Pebble has finally opened up its long-awaited app store, and not a moment too soon. We're ready to see what a smartwatch can really do with a thriving ecosystem of third party developers and a single consolidated marketplace behind it.
We already checked out major apps like ESPN, Yelp, and Foursquare with the new Pebble Steel, all of which we'd highly recommend installing. But the Pebble App Store actually houses over 1,000 new apps and watch faces. Apps fall in one of six categories: Daily, Tools & Utilities, Notifications, Remotes, Fitness, and Games.
Here are a few other must-haves for your Pebble:
- GoPro: If you've got a GoPro, grab the companion Pebble app. It lets you control your camera from your wrist, including starting or stopping photo and video, changing the shooting mode, changing the settings, and displaying the information you'd normally see on the GoPro's screen.
- RunKeeper: Use the smartwatch version of this mobile app to track walks, runs, bike rides, and more using just the GPS inside the Pebble.
- Hacker News: I'm going to assume many Pebble users are also in the tech or startup scene, and as such, probably read Hacker News. The Hacker News Pebble app lets you read the front page, new, and best stories, at a glance on your wrist.
- PebbleBucks: It doesn't get much more first world than using a smartwatch to pay for your $6 caramel tangerine mint latte. But if you regularly hit up Starbucks and normally use the Starbucks app to pay, you can save time (and check your account stats) by using this Pebble app instead.
- Huebble: You own a Pebble, so you're clearly some degree of early adopter. So there's a good chance you also have a Philips Hue lighting system at home. If so, Huebble lets you control those lights.
- Twebble: If you're neck-deep in a Twitter addiction, Twebble gives you just about everything the normal Twitter app does, but on a watch. Scroll through your news feed, mentions, profiles, and even compose tweets, if you dare go through the alphabet to tap out each character in the tweet individually.
Some big name apps like Pandora and one from Mercedes-Benz aren't yet in the store, but will be.
Currently the Pebble App Store is only available for iOS users, but the Android version (which is in beta) will be live in the app very soon.
