Pebble adds Gmail notification support to iOS app, but it’s nowhere near instant

If you own a Pebble and an iPhone, the smart watch can finally now alert you when new emails are waiting in your inbox. The company today delivered an iOS update that introduces notification support for Gmail and “generic” IMAP email services. A new icon has been added to the app; tapping on it allows you to sign into a Google account through oAuth or enter credentials for an account with a different email provider. From there, you’ll be able to keep track of unread messages on your wrist. But it’s not quite an optimal solution. As Pebble makes clear in a new forum post, these aren’t instantaneous push notifications by any stretch. “The Pebble app polls every 9 minutes and only sends notifications of unread messages,” the company says. It may not be ideal, but it beats nothing. And we’re still hoping Pebble finds a way to make it all more cohesive when iOS 7 hits in the fall.