Pebble Brings iOS Text Replies to Verizon, Custom Vibrations and More

That is some fugly watch.

To be fair, that is an older monochrome model. But I agree, other than the round, most Pebbles are not that great looking IMO.
Still, there is a lot to like about Pebble watches. They were the first to get most of a smartwatch right and still have some advantages over the current crop from Apple or Android ware. It is hard to over state the appeal of an always on screen with a week of battery.
To be honest, if Apple allowed better access to the OS, I think I would prefer a Pebble over my Apple Watch.

I'm sorry but what difference does the carrier make to how the watch operates? A text message is a text message, why does the watch care if it's on Verizon or AT&T?

I had a Pebble Time a couple of weeks ago... I used it for 1.5 weeks and then returned it to Best Buy after Pebble announced a workforce reduction. They literally said they are hurting for money... so yeah... the writing is on the wall... and I decided to not keep a smart watch that may not be supported in the near future. Too bad though. It is a nice little device with fantastic battery life!

I know it will probably never happen, but I would love to see iMessage available on these devices. iMessage is the only draw for the apple watch over others for me. I guess that is why Apple won't open this up to devs.

I had a Pebble Time a couple of weeks ago... I used it for 1.5 weeks and then returned it to Best Buy after Pebble announced a workforce reduction. They literally said they are hurting for money... so yeah... the writing is on the wall... and I decided to not keep a smart watch that may not be supported in the near future. Too bad though. It is a nice little device with fantastic battery life!

They are failing even though their development and production costs were covered by crowdfunding. That's sad.

This article is the epitome of why a company like Pebble stands no chance in this space. The moment Android Wear was announced, the Pebble was doomed.

The clear advantage that Apple and Android manufacturers have is their own ecosystem. iMessage, Apple Music (iTunes), phone calls, system notifications, the list goes on. Pebble has no chance to compete in a space where their 2 biggest competitors, Apple and Google, hold the keys to all the features Pebble needs to interface with. Sure, the Pebble has a loyal crowd who CAN do all sorts of stuff, but the functionality is neither simple nor efficient. Pebble will be out of cash soon.

Read the comment above: you can send a text with your watch via AT&T and now Verizon, but your phone doesn't have a record of that text being sent. These kind of cheap workarounds are confusing to uneducated customers and highlight the lack of the essential functionalities anyone would expect when dropping $150+ on a smart watch.

Pebble needs the workaround because Apple doesn't allow other devices to send texts through the phone. On Android the watch can do a lot more. I like my watch a lot and I use it to workout. I don't want to sweat on and throw weights around with a $300 device on my wrist. People around here are so eager to throw more money at Apple.