WispOS — a lean, smooth, compatible Wear OS alternative

WispOS is a minimal-Wear launcher and watch experience: a live watch face, quick settings, and a real app drawer — no Assistant hotword, no Fit background drain, no Play Services dependency. Third-party APKs (F-Droid, Aurora Store) install, list, and launch from it. Proven on the Wear OS emulator with reReminder.

Origin: the project started as an AsteroidOS 2.0 fork study (docs/, upstream/ are that research). It pivoted to minimal AOSP Wear because only ART runs real APKs — see docs/OPTIONS.md and docs/COMPATIBILITY.md.

Install & run (5 min)

Just want the APK? Grab the latest from Releases, sideload it (adb install, Wear Installer, or Bugjaeger), set WispOS as the Home app, done.

Build it yourself. Prereqs: Android Studio (Ladybug+), JDK 17, a Wear OS 5+ emulator image.

1. Clone: git clone https://github.com/nishantXnova/WispOS.git
2. Open WATCHOSS-aosp/launcher in Android Studio (New Window), wait for Gradle sync (Gradle 8.10.2 + JDK 17 are pinned — see gradle.properties)
3. Boot a Wear OS Small Round emulator (Device Manager)
4. Select device → ▶ Run 'app'
5. On the watch: swipe up → tap WispOS → swipe left/right: settings | face | apps

Verify from source

cd WATCHOSS-aosp/launcher
./gradlew :app:assembleDebug :app:testDebugUnitTest :app:lintDebug

Or docker build -t wispos . then docker run --rm -v "%CD%:/wispos" wispos for the same build in a clean room. CI runs all three checks on every push/PR.

Layout

WATCHOSS-aosp/launcher/   # WispOS app (package com.wispos.launcher)
docs/                     # architecture, compatibility, options, roadmap
tools/                    # emulator + debloat helpers
upstream/                 # stock AsteroidOS reference (git-ignored, see docs)
.github/workflows/       # CI: build + tests + lint + debug APK
Dockerfile                # reproducible build image

Progress

10 of 13 milestones done — face/settings/real drawer live, F-Droid proof passed (reReminder installs, lists, launches). Next: default-HOME behavior, fps pass, debloat + idle-drain measure. Full log in earlier commits; live status in WATCHOSS-aosp/README.md.

Contributing / conduct / license

• CONTRIBUTING.md — branch flow, style, test rules
• CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md — Contributor Covenant
• LICENSE — MIT