I was an original angel of the Kickstarter for the Pebble smartwatch and have been wearing it on my wristfor more than two long time , so you ’d think I ’d be one of the tens of thousands of people rushing to Kickstart the new Pebble Time . But I ’m not .
It ’s not that I have n’t enjoyed my two years with the Pebble . It ’s not that I dislike the new interface on the Pebble Time — in fact , I think it looks pretty cool . No , I ’m not buying in to Pebble clip because I ’m an iPhone user .
Unlike all the Android Wear watches out there , Pebble ’s picket have always claim iOS compatibility . That ’s true of the Pebble Time , too . But in the past two age as a Pebble user , one affair has been abundantly cleared : My Pebble ’s human relationship with iOS has been fraught with difficulty . I had to fiddle endlessly with Notification Center options to get alerts to right expose on my watch , and since the release of iOS 8 I ’ve find oneself that more often than not my Pebble has just taciturnly lost its connection to my iPhone — or the Pebble app sound out itisconnected , but it does n’t actually send any notifications . Except when it does .
Meanwhile , Pebble keeps announce new lineament that work pretty well with Android . The Pebble Time has a microphone you may habituate on Android – or a exclusive app on iOS . It ’s not hard to see which way the wind is tout . Google , the proprietor of the Android platform , is work to enable features that support smartwatches from various vendors . Meanwhile , on iOS , what smartwatch strategy do you remember the political program owner is focused on ?
I ’m certain Pebble fourth dimension will work , more or less , with iPhones . But it ’ll be second - rate functionality compare to Pebble for Android . Meanwhile , here comes the Apple Watch : A Cartesian product designed to work seamlessly with iOS . Which is choke to extend a better experience ?
Apple Watch is technically Pebble Time ’s rival since they both support iOS , but my Pebble works a lot best with Android .
Sure , Pebble Time might beApple Watch ’s biggest competition on iOS , but that ’s only because there ’s no real contention . I love that Pebble is building a relatively garish smartwatch with tenacious bombardment life . It ’s a niche that necessitate to be filled . If you plainly do n’t want to drip $ 349 for an Apple Watch , the Pebble Time is going to be available for a much more reasonable price – but it ’ll do a whole mass less , too .
If Pebble has another thing going for it against the Apple Watch , it ’s restraint . As I wrote a class ago , “ What I want in a smartwatch is a fresh watch , not a small phone that ’s strapped to my radiocarpal joint . One of the thing I love about the Pebble is that it ’s not a phone and does n’t attempt to be one . ” As interesting as the Apple Watch is , I require it to beglanceable . I do n’t require to spend minute obtain my left arm up , tapping on my watch with my proper bridge player . Smartwatches should be for warm interaction , for glances and deferrals and the like . I hope Apple gets that proper with the Apple Watch .
In the end , though , if I ’m going to invest in a new smartwatch , and I ’m an iPhone user , my money has to go to the Apple Watch . It ’s being crafted to work seamlessly with iOS . If it ’s not more reliable than the Pebble at relaying telling to my wrist , I ’ll rust my lid . Third - party app developers are rushing to embrace WatchKit , and I ’d wager that on day one there will be vastly better third - party app documentation for Apple Watch than could have possibly existed for Pebble .
It ’s not Pebble ’s fault that Apple has focused on its own smartwatch while letting the connectivity between Io and Pebble stay on buggy . But this is life in Apple ’s ecosystem : If the prominent click want to enter a category , it ’s become to give itself every vantage it can . Apple ’s not doing this to crush Pebble – it ’s doing it to produce a capital Cartesian product . The Apple Watch will be better because it ’s been tailored to work with iOS , and iOS has been tailored to mould with it . Pebble compatibility being leave behind by the side of the road is just a side gist .
And even if Pebbledidwork seamlessly with the iPhone , I do n’t guess I would rush into buying a Pebble Time . The Pebble has always felt like a forerunner mathematical product . It augurs a novel wearable revolution , but is clearly just a rudimentary first step . When I look at the Apple Watch , with its retina touchscreen , I see the future . When I look at the Pebble ’s low - resolving power E - Paper screen and cortege of buttons , I see the past times .
