Pebble, the OG Smartwatch That May Never Die, Updated To Work With Pixel 7

Nearly six years after the Pebble smartwatch was purchased by Fitbit and discontinued, a new Pebble app for Android has been released by the Rebble Alliance, a group that has kept Pebble viable for its users since Fitbit shut down Pebble's servers in mid-2018," writes Ars Technica's Kevin Purdy. "Pebble version 4.4.3 makes the app 64-bit so it can work on the mostly 64-bit Pixel 7 and similar Android phones into the future. It also restores a caller ID function that was hampered on recent Android versions." From the report: Most notably, the app is "signed using the official Pebble keys," with Google Fit integration maintained, but isn't available through Google's Play Store. Google acquired Fitbit for $2.1 billion, making it the steward of Pebble's remaining IP and software pieces. Katharine Berry, a key Rebble coder and leader, works on Wear OS at Google and was one of the first to tweet news of the new update, "four years after 4.4.2." That was the last Play Store update to the Pebble app from Pebble developers, one that freed up many of the app's functions to be replaced by independent servers.

That's exactly where Rebble picked up, providing web services to Pebble watches, including (for paying subscribers) voice dictation. But those services still relied on the core Pebble app to connect the watch and smartphone. If Android did make the leap to a 64-bit-only OS, it could have left Pebble/Rebble users in the lurch. Berry's post on r/pebble offers "thanks to Google for providing us with one last update!" This is, to be sure, not the typical outcome of products that have been acquired by Google, even if second-hand.

Gadgetbridge works with pebble watches.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's also FOSS. https://codeberg.org/Freeyourg... [codeberg.org]

OG?

[ukoda]

Ok, I will be the first to ask, what does 'OG' stand for in the heading "OG Smartwatch". Mr Google was not very helpful on the subject today.

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[sound+vision]

It means "original gangster." I think it's what happens when Jar Jar twerks on you for too long.

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[Fly Swatter]

Sadly I have to link you to a reddit post answering this: What Does OG Stand for [reddit.com].

If that is too annoying, well it means 'original gangster'. Stupid acronym, why cant they just say original and be done? Hipsters.

Why do you wear a smartwatch?

[AmiMoJo]

I'm interested to hear from people why they wear something like this. As far as I can see it's a pure smartwatch, no health monitoring like heart rate.

I wear a Mi Band that did step counting and heart rate. Battery life is 2-3 weeks. I turned off all the smartwatch features, it's just health monitoring.

I want to understand the appeal of smartwatchs. The Mi Band was £25, so why do people spend 10-15x that much on a smartwatch?

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[siege72]

I wore a Pebble (1st Gen, Version 2, as well as V1 color) for years. As the hardware failed (battery life or buttons) I'd upgrade - it was only around $100. After Pebble went out-of-business, I bought a Vector and Bangle, but neither were ideal. I've moved to an Apple Watch.

My Pebbles still have a place in my heart. Always-on display with up to a week of battery life. Full notifications on my wrist (not just a vibration or a blinking light). Simple apps let me use my watch instead of my phone. Lightweight,

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[AmiMoJo]

Thanks. I think the only thing that would make me upgrade from the Mi Band is an always on display.

The display on a watch is too small otherwise. Even sub 6" phones are too small for me.

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[Immerman]

I don't wear one myself, but aside from the health monitoring features, some of the reasons tat are popular among friends and family:

To be able to see messages and who's calling without the disruption of checking phone (e.g when you usually ignore or reply later)
Alerts, alarms, etc.even when phone is set down elsewhere (e.g. when gardening)
On-skin vibration alerts for hearing impairment
Emergency contact in case they fall and are non-responsive.
Fun, changeable watch faces.

And the one nobody admits to, but I

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[Kernel Kurtz]

I prefer to wear an analog watch, but I used my Pebble for many years primarily for two things; Golfing, where having a rangefinder on my wrist is much more convenient than unlocking and looking at the phone all the time, and cycling, where having time/speed/distance on my wrist is similarly handy. I have a Gear Watch 4 for those things now.

It was also good for looking at caller IDs and messages while driving (because handling your phone while driving around here comes with a hefty fine), but now my ca

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[AmiMoJo]

That's interesting. One thing I do occasionally use my Mi Band for is pacing when I'm walking. I have a tendency to walk too fast.

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[Kernel Kurtz]

I'm 6'3" and have a long stride, so I tend to walk faster than others when I am walking in a group. In that case I just consciously slow down to match the pace of the others. When I am walking alone I didn't even know there is such a thing as "too fast". I'm curious why that matters?

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[AmiMoJo]

It's a bit like running, you want to pace yourself if you don't want to get tired too fast. Only really an issue for serious walkers and people with health issues I think.

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[markdavis]

>"I'm interested to hear from people why they wear something like this. As far as I can see it's a pure smartwatch, no health monitoring like heart rate."

For me- it is mostly to see the time/date (with dual analog/digital) and get notifications (with dictation reply). And occasionally to perform simple search queries. My phone is rarely easily accessible. I don't use or care about any of the health stuff. And the "looks" of the watch is important- I want something traditional, round, metal/silver, at

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[kwalker]

Because it was more than just a health tracker. It was a full-fledged watch, with either a really good B/W LCD or a 64-color E-Ink screen, both always-on; customizable watch faces; actionable notifications, including a surprisingly competent voice-to-text reply feature; music and call handling from the watch; and tons of watch apps (Some with phone companion apps) on an open market. The Time series had decent step and sleep tracking, and the Pebble 2 had heart rate (The Time 2 would have as well).

Pebbles we

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[DaChesserCat]

I rocked one for multiple years. When it finally died a few months ago, I had a funeral.

I had a Pebble 2 HR. And yes, the HR means it had heart rate monitoring.

The step counter wasn't bad. It was off by < 10% compared to some of the other things I've used. The heart rate monitoring wasn't bad; within about 5% of a chest-strap-mounted heart rate sensor. The sleep tracking was quite good.

It had a smart alarm. I could give it a 30-minute window in the morning and it would wake me up, as early as possi