Pebble Time with Michael
What Are Apps?
Fundamentally, your Pebble Time is really just a very small computer that fits onto your wrist. Just like any computer it has a CPU and memory. It keeps software and data in its memory and executes the software stored there as needed.
The software running on your Pebble Time really falls into two broad catagories: systems software created by the Pebble Technology Corporation and is used to control it’s overall operation, and user installed software. This latter type software needs user action in order to be put into your Pebble Time’s memory and to execute it when desired.
User installed software itself falls into two more broad categories: watch faces and apps. Watch faces are simply specialized applications that provide time keeping services and information display on the Pebble Time default screen. Apps are any other type of user installed software that performs non-timekeeping functions, like displaying sport scores or todo lists or helping you find directions. This article is concerned with this latter type of software.
Why Do We Need Them on Our Pebble Time?
The very short answer is that you don’t. You can just use watch faces and the standard built-in functions of the Pebble Time, if that’s all you need. Notifications and timekeeping services are enough for many users. However, most users will want to add the additional functionality provided by the apps. Apps can be found in the Pebble App Store and installed on your Pebble Time by downloading them from that Web site.
The Pebble App Store
The Pebble App Store can be accessed by using the Pebble Time application on your phone. You can also access it on the Web for searching, but not downloading apps, through http://pas.cpfx.ca/. The Store is set up to display either watch faces or apps to the user.
One issue I have with the Pebble App Store is actually finding apps on it. There are many thousands of them available and it can be quite a challenge to find what you are looking for. The store has a few broad categories of apps, including Color Picks and Timeline-Ready Apps, which should be of special interest to Pebble Time owners, but there are simply not enough categories to really aid in finding apps.
The Store does have a search function, which works for both watch faces and apps, and can be used to search by name or keyword. Most of the time this function works well, but I’ve encountered quite a few instances where it’s unable to find an application’s name. Again, this just makes apps more difficult to find. Nevertheless, I’ve eventually been able to find every app I’ve been looking for in the Store. It just seems a lot harder to do so when compared to the iTunes App Store or the Goggle Play Store.
Installing Apps on the Pebble Time
Pebble Time apps are installed by first downloading them to your phone. They are then automatically sent to your smartwatch over the Bluetooth connection that’s maintained between your phone and watch.
Before attempting to download an app from the Pebble App Store you should confirm that your Pebble Time is actually connected to your phone. You can do this by looking at the top left corner of the Pebble Time phone app on your iPhone or Android device. If it says “Disconnected” you should be able to tap on this message to request the watch be reconnected.
Once you’ve confirmed your connection between your Pebble Time and phone and have found an app you wish to install, you just need to tap the Add button of the app’s information page. This will start downloading the app to your phone and then installing it from the phone to your Pebble Time. Once installed, your Pebble Time will usually vibrate and you’ll see the app has be started on your watch.
Pebble vs. Pebble Time Apps
One thing to keep in mind about the apps available in the Pebble App Store is that the vast majority of them were written for the original Pebble and Pebble Steel watches, and so don’t take advantage of the color screen and Timeline features of the Pebble Time. Nevertheless, any app written for the original Pebble should work just fine on the Pebble Time. I’ve had many of them operating on my own Pebble Time without any problems.
Companion Apps
Most Pebble Time apps are standalone. That is, they don’t require any special software to simultaneously be executing on your phone. However, a few do. Those that do require are said to have Companion Apps. These apps have an orange Companion App Required message appearing on their information page.
Installing Companion Apps on the Phone
If you download an app from the Pebble Store that requires a Companion App, you will usually be prompted during the installation process to also download the Companion App onto your phone. If for some reason you don’t see the any Companion App prompt, you can go directly to the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store and download the Companion App directly to your phone.
My Favorite Apps
I’ve listed many favorite apps of mine in the past here on Pebble Time with Michael. These favorites come and go from my watch as I often come to realize that many of them are actually more trouble to use than they are worth. Over the months I’ve owned by Pebble Time I’ve paired this list down to just the following apps:
- Nav Me (alas, this one really is exclusive to Android users) – Navigation aid while driving and absolutely my very favorite app
- PlexFit – Fitness tracker that counts my daily steps and my second “must have” app after Nav Me
- TripAdvisor – Finding nearby restaurants and attractions
- Simple Weather – Getting weather forecasts
- Timer+ – A very powerful and handy timer app
- Compass – Finding current direction
- ESPN – Following my favorite sports teams
That’s it. I’ve many more apps than this on my Pebble Time in the past, but these are all that have stood the test of time. My criteria for keeping an app on my Pebble Time is very simple:
- The app must provide clear value to me in my daily life
- The app must be fast – I hate to wait!
All of the above meet these criteria. Of course, there are many more apps for the Pebble Time that you may want to check out for yourself. A very good place to start looking for them is the Apps Section of this Web site. You’ll also find excellent recommendations for watch faces here.