Pebble, the little smartwatch that could, is one of Kickstarter’s biggest successes, and the indie hardware company got something right in its first generation. My Pebble lets me stay plugged into what’s going on around me, with instant alerts every time my phone would otherwise vibrate ominously in my pocket. I can immediately acknowledge the breaking news alert, text message, Twitter @reply, adorable Instagram picture my wife just posted of our daughter — and then I can forget about it. The Pebble is an always on, wearable screen that isn’t trying to do everything. With each notification, the screen lights up, the watch vibrates a little, and I need only to glance at my wrist. If it’s important enough, I can address it — otherwise there’s no need to pull out my phone or do anything more. It’s like keeping a slightly more intrusive radio or stock ticker running in the background, with news, music, and alerts weaved into my daily environment.

I let it all flow through, because casting things aside takes no time at all

Using the Pebble means I don’t have to make a lot of choices. Notifications on both iOS and Android have improved, but even at their best, you have to spend an inordinate amount of time tailoring notifications to the level of detail and distraction you want — should new Instagram likes show up on the lock screen, or only in Notification Center, or not at all? Should breaking news updates be turned on only during weekdays? How often do I really need weather alerts? Instead, I’m letting it all flow through, because casting things aside takes no time at all.

It comes with the line of work, but I use the Pebble with both Android and iOS because I’m constantly testing out different devices. Fortunately, setup is pretty straightforward. On iOS, thanks to Pebble’s recent update for iOS 7 support, I just need to pair the Pebble to my phone over Bluetooth and download the Pebble app from the App Store. I can then get virtually any push notification sent from my phone to my wrist. With Android, the setup is similar, but if I want every app notification, I need to download a helper app from the Play Store in addition to Pebble’s official app (I'm currently using Notification Center for Pebble, but there are many available that get the job done). If I’m paired to an Android phone, I always download another helper app called Pebble Locker. It turns my watch into an authenticator, so when it’s connected to my smartphone, I don’t need to use a passcode on my lock screen as long as I’m nearby.

Like any other first-generation device, Pebble’s not perfect. It’s not great for actually clearing all the notifications I get: if I see an alert on my Pebble, I’m going to see it again on my phone the next time I pick it up, and future versions of the software should sync the read status of notifications across devices. I’d also like a way to delete or archive email directly from my wrist, so that I don’t have to deal with it again when I load it up on my desktop or phone. Right now, Pebble’s really more of a way to delay dealing with everything, rather than a way to not have to deal at all.