Tech

Major Pebble smartwatch update provides Pebble Health and messaging enhancements

Pebble continues to improve the Pebble Time with a major update to Pebble Health and messaging functionality for both iOS and Android smartphone users.

Written by Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer Feb. 3, 2016 at 10:01 a.m. PT

The Pebble Time, see my full review, is an excellent value smartwatch that gets better all the time. Pebble rolled out Pebble Health in December and today announced more Pebble Health updates, along with several messaging advancements.

First download the iPhone (v3.6) or Android (v3.9) Pebble Time smartphone app update and then update your Pebble firmware to v3.9.

The following Pebble Health updates appear in the new software:

Pebble Health tracking is more accurate and can show distance in kilometers. Toggle distance settings in your Pebble smartphone app.
Developers may now show Pebble Health data in apps and watchfaces with the Health API.

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Those who use their Pebble Time smartwatch for messaging will appreciate these updates:

iPhone users can now send custom responses to received iOS Messages.
Android users can now reply to incoming calls with SMS. Send a voice note, emoji, or custom message if you'd rather not pick up the phone.
A new Send Text app for Android users with Time-series watches lets you start conversations from your wrist.
Incoming MMS notifications now show descriptive icons and any text included with them.

There are some other updates that are not associated with Pebble Health or messaging, including:

Animations and transitions for Pebble Time and Time Steel are now speedier and in line with the experience on Pebble Time Round.
Low Power Mode has a new look. Keep your Pebble functioning as a watch for a few more hours when the battery is critically low.
Low battery warnings now say how much time you have left instead of percentage.
Support for Cyrillic characters can now be added in Settings » Watch Language » Select Language.
Under-the-hood fixes and stability improvements.

As you can see this release is fairly major, making the Pebble Time better than it already was. The Pebble Time is available now in black, white, and red for $199.99. You can also pick up a Pebble Time Steel starting at $249.99 and a Pebble Time Round starting at $249.99.