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New Pebble firmware arrives alongside rewritten Android app w/ full notification support

Pebble is today releasing a firmware update (version 2.8) bringing multi-language notifications and other features alongside a completely rebuilt Android app.

Firmware 2.8 adds full character support for the broadest set of languages to date. For Pebblers who receive notifications in the newly supported languages, special characters like “ß” and “Ż” will appear correctly, as opposed to showing up as “unknown character” boxes. Over 98% of Pebblers in the world can now fully receive messages and alerts in their native language. Today’s update paves the way for more languages to come in the future, as Pebble steadily lands in more countries around the world.

As for the updated Android app (version 2.1.0), the standout new feature is full notification support for devices running Android 4.3 and up: “now send notifications to Pebble from any app, via the new Notifications » All Apps menu. From there, you can Select All, Select None, or toggle apps individually. Pebble says a future update will bring the feature to devices running Android 4.0+. 

Pebble’s blog post notes that you’ll have to grant the app permission for the notifications and that notifications for some popular apps like Facebook and Hangouts are on by default (pictured below).

The update also includes a number of new features not to mention the fact it has been completely rewritten to, according to Pebble, provide “improvements to reliability, performance, and user experience.” Full release notes for the new Pebble firmware and Android app below. 

Pebble said its slowly rolling out the updated Android app to Google Play with around 10% of users getting access today and the rest over the coming weeks.

Pebble Firmware 2.8 Release Notes

  • NEW: Expanded language support for notifications. Receive and view messages on your Pebble in the following languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Asu, Basque, Bemba, Bena, Bosnian, Catalan, Chiga, Congo Swahili, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Embu, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luo, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Maori, Meru, Morisyen, North Ndebele, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Sango, Sangu, Sena, Shambala, Shona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Taita, Teso, Vunjo, Zulu.
  • Bug fixes and stability improvements.

To update to the latest firmware:

  1. Open the Pebble smartphone app for iOS or Android.
  2. Select Support » Update Your Pebble in the Menu if the update does not begin automatically.

Pebble Android App 2.1.0 Release Notes

  • NEW: Full notification support.
  • NEW: End calls in-progress.
  • Rewritten from the ground-up, this version contains many improvements to reliability, performance, and user experience.
  • This version currently requires a device running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher. A future update will include support for earlier versions of Android.
  • Access to 2.1.0 will be a phased roll-out on the Google Play Store. Keep checking to see when it’s available for you!

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Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s weekly Logic Pros series and makes music as one half of Toronto-based Makamachine.