This year could be described as the year of the smartwatch, but don't believe for one second that Pebble, one of the most popular watches, has fallen behind the competition.

On the contrary, Pebble's app store offers thousands of apps and watch faces and is constantly adding new ones. We've even browsed through them all to bring you what we think are great apps to get you started.

Although there are many Pebble apps available, these should give you a good wide selection to play with from day one.

Just eight

Before we get into all the great apps you should try, keep in mind the Pebble 2.0 app on iOS currently limits you to eight apps on the smartwatch at any given time. You can have more apps stored in your "locker" - but only ever eight on the Pebble itself (and that includes watch faces).

Some Pebble apps, such as Runkeeper, require you to have the Runkeeper app also installed on your phone, but many apps do work with the watch alone.

The apps

PayPal

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Pebble has announced that a PayPal app is now available from the Pebble app store. And to top it all off, PayPal is being included as a payment option for orders from Pebble's website. The idea is that you will use PayPal's Pebble app to pay for your meal at a supported restaurant, for instance, or even use PayPal when buying your next Pebble online.

PayPal also announced the new app and emphasised that it wants to make shopping easy and seamless. With the PayPal app, Pebble owners can check-in to pay or pay with payment code at retailers, restaurants, and other local businesses that accept PayPal. They can also receive payments without ever having to use their phone.

Domino's

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Pizza has entered the wearables market. Sort of. Domino's Pizza partnered with Pebble to add a Domino's Tracker app to Pebble's app store of more than 4,000 smartwatch apps.

The new app syncs with the Domino's mobile app for either iPhone or Android and pipes updates and notifications directly to your Pebble watch in real time. The idea is that you use Pebble to track when your ordered pizza might arrive.

Battery Life

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One of the annoyances of the first Pebble watch is that unless you download a specific watch face that features the battery information, finding out how much juice you have left before you need to recharge is virtually impossible. Battery life fixes that by displaying the battery life of your Pebble watch on the screen so you can see if you are about to run out or not.

Pebble Cards

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This app taps into a range of different bits of information and displays it on screen as it happens. That might be the weather in your location, stock prices for your favourite companies, or a specific note you want to remember. You can add dozens of "cards" including RSS feeds, sunrise and sunset info, as well as Google Calendar appointments.

Foursquare

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If you use Foursquare this is one for you. The app lets you check in at the press of button from the watch saving you getting out your phone and having to load up the dedicated app. Now you get to become Major of your local coffee shop without even looking as if you are trying.

Yelp

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The Pebble Yelp app lets you access the entire Yelp directory on your wrist. Once loaded you can either look through nearby places via categories like Restaurants or Nightlife, or shake your wrist to get a pot luck suggestion. Once you've picked somewhere you can then read a selection of reviews to give you an idea of whether the place you've just walked into is the best place this side of "Amazing" or a complete dive.

Falldown

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If you are longing to play Snake rather than the latest and greatest on your iPhone, Falldown is simple but will keep you entertained if your phone battery has died. The idea is you control a ball that you need to drop down through holes in the floor. Fail to do so and you die. Simple, but addictive.

Weather

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Get today's or a five-day weather forecast for wherever you happen to be or a n other city if you set it through the app before hand. The information is basic, but for those who need to know what the weather will be like in the morning, very handy.

91 Dub v2.0

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There are hundreds of watch faces with everything from cartoon characters to things that are more subdued. The one that's caught our eye, especially as someone who grew up in the 80s, is 91 Dub v2.0. It resembles a retro digital Timex watch from your memories complete with flashing blinking colon. You can even set it to vibrate on the hour every hour if you like too.

Dice

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Boardgame fans will love this one. It's an app that shows a dice that when you shake your wrist rolls the dice and vibrates at the same time. If dice isn't up your street you can also get an app that lets you flip a coin. Yep, it doesn't all have to be serious restaurant recommendations and weather reports.

Bonus - Huebble

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I know we said eight apps, but if you've got Hue you'll love this one. This app turns your watch into a remote control letting you control your lights at the press of a button. Huebble is just one example of how you'll see app developers (this is by a third party rather than Philips) use the Pebble to control things. LG TV owners can get an app too, and there are even third-party apps that will let you control Sonos as well. A watch is not longer just for telling the time anymore.