Pebble is joining the digital health revolution with the new firmware update that brings, among other things, Pebble Health, to add native step counting and sleep tracking to newer Pebble smartwatches (or every watch except the Pebble Classic and Pebble Classic Steel). Previously, the same capability required a third-party app, such as Misfit or Jawbone Up, to get a glimpse of your activity levels on Pebble. No more; and to make for an even better experience, the app will share the data gathered with Apple’s HealthKit and Google Fit.
The smartwatch maker has been working with Stanford University’s wearable health lab to come up with its algorithms for activity tracking.The smartwatch maker has been working with Stanford University’s wearable health lab to come up with its algorithms for activity tracking. According to Pebble, the idea was to go beyond accuracy, to provide scientists with access to (anonymized) data so they can replicate it for research purposes. In comparison, many other commercial wearable companies don’t share information around how, exactly, they calculate activity levels.
The app itself doesn’t push users to make typically asked 10,000 steps and instead adjusts daily goals based on how active you’ve been previously. Users also get to see a week-long graph within the fairly basic-looking watch app to show them how much they’ve moved or slept the day and week before, pitting them against their own earlier activities.
Third party apps still can’t access the Pebble Health data.Pebble Health integrates with Timeline, which is Pebble’s scrolling calendar interface that was introduced with the Pebble Time and is now available on all Pebble watches. The added feature users will see is, for instance, an ideal time to get some steps in, based on the meetings scheduled in the calendar.
The Pebble mobile app is still “not there,” and in the meantime, if you want to see the details of how your walks affect the overall well-being, you’ll have to fire-up Apple Health or Google Fit. Also third party apps still can’t access the Pebble Health data — the company says it will release a new version of its software development kit in January that will enable this. And the same goes for tracking workout sessions – that capability will have to wait for some other time.
[Via: TheVerge]