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"The smartwatch space is starting to get pretty crowded. From Sony to Samsung to Qualcomm, wearables are hot.\nBut you can't talk about smartwatches without mentioning the Pebble. After raising more than $10 million on Kickstarter, Pebble has now sold more than 250,000 units.\nSee also: Pebble Smart Watch Delivers on Kickstarter Promise and More\nOut of the box, you can get plenty done with your Pebble. You can answer phone calls, receive phone notifications and even control your music on your wrist. With the addition of watch faces and third party apps, however, Pebble becomes even more robust.\nWe've compiled some tips, tricks and apps that will help you make the most out of the Pebble smartwatch.\nUpgrade to the Latest Firmware\n\nThe latest Pebble update includes long-awaited full notification support for iOS 7.\nThat means every notification you get on your iPhone (or Android device) will also push its way onto the Pebble. In iOS 7, you'll need to make sure that the notifications for a given app are in \"banner mode.\"\nThe net result is a huge jump in functionality for iOS users because all of your notifications \"just work.\" Bluetooth LE mode is now activated in Pebble for iOS as well, which means should mean less battery drain.\nConsider Upgrading Early to Pebble 2.0\nAlthough the latest update is a big deal, the real fun is coming with Pebble 2.0. The promise of Pebble 2.0, especially for apps, is immense because the new SDK lets developers take advantage of more components on the device (such as the accelerometer), as well as access to stuff like persistent storage and dynamic memory.\nFor end users, the biggest change is that Pebble 2.0 will let apps and watchfaces pull in data from sources across the web without necessarily needing a separate companion app running on the phone.\nThis will allow developers to build apps that are more phone-agnostic, which means you won't have to check to see if you can only use a certain app or watchface on iOS or Android.\nThe Pebble 2.0 firmware is currently in beta and is expected to ship to everyone by the end of the year. If you can't wait for Pebble 2.0 and want to try out some of the enhanced apps and watchfaces, you can download the firmware to your watch early.\nJust follow the instructions on the getting started page to download the latest version of the Pebble app for iOS or Android, as well as the beta firmware for Pebble 2.0.\nMost of the watchfaces and apps we mention will work with Pebble 1.0. Increasingly, however, Pebble developers are upgrading their setups to support Pebble 2.0 and some apps only support Pebble 2.0.\nUpdate: Downloading the Pebble 2.0 iOS app now requires manual approval from the Pebble team, so this might just be for Android users for now.\nA word of warning: Pebble 2.0 is still in beta. In my tests, I've found it to be fairly stable, but you should expect some bugs and occasional crashes. If you're leery about installing a firmware update early, wait for the official release.\nGrab Some Watchfaces and Apps\nIn the world of Pebble, there are a number of different apps. They include:\n\nStand-alone watchface apps\nApps or watchfaces that require a third-party app on iOS or Android to run\nThird-party apps that also have Pebble functionality\n\nBasic watchfaces are the most common type of Pebble app. In the early days of Pebble development, many of these faces were primarily about design and style, rather than adding additional functionality.\nOver time, developers figured out methods of creating a companion app for iOS or Android, that could act as a way to pull in additional data. Starting with Pebble 2.0, many of those watchfaces will no longer require a third-party companion app, because the standard Pebble application will be able support JavaScript calls.\nThe second type of apps run on your iOS or Android phone, but let you toggle and control information via the Pebble watchface. We'll talk more about those below. Right now this is where some of the most exciting developments within the Pebble ecosystem are taking place.\nThe third type of app are typical iOS or Android apps, such as RunKeeper, that also have built-in hooks to support Pebble. Right now, the number of apps with built-in Pebble support is limited, but Pebble will be rolling out big-name apps, including GoPro, Yelp and Foursquare later this year.\nFinding Apps and Watchfaces\nYou can find watchfaces at a few sites, including MyPebbleFaces.com and PebbleBarn.com. You can also find watchfaces in the Pebble forums.\nOne of the only challenges with finding watchfaces and apps is that the apps need to be installed from your phone, and depending on the source of the app, it may not be that easy to browse on a small screen.\nPebble says it has plans for a better way of finding and installing apps, but until we see an official app store, there are a number of third-party apps that serve as mobile front-ends for the Pebble community.\nOn iOS, the MyPebbleFaces app that makes installing and browsing watchfaces from the iPhone, much, much easier. You can sign-in with your MyPebbleFaces account to access favorited apps, which means you can browse on the desktop and then install on your phone.\nLikewise, on Android you can use Pebble Apps as a way to browse Pebble-compatible apps in Google Play and in third-party stores.\nWant to create your own watchface? Be sure to check out the Watchface Generator for Pebble, now also available for Pebble 2.0. This website makes it easy for regular users to create their own watchfaces, directly from the web browser.\nGreat Watchface Apps for Pebble\n\n\u00A0\nHere are a few of our favorite watchfaces for Pebble 1.0:\nNote: For watchfaces that integrate local weather, you'll need to have an app that supports the httpebble protocol such as Pebbler for Android or httpebble for iOS installed. Some enhancement apps such as Smartwatch+ for Pebble and Smartwatch Pro for Pebble also include httpebble support.\n\nFutura Weather 2 \u2014 My personal favorite watchface. With httpebble, you get the weather too!\nSimplicity Plus \u2014 A slight modification to the standard Simplicity watchface.\n91 Weather \u2014 A digital watchface similar to Futura Weather\nMac System 3 \u2014 Classic Mac OS on your wrist.\nMario Time \u2014 It's always time for Mario to be on your wrist.\nHeisenberg \u2014 Walter White. Need we say more?\n\nPebble 2.0 is in beta and we already have a few favorite new watchfaces:\n\nPebble Mars [direct Pebble app link] \u2014 Pulls in photos from the Mars Rover\nNoms \u2014 This is an animated watchface that \"noms\" each minute.\nStopwatch, Countdown, Yacht Race Start Timer and Watch \u2014 This is a great stopwatch/timer/countdown watchface that also tells time.\nSimple Day, Date, and Time \u2014 As it says on the tin.\nPlex Remote \u2014 You can use your watch to control your Plex HTPC client.\n\nGet an Enhancement App for Connected Watchfaces\nIn addition to watchfaces that exist primarily to tell time, there is another class of Pebble apps that offers users more control over their phone and can also push out more information.\nSome of these apps are for a specific purpose \u2014 say travel, transit or dealing with a to-do list. Others are more general-purpose and can offer up a wealth of utility and functionality.\nAndroid Enhancement Apps\nGlance For Pebble\n\nGlance for Pebble is one of the best Pebble enhancement apps we've seen. Not only does it show the time, date and weather, it can also show off how many unread email messages you have, your unread SMS count, missed calls and calendar entries.\nIt can even be configured to show off a stock ticker. It also integrates with Android automation-app Tasker, has calendar integration and more.\nMy favorite part of the app is that you can even do quick replies to an SMS message directly from the Pebble. You select the recipient and you can choose a predefined message to reply with. So if you frequently text \"lol\" or need to have a quick way to say \"running late\" \u2014 without pulling out your phone, just configure the quick-reply message in the Glance for Pebble Android app and then select that reply as an option on your phone.\nThere are even third-party Glance watchfaces that make Glance look even better.\nA Pebble 2.0-compatible Glance watchface [direct Pebble link] is also available.\nMusic Boss for Pebble\n\nMusicBoss takes Pebble's control of your music player to the next level. You can adjust the volume on your phone while listening to music, launch your current music app directly from the watch and even change what music app you're using from Pebble.\nMusic Boss also integrates with Glance and Tasker. Music Boss also has a Pebble 2.0-compatible watchface [direct Pebble link]\nPebble Rocker\nPebble Rocker lets you control your phone's camera, browse Facebook, check-in to Foursquare, calculate tips and browse your Twitter timeline. You can also use Pebble Rocker to find your phone (provided it's within range of Bluetooth) if it goes missing.\nNotification Center for Pebble\nNotification Center for Pebble is an Android app that replaces the standard notification system with a new, more robust system. The app allows you to display notifications from all apps, dismiss notifications directly from Pebble (Android 4.3 and higher), view your notifications and even switch between multiple notification screens.\nYou can do really nerdy stuff with your notifications with this apps as well. If you have become frustrated with some of the limitations of the built-in notification system, give Notification Center for Pebble a try.\nPebble Adventure\nPebble Adventure is still in beta but it brings turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps to your Pebble.\nWatch Trigger for Pebble\n\n\u00A0\nWatch Trigger for Pebble requires Pebble 2.0 but lets you use your Pebble to take photos and also create timed shots.\nCanvas for Pebble\nCanvas for Pebble lets you create Pebble watchfaces on your Android device. The developer is currently updating the app to work with Pebble 2.0, but you can create Pebble 1.0-compatible watchfaces directly from the app.\niOS Enhancement Apps\nPebble-compatible apps on iOS have really started to come into their own. Thanks to iOS 7's ability for apps to run in the background, developers can create apps that do more than ever on Pebble, and this includes enhancement and companion apps.\nSmartwatch+ for Pebble\n\u00A0 \u00A0\nIf Glance is the gold standard on Android, then Smartwatch+ is the current front-runner on iOS. It's $2.99 and it works on iOS and Android. The app lets you access a bunch of different parts of your phone \u2014 including the weather, your calendar and your camera \u2014 all from within its interface.\nYou can pull in stock info, Bitcoin prices, your reminders, even launch your camera. It also lets you pull in GPS coordinates.\nIn addition to viewing these items on Pebble, Smartwatch+ for Pebble comes with a watchface of sorts, dubbed SmartStatus, that lets you view the time, weather, your upcoming calendar appointments and the status of your battery.\nAs a bonus, it includes httpebble, which means you can use it with httpebble-compatible watchfaces without having to install another app on your iPhone.\nBoth Smartwatch+ [direct Pebble link] and SmartStatus [direct Pebble link] are compatible with Pebble 2.0.\nSmartwatch Pro for Pebble\nAt $3.99, Smartwatch Pro for Pebble isn't as feature-rich as Smartwatch+ for Pebble, but it has a few features that make it unique \u2014 namely support for Twitter.\nYou can also control what calendar you want to see (or not see) on your Pebble, as well as your location.\nThe developer says he's updating the app to better work with iOS 7. A Pebble 2.0 version of its watchface [direct Pebble link] is also available.\nPebbleNav\nFor $3.99, PebbleNav offers a way to have full walking or cycling directions on your Pebble.\nYou can create you route in the app and it will show you each step on the watchface. It will even buzz when you need to take a turn.\nPebbGPS\n\nAt $0.99, PebbGPS is another navigation app that offers turn-by-turn walking or driving directions. You can also view maps from a terrain, satellite, hybrid or streetmap view.\nPebbleCam\n\nAt $2.99, PebbleCam is more than just a glorified camera launcher, it also acts as a remote viewfinder for your iPhone's camera. The quality of the image obviously isn't great \u2014 and there is latency \u2014 but it's great for knowing if you've got a general shot correct or not.\nWhat makes this better than some of the other camera remotes is that it lets you choose the rear or front camera on the iPhone and toggle flash on or off.\nThe Pebble 2.0 version of the app includes support for taking a photo just by shaking your wrist.\nPebCiti\nThis is a particularly cool app for NYC users. It's an iOS app and watchface that will show you the closest available Citi bike to your location.\nMake it Pretty\n\nNo one wants a watch that looks exactly the same. Make your Pebble stand out with some inexpensive accessories.\nThe strap the Pebble comes with is fine, but if you want something wider \u2014 in another color \u2014 or maybe out of leather, that can change the look of your watch. The Pebble uses a standard 22mm watch band, which means you can buy one to better fit your needs.\nWant to give your Pebble a splash of color? GadgetWraps makes high-quality stickers for Pebble that fit the watch perfectly and look really, really great.\nI got a GadgetWrap in white after refusing to wait for my original white Pebble to ship. The end result was nearly indistinguishable from a legit white version. You can also mix and match colors by getting stickers for the Pebble buttons.\nBecause these are stickers, you don't have to worry about messing up your Pebble if you decide to go for another look down the line.\nThis is Just the Beginning\nWhen I first reviewed the Pebble, I wrote about the potential of the Pebble and the wearables category as a whole. We're already starting to see the fruits of some of that potential with the Pebble 2.0 SDK and the myriad of apps and watchfaces that developers are building for the platform.\nLooking at what can be done with the Pebble smartwatch today versus six months ago \u2014 or even two months ago \u2014 shows just how quickly this space is moving. Keep your eyes peeled for more coverage and features as the ecosystem continues to evolve.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.\nImage: Thumbnail: Mashable, Christina Ascani; Screenshots: MyPebbleFaces.com, PebbGPS, PebbleCam, Music Boss for Pebble"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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