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120 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
120 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
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---
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# Copyright 2025 Google LLC
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#
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# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
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# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
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# You may obtain a copy of the License at
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#
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# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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#
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# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
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# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
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# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
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# limitations under the License.
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title: Timeline - The Future of the Past!
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author: jonb
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tags:
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- Freshly Baked
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---
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If you’ve been living under a rock, or have just been sunning yourself on the
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beach for the past week, you might have missed the
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[launch of Pebble OS 4.0](/blog/2016/08/30/announcing-pebble-sdk4/). This new
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version introduced some fantastic new features, such as the
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[updated health app](https://blog.getpebble.com/2016/08/30/fw4-0/),
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{% guide_link user-interfaces/unobstructed-area "timeline quick view" %},
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{% guide_link user-interfaces/appglance-c "app glances" %},
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[Rocky.js](/blog/2016/08/15/introducing-rockyjs-watchfaces/) and a new
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[system launcher](/blog/2016/08/19/prime-time-is-approaching-for-os-4.0/#menu-icon-in-the-launcher).
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### The Past and the Furious
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However, there was one change which was met with mixed feedback from both users
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and developers alike, the removal of timeline past. Previously accessible via
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the UP button, timeline past was removed as part of the new 4.0 user
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experience (UX). In 4.0 we introduced new APIs to give developers more options
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to improve their application’s UX and potentially shift away from using the past
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for interactions
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Unfortunately, this change prevented users from accessing any timeline pin which
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wasn’t in the present or future, negatively affecting a number of apps and their
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use cases for the timeline.
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We carefully listened to feedback and suggestions from our developer community
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via the [forums](https://forums.pebble.com),
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[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/pebble),
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[Twitter](https://twitter.com/pebbledev) and
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[Discord]({{ site.links.discord_invite }}), and we are happy to announce that timeline past
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has returned in the v4.0.1 update. Users who need to access the timeline past
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can now assign it to one of their quick launch buttons.
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And so, with the reintroduction of timeline past, balanced was restored, and
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that was the end of the story. Or was it?
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### Back to the Future!
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If you’re the developer of an application which relies upon timeline past, you
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will probably want to inform your users about how they can access timeline past,
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as it will not be enabled by default. Fortunately, there are multiple ways in
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which you can do this easily.
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#### 1. App Store Description
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Use the app store description of your app to explain that your application
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utilizes timeline past and that users will need to assign it to quick launch.
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For example:
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> This application utilizes pins in the timeline past. On your Pebble, go to
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> ‘Settings’, ‘Quick Launch’, ‘Up Button’, then select ‘Timeline Past’. You can
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> then access timeline past by long pressing UP.
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#### 2. Display a Splash Screen
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Add a splash screen to your application which only runs once, and display a
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message informing users how to enable timeline past. You could use the
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‘[about-window](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@smallstoneapps/about-window)’
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Pebble package for a really quick and easy solution.
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#### 3. Display a One-Time Notification
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Display a
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[system notification](https://developer.pebble.com/guides/communication/using-pebblekit-js/#showing-a-notification)
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which only fires once, and display a message informing users how to enable
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timeline past.
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#### 4. Display a Timeline Notification
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Display a
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[timeline notification](https://developer.pebble.com/guides/pebble-timeline/),
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and display a message informing users how to enable timeline past.
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### The Future of the Past
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For now, developers can continue to utilize timeline past, but over time we
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would like to provide a more diverse set of functionality that allows developers
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to surface information to their users. For example, some use cases of timeline
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past may be more appropriate as using an app glance, or timeline quick view
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instead.
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### We’re Listening!
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Your feedback is incredibly important to us, it’s how we keep making awesome
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things. We love to receive your product and feature
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[suggestions](http://pbl.io/ideas) too.
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We’re particularly interested to hear about your use cases and ideas for
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timeline as we travel further into the future! Let us know via
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[the forums](https://forums.pebble.com),
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[Twitter](https://twitter.com/pebbledev) and [Discord]({{ site.links.discord_invite }})!
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