Fitbit is terminating support for Pebble Smartwatches in June

Started as one of the real Kickstarter success stories, Pebble quickly grew up into one of the most beloved and famous smartwatch brands. Tech giants like Apple also found its groove with the watch, but after being acquired by Fitbit, it was only a matter of time before the famous Smartwatch, Pebble’s venture came to an end.

On Wednesday, Fitbit updated in a blog post that it is going to extend its support for Pebble Smartwatches until June of this year, which seems to be Fitbit’s way of saying that Pebble’s ride will finally come to an end this summer. The Pebble services were supposed to have ceased at the end of January of this year.

So, as of June 30th, Pebble owners will not be able to use the App Store, nor will they be able to use any of the Pebble’s SMS, email, and voice recognition services. But, other features like step counters will keep functioning. Also, there are few caveats to the Pebble wind-down - for now, Pebble’s main mobile apps for iOS and Android should work, though the compatibility could be broken later with future iOS and Android OS upgrades.

At this point, Fitbit is pushing hard for users to transition over to its own Smartwatches. The company wrote on a blog post, “During this time, we invite all the Pebble users to explore how familiar highlights from the Pebble ecosystem are evolving on the Fitbit platform, from apps and clock faces to features and experiences”.

Also, Fitbit is giving $50 off for a Fitbit Ionic smartwatch to the Pebble owners. It does not seem to be a bad deal for anyone who wants a new Fitbit smartwatch, but for true Pebble fans, it will just feel like a small consolation prize.