Apple Restricting New Pebble Smartwatches From 'Being Awesome' With iPhone

[GeoffEff]

I was a big Pebble wearer back in the day. Back then, wearing a smartwatch was considered nerdy and not something people regularly wore.

I’m happy Pebble is back in some form. But at the same time, I’ve really been feeling the smartwatch fatigue lately. In my head, it's just another screen, another device I’d have to worry about.

In regards to messaging, couldn't they implement whatever tech cars and Windows uses to send messages?

Couldn't have said this better. Considering stopping myself. I feel like 99% of people are wearing them and am feeling the fatigue bigtime.

 

[Westside guy]

People wear those? They look awful and cheap.

Not everyone thinks about their gear as a fashion statement.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Whining that your rich neighbour doesn’t let you use his mower the way you want is so low-minded

Nice analogy, but...

They are warning costumers that the iMower will artificial go into limp mode once you install their catch-bag.

Or something long those lines.


Apple does not own my iPhone, so in the end I should be the one that decides what works and what not. Reality is off course much more complicated with plenty grey areas and even some were it might be a good idea to not give me full control. Is these one of them, or just a way to make sure I spend more money with Apple.

 

[Veinticinco]

I feel like the EU would be in their corner

Sorry but getting really bored of this tired EU trope infesting threads now. Bordering on political which even a whiff of on here gets censored/banned.

 

[Westside guy]

Sorry pal, but why would Apple make it easy for you, a third-party smartwatch company, to "replicate the functions of the Apple Watch"?

To be fair, Pebble was in this space before Apple.

 

[HMI]

Is the Core 2 Duo powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo?

Is there sugar in syrup?

 

[bluecoast]

Apple should allow this to work and then make it my choice if I choose to let the smartwatch have access to my data.

Apple has apis for all sorts of things. And it’s suspicious when they don’t for categories where they have their own product in them.

I don’t want a core 2 - terrible name which will probably have to change as soon as intel’s IP lawyers hear about it - but I’m glad it’s going to exist.

 

[contacos]

Sorry but getting really bored of this tired EU trope infesting threads now. Bordering on political which even a whiff of on here gets censored/banned.

Well. It's true. Apple was just deemed a monopolist by the German "suprime court" today. How is a small watch maker going to compete when they can't offer their service on the iPhone.

 

[verdi1987]

Core 2 Duo reminds me of an Intel processor.

Because it is. 😂

 

[phillypharm]

Sure, Apple can do what they want (at least right now) and keep their system closed to other watches, but if that were the case across the board, we’d be left with the original Apple apps too. Once Apple opened their App Store up, it became better. Same applies here.

I don’t need full access, but it’d be nice to be able to even reply to messages from my Garmin.

 

[JosephAW]

My Wyze watch is limited too but it works for me.

 

[nadador]

I loved my old Pebble watch and held onto it (delaying my adoption of an Apple Watch) until the Pebble just didn't work any more. The added functionality of the Apple Watch was less compelling to me than the fact that the Pebble held a charge for nearly a week. But it *DID* have some message notifications and other stuff at the time, I believe. Too bad if Apple is allowing it less functionality now than it had 10 years ago.

 

[verdi1987]

Before committing to a name, try Googling to see if there’s already a product with that name.

 

[davide_eu]

EU, please, push again this greedy company

 

[cocky jeremy]

It's almost like you should make your own phones if you want to tether your crappy watch to a phone and have full control over what functionality is available.

 

[russell_314]

Naming an outdated looking watch after an outdated Intel processor. Keep doing what you’re doing guys 😂

 

[ChrisA]

With a 30-day battery life and a $149 price, they will sell a lot of these.

 

[diego.caraballo]

• There's no easy option to allow developers to create watch faces and apps for Pebble that would be available through the Pebble iOS app.

🤣🤣🤣 Apple Watch has a thriving third party faces market...

 

[Veinticinco]

Well. It's true. Apple was just deemed a monopolist by the German "suprime court" today. How is a small watch maker going to compete when they can't offer their service on the iPhone.

There's a time and a place though, and mention of the EU here is irrelevant and unhelpful. There are threads for that sort of thing, like Apple's appeal against the UK government demand for a backdoor into iOS under the guise of "security".

As for the "small watch maker", this guy got Pebble crowdfunded and into market 2 years before the AW. The sector has changed since he sold up and he needs to accept that. I don't hear Carl Pei whining about Apple, he just cracked on and brought out his own phones, watches etc.

 

[chrono1081]

TL;DR: Company mad they have to play by the same rules as everyone else.

 

[elrojo69]

either you die a hero or live long enough to become the villian

 

[contacos]

It's almost like you should make your own phones if you want to tether your crappy watch to a phone and have full control over what functionality is available.

That's like asking Apple to built it's own car if every car vendor decides to block car play

 

[cocky jeremy]

That's like asking Apple to built it's own car if every car vendor decides to block car play

Yeah, and? Nothing is stopping them if they choose to do that.

 

[Remy149]

"He says that Apple makes it "nearly impossible for 3rd party wearable developers" to create an experience that mirrors the Apple Watch experience"

And that is what the EU competition commission should really be looking at. Sorry but I have an Apple Watch and it is nice, however it is pretty much the ONLY smart watch that works fully with an iPhone, so you have little choice of which brand to buy and boy does Apple charge you for the privilege, I also question why it won't allow the Apple Watch to work with the iPad as being cynical, to boost iPhone sales or something?

BUT.... on the flip side Apple Watch does have good medical sensors and it integrates very well with Apple Health. I can't deny that works very well. Apart from the oxygen sensor that seems hit or miss.

I remember Pebble the first time round and was close to buying one of their watches, didn't in the end though.

I personally don’t want there to be a back door built in for devs to get to my personal data.

 

[ChrisA]

It's almost like you should make your own phones if you want to tether your crappy watch to a phone and have full control over what functionality is available.

That is pretty much what Android allows, It lowers the bar to entering the market. Apple currently has about 23% of the world cell phone market while Andriod has about 72%. So in the Android world there is a larger mix of phones each selling into a different niche, Some people want lowest possible cost and others will pay $$$ for a folding phone. So yes, you canhave what you want if you build your own