This article was published on January 24, 2013

Pebble’s iPhone app arrives as first smartwatches begin shipping


Pebble’s iPhone app arrives as first smartwatches begin shipping

On the heels of today’s announcement that Pebble has begun shipping its smartwatches to its Kickstarter backers, the company has just released its iPhone app. With this app, smartwatch wearers will be able to have a dashboard right on their phone.

Pebble Technology, the company behind the Pebble smartwatch, created the device as the next generation of watches. Its slim and attractive shape comes with a Sharp display along with other technologies and is very customizable while supporting Internet-connected apps. It announced during the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month that it would begin shipping the device to its earliest backers on January 23.

However, while it may have received more than $10 million in pledges through Kickstarter and sold 85,000 watches, it’s not all sunshines and roses for the company. Earlier today, Pebble announced that there would be some delays as a result of airport documentation. Additionally, it said that there were “some kinks and issues” that it needed to work out.

The company submitted its iPhone app to the Apple App store two weeks ago and now it has finally arrived, just in time to coincide with the beginning of the smartwatch being shipped. The device can connect with the iPhone and iPod Touch through Bluetooth and can alert users of incoming calls, emails, and vibrations. In addition, the iPhone provides a dashboard for the device while offering the following features:

  • It notifies users when software updates for their Pebble smartwatch is ready to be installed
  • It installs and remove custom watchfaces onto the wearer’s Pebble
  • Sends ping test messages to the Pebble
  • Helps the wearer troubleshoot issues

The <3 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

The app is free to download, but since it’s intended to be used with the Pebble smartwatch, if you don’t have a watch, the app would be rather useless.

Pebble for iPhone

Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with