Heads up, Pebble owners, because updates are coming your way with some tasty new features in tow.
Pebble says that a new API will allow watch faces to include Health data. There’s already one new watch face called Stride (shown above) that shows your your steps right on your face. Additionally, Pebble Health gives you the option to display your step distance in kilometers in addition to miles.
Messaging is also improved with today’s updates. iOS users can send custom responses to messages, so long as you can use the Text Reply feature that’s currently only available to postpaid AT&T customers. Meanwhile, Android users can respond to incoming calls with with a custom text message, voice note, or emoji, and you can also start conversations with a new Send Text app for Android. Rounding out the new messaging features include improved MMS message notifications that show descriptive icons and text.
Finally, there’s a new look for Watch-Only Mode, which kicks in when your Pebble’s battery is low.
These look like nice updates for Pebble owners. The new API that enables Health-centric watch faces means that folks that use their Pebble to track activity can keep tabs on their health info right from their watch face, and Android users are getting some nice new messaging features. Meanwhile, the iOS custom messaging feature — while still a bit limited because of how iOS works — does make iOS Text Reply a bit more useful.
To get these new features, you’ll need to update your Pebble watch to firmware v3.9 and update your Pebble app (v3.6 for iOS, v3.9 for Android) as well.
