How to use a Pebble smartwatch with Android in 2025 – 9to5Google

The iconic Pebble is making a comeback, as Google has opened the source code for the smartwatch and, in turn, given existing models a new lease on life, and opened the door to new hardware. But that’s going to take some time. For now, you can still use the old Pebble smartwatch from your junk drawer on Android phones. Here’s how.As good as Pebble smartwatches have aged in terms of functionality and hardware, the software side of things is a mess.Pairing a Pebble to iOS is effectively impossible in 2025, but thanks to a community of volunteers that have put in the work to keep these smartwatches alive, you can still use them with Android. Google last updated the Pebble app in 2022 to restore support for the Pixel 7 series which had limited apps without 64-bit support. At the time, you could easily sideload the APK for the Pebble app, hosted by the “Rebble” community working to support these watches, from you device. But that’s no longer the case. Depending on what smartphone you’re using, you’ll probably have to take further steps to sideload the app, including using ADB from your computer. The reason for this is that the last update to the app brought it up to target SDK level 22, but Android 14 requires apps to target level 23, and Android 15 requires level 24. We’ll dive into how to get around that below.Keep in mind that you do this at your own risk. While the Pebble APK hosted by Rebble is generally considered safe, Google Play Protect does flag it as “harmful.”To install the Pebble app on Android in 2025, you’ll need your phone, a Pebble smartwatch, and a computer with ADB tools available.Starting things off, download the Pebble APK from Rebble – again, do this at your own risk.From there, open a command window and start up ADB tools. If you’ve never done this before, Google hosts instructions, and you can also follow the steps to get ADB up and running from our install guide for the Android 16 Beta.Next, ensure your device is ready for ADB. Go into Settings and double-check that Developer Options are turned on in Android’s Settings. You’ll also need to ensure “USB Debugging” is enabled. If both are ready to go, plug in the USB cable and check that your device is connected via ADB. This can be done by running the “adb devices” command. If you’ve never connected below, you’ll see a prompt on your device asking you to allow USB debugging from your computer.Once you’ve verified that ADB is connected, you’ll be running an “install” command. Generally, APK files can be installed using just the “adb install file.apk” command, but because the Pebble app is out of date, it requires an additional step.As Google details, there’s a workaround for installing older APKs on modern Android versions with a bypass command. For the Pebble app, the command will be run as follows:adb install –bypass-low-target-sdk-block pebble-4.4.3.apkDuring this process, a prompt on your phone (pictured above) will flag the app and you’ll need to tap “Install anyway” to complete the installation.If you’re having trouble here, Rebble also hosts a step-by-step guide.The other headache you’ll run into trying to use a Pebble smartwatch in 2025 is that the online components of the Pebble app are no longer active. As such, you can’t download new faces. That’s the major part of what the Rebble project is. Using an online tool, Rebble can redirect the Pebble app to its new backend, restoring access to watchfaces and apps. Once again, Rebble has a step-by-step guide for this.It’s a valid question.Pebble smartwatches haven’t been available on the market for ages, and newer smartwatches are full of better features, better hardware, and countless other reasons to use them instead. However, Pebble watches are still alive for a reason – there’s a huge community of users who still wear them, and they’re still just as delightful as they were a decade ago.As founder Eric Migicovsky mentioned in his announcement of plans for new “Pebble” hardware, “you still can’t beat a Pebble.” There’s truly nothing comparable on the market today to what these years-old smartwatches deliver.Not to mention, the hardware holds up on some models. My Pebble 2 still looks great even compared to modern hardware, in its own fun way at least. The Pebble Round and Pebble Time also held up to the test of time. And, functionally, not much has changed. These are still great at what they were built to do – deliver notifications to your wrist, run some apps, and tell you the time.With new “Pebble” hardware in the pipeline, it’s entirely likely you won’t have to deal with any of these installation and setup headaches. But if you’ve still got a Pebble smartwatch collecting dust, it’s a fun throwback to use it again in 2025.Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and InstagramFTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:Breaking news for Android. Get the latest on app…Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.
Ben’s smartwatch of choice with his phone is the Google Pixel Watch 2.
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Source: http://9to5google.com/2025/01/29/how-to-use-pebble-smartwatch-android-2025/