fast access to the player from anywhere in the app.

(long press: jump to Outputs)

Main Menu

1. Player - Current track + playback controls
2. Search - Voice search by content type
3. Random - Random content by type
4. Outputs - Manage audio outputs

Player Wind (long press SELECT: jump to Player)ow

• UP button: Next track (long press: volume up)
• SELECT button: Play/Pause
• DOWN button: Previous track (long press: volume down)
• Icons update based on playback state

Search/Random Flow

1. Select content type (Playlist, Artist, Album) (long press: jump to Player)
2. Speak your search query (Search only)
3. View results
4. Select an item to add to queue

Outputs

1. View list of outputs (shows ON/OFF status and volume)
2. Single press on active output: Open volume controls directly
3. Single press on inactive output: Enable exclusively + open volume controls
4. Long press: Toggle output on/off
5. Volume screen: UP/DOWN to adjust, SELECT to pause, BACK to return

Changelog

v1.7 (2026-03-17)

• Fix player layout not reflowing correctly when track changes mid-playback (switch to graphics_text_layout_get_content_size() to avoid stale layer render cache)

v1.6 (2026-03-17)

• Fix descender clipping on track/artist text (G, g, p, y no longer cut off) using layer_set_clips(false)

v1.5 (2026-03-17)

• Player layout redesign: Dynamic text measurement using text_layer_get_content_size() for accurate sizing
• Text containers now sized exactly to rendered content height — no extra padding inside boxes
• Divider lines between track/artist/album
• Entire text block vertically centered on screen
• Overflow handling: album truncates first, then artist, then track
• Splash screen minimum display time halved (2000ms → 1000ms)

v1.4 and earlier

• Initial release with player controls, search, random, outputs management

Phase 2 Roadmap

• Favorites Management: Configure favorite playlists/artists/albums via web interface
• Output Defaults: Set default volumes for each output
• Track Search: Add individual tracks without clearing queue
• Queue Viewer: See upcoming tracks (next 10)
• Smart Playlists: Quick access to OwnTone smart playlists

Technical Details

Default Behaviors

• Add to Queue: Clears queue, starts playback, enables shuffle (except albums)
• Exclusive Output: Disables all others, enables selected, starts playback (only triggered when tapping an inactive output)
• Toggle Output: Changes state without affecting playback
• Volume Steps: 5% increments (0-100%)

OwnTone API Integration

• Uses JSON API endpoints
• Player: /api/player
• Queue: /api/queue/items/add
• Search: /api/search
• Outputs: /api/outputs

License

Personal project - see LICENSE file

Credits

Built from scratch to replace buggy WIP implementation with:

• Cleaner architecture
• Predictable UI flow
• Extensible design
• Better UX (no blank screens!)