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Pebble's resurgence has been impressive. Google released the source code, and then Eric Migicovsky took to social media to announce that Pebble was coming back. There have been a few projects to come from this, but it looks like the Pebble software could be getting its biggest update yet. Migicovsky shared on social media that plugins are eventually going to make their way to Pebble watches.
A modern touch
Up until this point, Pebble devices have relied on apps to make things happen. While these are efficient, they're quite limited. And although it was great a decade ago, things have evolved a lot since then. Many hoped that Pebble would make some changes, and now those changes are starting to take shape in the form of plugins.
For now, this change will be available in the SDK, which means it will be available only to developers. Migicovsky explains on X that plugins are "headless apps that provide data (eg weather, finance, traffic) or offer actions (home control, music, webhooks) to other apps, watchfaces and the Index agent. "
He goes on to explain that "they're written in JS and execute in the background on the Pebble app on your phone." What's great is that this will make apps work more seamlessly, pulling data from sources when needed. A great example of how this can be helpful is that, going forward, with this change, watchfaces will no longer need complications that are hardcoded.
Naturally, that's just the tip of the iceberg, with Migicovsky sharing that you'll also be able to use commands to pull up calendar events and even control smart home products. Another important detail is that these plugins will run locally on the phone, making them more secure.
In addition to the above, there will be a new permissions system where "users now must approve which faces/apps/plugins can access their location (GPS), internet access (specific URLs) and more." For the most part, this is welcome news. Pebble is about to enter a new era, and things are looking very exciting.
It's been a long road
Back in January 2025, there was talk that Pebble could resurface again. Nothing was concrete, but the vision was clear, and if anyone could pull it off, it was Migicovsky. It took some time to get things off the ground, but all things considered, it was a pretty quick turnaround from announcement to actual hardware.
The Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Round 2 are the stars of the show for now, which pretty much cover all the bases. Pebble also introduced the Pebble Index 01 later on, although it's a completely different product. There's also been word that there are even more products in the pipeline, but that's something we'll just have to wait and see.
The Pebble Round 2 will hopefully be in eager buyers' hands soon. But if you want to try this new software, you'll need to be a developer, and it's important to provide feedback. Download the latest Pebble app and head into the Settings menu, Debug, then Use Experimental Plugins.