By 
Yesterday Pebble announced version 2.3 of their beta app for Android. With this update Pebble users can interact with actionable notifications from Android Wear. This is a very big deal. Actionable notifications are the “actions” you see by swiping left on a notification in Android Wear. A simple example is the “Reply” action from an SMS message.
Any action you can take on Android Wear can now be done with a Pebble (except for voice-to-text, obviously). We have a Pebble Steel with the latest software and the updated Android app in the house, so we put it up against the Moto 360 to see how the new notifications compare with Android Wear. Let’s take a look.
When a notification arrives on your Pebble you can now press the “Select” button to slide out a menu with actions. In the photo above you can see the “Reply” action from Google’s Messenger app on both Pebble and Android Wear. The actions that show up in this slide-out menu depend on the notification. Press the corresponding button to take action.
In the case of Google’s Messenger app we can choose from a list of emoji or quick replies. You can’t dictate a personal response like you could with the Moto 360, but this is still a huge step forward. If you’re busy you can quickly send a short reply and not have to pull out your phone. Check out the video below to see the new notifications in action.
Pebble notifications are getting a lot better, but they still lack one big feature. You can’t dismiss a notification from your phone with Pebble’s built-in notification system. Luckily there are great 3rd-party apps that can dismiss notifications from the phone. Hopefully Pebble makes it a default feature in the future.
What do you think about Pebble’s new actionable notifications? Is Android Wear still better? Which do you prefer?
Can’t wait for an updated Pebble. If they add color/higher res e-ink, I’ll be sold.
Meanwhile I’m still here waiting for Lollipop on my 360 :'(
ME TOO UGH
During the video I was telling myself ‘my 360 doesn’t look like that’ hehe.
I like how the 360 was listening to your final comments.
I thought it was supposed to roll out to everyone on the 15th O_o
I updated to the beta yesterday, and it does allow me to dismiss notifications on my phone. I haven’t installed Wear on my phone yet so I haven’t tested those features.
If you want to be able to dismiss notifications then use Hangouts as your sms application. I’ve tested Textra, Go sms, Samsungs message app and Google’s messenger and all of those only allow for “reply”. But Hangouts allows for other options like dismiss and open message on phone.
Nice tip
Messenger works fine for opening on phone for me. Unless I’m remembering incorrectly.
Is Google Maps sending notifications for Android Wear (like “turn left in 700m”)? In other words, can we now use GMaps with Pebble in standard ?
I always assumed the notifications were actionable. Hearing that Pebble is only getting this now makes me really relieved I didn’t get one.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great device. Just not for me.
Most watches notifications are not actionable. Pebble Steel is the best watch. Gears S overheated, battery could drain in one hour, can’t see it outside, can’t get it wet, terrible charging, etc, . Pebble, fast, clean , easy, full notification, replay if you want, tons of great apos, but I enjoy all the cool watch faces, assassin’s creed, halo, etc. The dedicated buttons, gorilla glass, 150 ft waterproof, , and it’s very nice looking.
Way too many steps to do the response on the pebble. Not sure, other than battery life, why everyone loves this thing so much.
Huge bezels, ugly display, no mic, and half the functionality of android wear.