Google just pushed reset on a cult smartwatch brand that died off in 2016. You might remember Pebble from the halcyon days of 2012, when it became (at the time) the most successful Kickstarter campaign in history.
The nascent brand offered a simple interface and efficient set of features, drawing in millions of dollars from thousands of users. Then, in 2016, the smartwatch maker suddenly closed after being sold off to rival Fitbit, which continued to build upon Pebble’s forward-thinking software.
The story could have ended there, but then Pebble’s fortunes changed once again. Google bought up Fitbit in 2021, including all of Pebble’s original technology and intellectual property.
This week, Google announced plans to open source Pebble’s software, making the original watches usable once again.
“Despite the Pebble hardware and software support being discontinued eight years ago, Pebble still has thousands of dedicated fans,” said the blog post from three of Google’s engineering managers. “We are hoping this release will assist the dedicated community … and carry forward the support for Pebble watches that users still love.”
As a result, the founder of the original Pebble has already announced plans to restart production of the watches as well.
Why Bring Pebble Back
- Always-on e-paper screen (it’s reflective rather than emissive. Sunlight readable. Glanceable. Not distracting to others like a bright wrist)
- Long battery life (one less thing to charge. It’s annoying to need extra cables when traveling)
- Simple and beautiful user experience around a core set of features I use regularly (telling time, notifications, music control, alarms, weather, calendar, sleep/step tracking)
- Buttons! (to play/pause/skip music on my phone without looking at the screen)
- Hackable (apparently you can’t even write your own watchfaces for Apple Watch? That is wild. There were >16k watchfaces on the Pebble appstore!)