Just this week, Fitbit has announced through its official blog that it is extending support for Pebble services only until the end of June this year. Fitbit had originally planned to end Pebble support until the end of last year, but has since decided to extend the deadline for an additional six months.
Fitbit had announced its plans to end Pebble support more than a month ago, and it is safe to say that owners of Pebble wearables now must start bidding their farewells to their devices, and maybe even begin looking for a new watch to wear. Still, Fitbit may be trying to help things by offering Pebble watch users a discount of fifty bucks on the Fitbit Ionic smartwatch. For those who purchased before December 7th of 2016, they will receive the discount offer by way of email. As for everyone else, they can register for updates with regards to the special offer.
It is never easy having to let go of a device one is accustomed to using, but in this day and age where change often happens so fast, mobile users are sort of used to it. Still, Fitbit was kind enough to allow developers some time to migrate Pebble content to the Ionic’s operating system. For Pebble watch owners, they might take the opportunity to deliberate carefully, weigh their options, and maybe even give the Ionic a try.
Not all Pebble watch users, however, will be eager to make the switch. It was in December of 2016 when Pebble had confirmed that it was indeed being acquired by Fitbit (for just $23 million). Even then, there was some expectation that a percentage of Pebble’s customers will not be too happy with the news. They had good reason to feel that way -- under the terms of the acquisition deal, Fitbit would be absorbing the assets and manpower resources of Pebble, but Pebble’s existing and future products would be discontinued.
To Pebble’s credit, it did really well in preparing a contingency plan -- last April, it issued an app update that would make sure Pebble watches will still keep on working. This means that even after June 30th of this year, the devices will still work normally, the app will still be able to gain online access to the world wide web, and users will still be able to sideload apps, even from sources aside from the official app store (feel free to check out Pebble’s blog post here).
