Here's how to get started with the Pebble 4.0 upgrade
Pebble‘s known for its constant updates that keep trying to make the platform a better experience. The latest is the biggest one so far as it focuses heavily on Timeline, Pebble Health and providing quick, glanceable information through the user interface.
The update has also landed right before the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble 2 smartwatches ship to Kickstarter backers in September. That means downloading and using the 4.0 update should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect with the new Pebble watches.
Must read: The best Pebble apps
Overall, the Pebble 4.0 apps have a new look and feel with fresher colors, cleaner layouts and menus boasting speedier performance.
So what’s new with Pebble 4.0 and how do you use the new features? Read on to find out.
Pebble 4.o: Compatibility and set up
First up, it’s important to figure out if your Pebble is compatible. Unfortunately for the people with older models, only the Time series Pebbles (Pebble Time, Time Steel and Pebble Time Round) as well as the second generation models (Pebble 2 and Time 2) can be upgraded to 4.0.
After figuring that part out, head to your app and download the update – it should pop up automatically but if not, tap the three dots on the top right, then tap support to see what version you’re using. The app should prompt you to download and from there it should take a few minutes.
Occasionally, the update will fail (like it did for us). Try downloading and installing again. But if it continues to fail, head to your phone’s settings to unpair and re-pair your watch. Pebble also recommends rebooting your phone and/or watch, plus toggling the Bluetooth settings on and off for both devices.
Pebble 4.0: Health updates
The Health app has been redesigned and is taking on glanceable info. Pressing the up button on the watch will take you to the app where you can view step and sleep activity with the redesigned activity cards (your steps are displayed in little hexagonal shapes while sleep is displayed in a rectangular box on the watch).
Press right from each activity to dive deeper and compare how you’re currently doing with your typical performance of the past week as the app shows you the different day’s worth of info. To see more data beyond a week, you’ll need to head to your app.
The mobile apps for both iOS and Android have been improved as well. For Health, the activity and sleep graphs are easier to read at a glance and look similar to your typical Fitbit or Jawbone app.
You can also find the Health app settings under the main Settings menu rather than the apps tab.
Pebble 4.0: Timeline quick view
There’s a new quick view feature for Timeline that lets you see what’s currently happening and what’s coming up next straight from the watch face. Pressing down on it will let you see details up to three days ahead. To dismiss the notification, press the back button.
Watch faces can now also react and resize to Timeline Quick View which shows your next appointment, pulled in from Pebble’s Timeline feature, as a notification on the watch face without obscuring the time, date or any other information on there.
You can also adjust how soon Quick View events show up on your Timeline by going into the main watch menu, selecting Settings then Timeline and configuring from there.
Pebble 4.0: App glances and quick launch
The app glances are basically tweaks to how your main menu looks in 4.0. For select apps, you’ll be able to see additional information displayed. Beneath your settings, for instance, battery percentage is now listed. Under music, the artist and song titles are displayed for whatever you’re listening to at that moment.
Current local temperature is also displayed under weather so you don’t need to open the app unless you want to see the weekly forecast. It’s not clear if this change will apply to other apps, but we’re hoping it will as it’s quickly become a favorite feature of the new 4.0 menu launcher.
Speaking of launchers, the buttons on the side of your Pebble – up, down, back, and select – can now be assigned specific apps for the new 4-Button Quick Launch feature. That way, your most used and favorite apps can be accessed easier.
There’s also a new, time-saving One Click Actions feature which will allow developers to allocate one action to an app for its most popular use case – e.g. hitting play on the music player or ordering an Uber. More apps should be released in the future with these features.