Between the recently announced Pebble Steel and general updates to the original Pebble firmware, the Kickstarter-funded smartwatch has come a long way since its 2012 introduction. With those changes come a more mature, robust selection of apps. Pebble is also about to get its own official appstore, which offers a centralized and intuitive method of downloading and installing Pebble apps. From fun watchfaces to new apps from high-profile partners, here are the Pebble 2.0 apps you should be installing on your new Pebble Steel or original Pebble watch.
Stop arguing with friends about where to have lunch. The Pebble eliminates the need to whip out your smartphone with the Yelp app for Pebble. Simply shake your wrist to browse nearby locations or scroll through nearby restaurants and read reviews. The app also breaks down nearby establishments by category, including Nightlife, Restaurants and Coffee and Tea.
More: Pebble Steel: Full Review
The Foursquare app for Pebble is pretty basic, but it gets the job done. The app presents nearby locations that you can cycle through by pressing the bottom navigational button on the watch. Pressing the top button lets you check in to a particular location, letting you quickly share your whereabouts straight from your wrist.
More: 25 Best Android Apps
Good news for social media junkies -- you can now browse your Twitter feed without reaching for your phone. Twebble offers many of the same functions as the mobile Twitter app, from displaying your news feed to viewing mentions, profile information and even posting tweets. We would recommend using your smartphone for tweeting on-the-go, however, since you’ll have to deal with the early 2000s-era method of cycling through letters by pressing buttons to compose a tweet on the Pebble.
More: 12 Gadgets Ahead of Their Time
ESPN’s Pebble app is just robust enough to keep track of your favorite leagues without checking your phone. The app lets you choose between such leagues as the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball. Your Pebble then displays scores from the current or most recent game. Although we appreciate the ability to check the score of the game by just glancing at our wrist, we wish we could choose to follow specific teams for news.
More: 10 Best iPhone Apps You're Not Using
Among the most popular sleep tracking Pebble apps, Morpheuz Sleep uses the accelerometer in the Pebble to track movement during your slumber. The watch then sends this information to your phone and presents it in a graph to show you exactly how often you tossed and turned during the night. Not only does the app track your movement, but it can also detect when you’re in the deepest phases of sleep.
More: 5 Reasons You'll Wear a Smart Watch
In addition to controlling Pandora playlists from your wrist, you’ll soon be able to give songs a thumbs up or thumbs down rating using the Pebble’s watch’s buttons. We played with the Pandora app briefly during our hands-on at CES 2014, and it should be available in the newly launched Pebble appstore soon.
More: 12 Best Android Music Players
Tired of staring at your phone when you’re in need of directions? PebbleGPS syncs with an accompanying app to display a map of your current location on your wrist. Input the address on your phone and the app will create a path on the map, which then appears on the Pebble when you open the PebbleGPS app.
More: 12 Best Android Games
Classic Nintendo fans will appreciate the Pebble’s Mario watchface, which brings the iconic plumber to your wrist. Gamers will recognize the two coin blocks sitting above Mario’s head. These blocks, however, don’t emit coins. Instead Mario hit the boxes as each minute changes.
More: 25 Best iPad Games 2014
The Futura Weather watchface is among the simplest, yet most attractive and useful watchfaces in the Pebble appstore. Futura Weather displays location-based information about the weather conditions in your area, including the temperature and whether it is sunny or rainy. It refreshes weather information every 15 minutes, in addition to displaying the time and date.
More: 12 Surprising Things Your Android Phone Can Do
You don’t need a telescope to look into outer space. The Pebble Mars watchface displays streaming images from the Curiosity Rover on your wrist. The app pulls images from the Deep Space Network, which are made available on public servers as soon as they hit Earth.
