Pebble has updated its firmware to improve notifications

It’s small, it’s stylish, the battery lasts, and it’s not too expensive. It’s hardly difficult to see why the Pebble is such a popular smartwatch. Today, the folks at Pebble HQ released a firmware update to add some more functionality.

The big one is that the Pebble app which connects the watch to a smartphone can now accept notifications from any Android app, and will beam them over to the wrist-mounted display. You also get to choose which notifications are and aren’t included, app by app. That means no annoying pings from Facebook informing you when your grandmother has liked every single status you’ve ever written (unless you want them). Android users can also now use their watch to end phone calls.

iOS users can already do both of these things, so the update is less relevant for them. Pebble has thrown in a little something though: iOS users can now access the latest Javascript apps from the Pebble App store.

For those of you who might be using different languages on your phone and watch, the new update is especially relevant to you — regardless of which platform you use. The firmware update means that the Pebble watch is now capable of displaying notifications in 80 different languages, and can handle special characters instead of displaying a square box.

For those of you without Pebbles, this isn’t likely to make you want to buy the watch. But for existing Pebble owners, it makes a great product even better.

Tom Pritchard