Pebble smartwatches get a built-in fitness tracking app
Pebble Health tracks your step counts and sleep without leaning on someone else's app.
If you've wanted to use your Pebble smartwatch as an activity tracker so far, you've had to grab a third-party app -- unlike Apple or Google, you didn't have anything built-in. Well, that won't be an issue after today. Pebble is rolling out a firmware update to the Time, Time Steel and Time Round that introduces Pebble Health, a native fitness tracking app. It continuously tracks your step counts and sleep, like the earlier apps, but you now have coaching (built with help from Stanford University) to see where you need improvement. Your results won't exist in a vacuum, either, since they plug into Apple's HealthKit, Google Fit and (soon) third-party watch apps.
So, what if you're still hanging on to one of Pebble's monochrome watches? You won't get Pebble Health, unfortunately, but there's still a treat in store. As promised, there's a firmware update arriving today that brings the newer watches' Timeline interface to both the original watch and the Steel. You get unlimited apps, too. While this won't make you forget that you have older wristwear, it should at least keep you in sync with some of the latest features.
