It’s been a decade since Pebble closed its door and over 5 years since the official support ended for Pebble watches. But with the efforts of the team at Rebble, the support of these watches has lived on. With the release of the Pixel 7 series, Google announced its phones will no longer accept the installation of 32-bit apps. This would imply that the Pebble app would lose support, but this week Google itself revived the official Pebble app to make it compatible with the Pixel 7 series by adding 64-bit support to the app.
This is a huge update as it not only provides support for the Pixel 7 series but also for other Android phones in the future. Currently, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are the only devices to only support 64-bit apps.
Pebble smartwatches will support the Pixel 7 Series
Support for the Pebble app officially ended in 2018 after the company seized its operations. The Pebble app is no longer available to download via the Google Play Store, but Rebble has kept the support alive. Rebble began as a supplement to the official Pebble documentation and is now a community-led effort that provides a backbone for Pebble watches so that they could continue to work without official support.
The Pebble watches are now compatible with the Pixel 7 series, even though Google dropped the support of 32-bit app installation this year. Google announced it will provide an updated version of the Pebble APK, version 4.4.3, out of goodwill to the remaining Pebble users. A member of the Rebble community, Katharine Berry, shared the changelog on Reddit. The update improves the ‘reliability of caller ID’ along with bringing in 64-bit support and the Google Fit integration still works as before. Users can install the new APK from here.
What was Pebble?
Back in 2012, Pebble was the most successful Kickstarter campaign, pledging over $10 million. Pebble proved there was interest in wrist-worn gadgets, well before Apple introduced the Apple Watch. Pebble started shipping in early 2013, and by 2014, they sold 400 000 units. By 2016, they were already selling over 2 million watches every year. Pebble took the world by storm with its quick success.
But production issues and wrong decisions meant that just four years after its launch, the Pebble Watch and its company were struggling to make their products and the debts climbed over $25 million. Investors were demanding their return and pledgers needed their cash back. Therefore, in 2016, for around $35 to $40 million, Pebble was sold to Fitbit. Fitbit scavenged Pebble for its most valuable assets, talent and tech.
2022-10-31 15:08:33