Pebble is finally looking at the No. 1 top wireless carrier in the U.S. After delivering iOS text replies to AT&T's customers, Pebble has released an update that allow Verizon customers to send canned responses to text messages.
Along with sending canned responses, which users can customize, the update also allows Pebble smartwatch wearers to send emoji and voice notes. However, only the Pebble Time series watches will support the transmission of voice notes for now.
To get started dishing out pre-prepped text messages, Verizon subscribers, the ones on contract, will need to verify their wireless accounts via the Pebble app. From there, users can customize a list of canned responses and then choose from that arsenal to fire back at messages that come their way.
While setup should take mere seconds, Pebble warns its customers that it could take hours for iOS Text Reply to become available for Verizon subscribers. That's to say, "give it awhile before submitting support tickets and starting forum threads."
Pebble's iOS Text Reply system uses SMS. Users can respond to iMessage communications via their Pebble watches, but the responses won't be threaded in the Apple app and will reach recipients as SMS text messages. Another issue with Pebble's iOS Text Reply is that they can't be sent in response to group messages.
"Reliably replying to group messages requires knowledge of who is on the message thread, which is not always provided," Pebble says. "We're actively exploring ideas to overcome this — stay tuned!"
Despite the limitation of Pebble's iOS text replies, the company holds the distinction of offering the first non-Apple smartwatches with "working actionable message replies for iPhone."
"With Verizon and AT&T on board as compatible carriers for iOS Text Reply, actionable message capabilities for Pebble users on iPhone continues to expand," Pebble says. "We are working to get more carriers and services on board in response to your feedback."
Along with the expansion of iOS Text Reply to Verizon's network, Pebble released an update for both the Android and iOS version of its app. And it also updated the firmware for Pebble Time, bringing the watches up to version 3.11.
