Pebble smartwatch gains iOS 7 Notification Center support and new SDK

Editorial Director of News and Content

| November 6, 2013

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Pebble iOS 7 Notifications

Today's the day that Pebble promised it would be announcing some "awesome new things" for its smartwatch platform. Now we know exactly what those things are: iOS 7 integration and a shiny new SDK.

First up, Pebble says that its smartwatch is fully-integrated with iOS 7, which was unleashed to the public earlier this year. The Pebble watch now plays nicely with Notification Center, meaning that it can display any notification that appears on a user's iOS 7-powered device. That includes alerts for things like texts and emails as well as for apps such as Twitter, Google+ and Instagram.

This new iOS 7 integration will be made possible by a new version of Pebble's iOS app, which the company says is currently being reviewed by Apple and should hit the App Store soon. A brief demo video is available below to help keep you Pebble-toting iOS folk busy occupied until then.

Pebble today also revealed a new version of its software development kit. Known as Pebble SDK 2.0, it packs in four new APIs that the firm claims will make it easier for developers to craft watch apps. Included in Pebble SDK 2.0 are APIs for Javascript, accelerometer, data logging and persistent storage, which will allow apps to interface with the web, access a device's accelerometer, collect data when disconnected from a phone and store information directly on the watch.

Sounds like some nice updates, no? Support for iOS 7 and Notification Center is a big addition, and the good news is that users can also fine-tune which notifications actually get pushed to the watch so that they're not bombarded with alerts. Meanwhile, the new Pebble SDK 2.0 and fresh APIs are exciting news for developers, and it'll be interesting to see what kind of apps get cranked out in the coming months. Pebble says that it's got apps from iControl, Foursquare, GoPro and Yelp in the pipeline, so anyone rocking a Pebble on their wrist will want to keep an eye out for those.

Along with its new software announcements, Pebble dropped some details on how its smartwatch and platform as a whole have been doing so far. The company says that its sold over 190,000 watches to date and that there are over 10,000 developers working with its software. There are currently over 50 Pebble companion apps available in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store, 2,200 watch apps and faces on MyPebbleFaces.com and 80,000 watch faces on WatchFace-Generator.de. Pebble also says that there have been 2 million apps and faces downloaded to date.