Pebble support coming to Windows Phone

The Pebble Time was just launched yesterday, and oddly enough, the company behind the most popular smart watch of the past few years has chosen to release their latest gadget on Kickstarter. Even though Pebble has grown enormously since its first Kickstarter campaing in 2012, the company wanted to “give back” in a way to its first Kickstarter backers and offer the new Pebble Time with a discount for backers. The new smart watch, as usual, will run on both Android and iOS devices, but Windows Phone support has still not been added, even though there’s a lot of demand for it.

Pebble hasn’t spoken out about whether Windows Phone support would be added in the future to its wearable devices, but we find it an inevitable occurrence. First off, the new software that the Pebble Time uses is much ahead of the original operating system and the team behind WebOS have worked their butts of to optimize it. The new Pebble gets a 64-color e-paper display which still doesn’t have touch features, but the OS in itself is greatly optimized for wrists. By that we mean that the company decided to go with a Timeline view of things this time, which means you can more easily access the apps and features the watch has to offer.

Even though we’re glad to see the new wearable up and about, we were a bit bummed when Windows Phone support was yet again omitted from the description. But that doesn’t mean Windows fans won’t ever be able to use a Pebble with their Lumia or Nokia or One M8 for Windows phone. A new app has shown up in the Windows Phone app store, and although it is not available for the average consumer, it’s a test build that has completely spilled the beans about Microsoft’s intentions.

The Pebble Notifications application is for insiders only, meaning that it’s only for test purposes at the moment. Still, it suggests that support for the most popular wearable of the moment is confirmed by an official source, and we don’t think the official rollout of the app is far ahead. We’re waiting to hear from both Microsoft and Pebble about the feature and when it will be made available, but our best guess is when the Time is launched, namely in May 2015. We’re excited about Windows Phone support and hope that the app will be finished by the time the watch gets delivered to backers worldwide.

The Pebble Notifications app isn’t very detailed in the app store, but we do get some neat screenshots to glare at, which is nice. Microsoft is clear on the matter though: “This is an internal test application to get feedback on Accessory Ecosystem Support feature in WP Blue GDR1.”  The notes that appear below, hosted on Yammer, cannot be accessed and we can’t install the application for ourselves, so we’re left with the screenshots and that’s that. But it’s still something!

Don’t take our word for it, though, as the new app hasn’t been confirmed. For all we know, this could just be a test and will never materialize into full-blown Pebble/Windows Phone reciprocal support. But we honestly hope it will, as we are seeing tremendous positive response to the new Time smart watch. Surely Microsoft would have fans to be gained through a partnership like this. We’ll keep an eye out for official word from either companies, and will keep you posted. In the meantime, you can glare at the screenshots.