The Pebble folks have announced a big update to the smartwatch that many wearers have been waiting a long time for. With version 2.1 of the Android companion app, users can receive notifications from any app they have on their device, rather than a few preset options, without having to turn to a third-party solution. People will have the ability to receive all notifications or select specific apps.

The update is only available to 10% of users today, but it will gradually roll out to more people running Android 4.3 or higher. Eventually the team will add support for older devices running Android 4.0 to 4.2.

At the same time, Pebble has announced a new firmware release, version 2.8. This one adds support for more languages and special characters. To confirm that things are working after installing the new software, you can send ÑÔ møŕě bòxĕš fōř ėïġĥťý ŀæńģūåĝęş! to your device. It should look like this.

Here are the full release notes courtesy of Pebble.

Pebble Firmware 2.8 Release Notes

  • NEW: Expanded language support for notifications. Receive and view messages on your Pebble in the following languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Asu, Basque, Bemba, Bena, Bosnian, Catalan, Chiga, Congo Swahili, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Embu, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kalaallisut, Kalenjin, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kinyarwanda, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luo, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Malay, Maltese, Manx, Maori, Meru, Morisyen, North Ndebele, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Sango, Sangu, Sena, Shambala, Shona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Taita, Teso, Vunjo, Zulu.
  • Bug fixes and stability improvements.

To update to the latest firmware:

  1. Open the Pebble smartphone app for iOS or Android.
  2. Select Support » Update Your Pebble in the Menu if the update does not begin automatically.

Pebble Android App 2.1.0 Release Notes

  • NEW: Full notification support.
  • NEW: End calls in-progress.
  • Rewritten from the ground-up, this version contains many improvements to reliability, performance, and user experience.
  • This version currently requires a device running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or higher. A future update will include support for earlier versions of Android.
  • Access to 2.1.0 will be a phased roll-out on the Google Play Store. Keep checking to see when it’s available for you!

Source: Pebble blog