First Steps Forward with Fitbit
Greetings, Pebble Devs, from our new home at Fitbit!
After last week’s announcement and Dev Blog post, we wanted to share the latest about what the Pebble community can expect from our team’s migration to Fitbit, and what it means for Pebble’s software and services. We want to give you as much detail as possible about our short-term game plan and vision for the future.
91 Dub v1.0 by me - March 2013
Hello (again)!
After a week of introductions, ice-breaking, and getting-to-know-yous during our onboarding at Fitbit, I’d like to reintroduce myself to Pebblers who may be unfamiliar with my story. My name is Jon Barlow. I’ve been active with the Pebble community since the very beginning: I’m a Pebble watchface developer, active community moderator, hardcore Pebble hobbyist, and backed all three Kickstarter projects. For the past fifteen months, I’ve had the great privilege of being part of Pebble’s Developer Evangelist Team, serving as devs’ voice and champion within the company.
Me at Angelhack Mumbai 2016
I am writing today as part of the Fitbit team that is responsible for a smooth and positive Pebble transition. Our mission is to support the Pebble developer community we’ve loved and nurtured, working to ensure Pebble watches continue to operate.
The Pebble Experience Through 2017
Fitbit is going out of its way to keep Pebble software and services running through 2017. To be clear, no one on this freshly-formed team seeks to brick Pebble watches in active service. The Pebble SDK, CloudPebble, Timeline APIs, firmware availability, mobile apps, developer portal, and Pebble appstore are all elements of the Pebble ecosystem that will remain in service at this time. Pebble developers are welcome to keep creating and updating apps. Pebble users are free to keep enjoying their watches.
Our Continued Way Forward
The Core Experience
Our first action to preserve the Pebble experience far into the future will be to update our mobile apps, loosening their dependency on a patchwork of cloud services (authentication, analytics, app locker, etc.). Expect this update in the coming months. The mobile app updates will ensure the operation of core Pebble functions, even with cloud services discontinued—they won’t break functionality.
Pebble Health
After this update, Pebble Health will continue to work as it does today. Health API data is not dependent on cloud services—it will feed directly into the Pebble mobile app, Apple HealthKit, and Google Fit.
Pebble “Smart” Features
We are currently evaluating Pebble features dependent on third-party services—dictation, messaging, weather, etc.—to establish if and for how long these experiences can continue on. Stay tuned here for any and all updates on this front.
Empowering Pebblers
The Pebble community always filled in the gaps our small team needed help with, and you continue to do so. We’ve seen a massive influx of community developers teaming up to keep the Pebble watch experience alive, long into the future. Pebblers interested in joining these grassroots efforts can find us on these Discord channels:
- #appstore
- #firmware
- #mobile-apps
- #rebirth
Existing Pebble developers looking for help or information about Pebble device internals are welcome to reach out for assistance. Tweet us at @pebbledev or give us a buzz on the Pebble community Discord.
Finally, I want the Pebble community to know just how much impact they can have on what's to come. Continuing to engage with us and sharing your passion for what makes Pebble special to you will go a long way towards showing our Fitbit friends how valuable your enthusiasm can be. Now, as before, we don’t make awesome happen alone.
Until next time,
Jon Barlow + Team #PEBBLExFITBIT
