Android Wear smartwatches now work with iPhones too – update

By admin On Aug 31, 2015

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Android Wear now supports iPhones. The wearables software works with iPhone 5 and newer, as long as it runs at least iOS 8.2. The support applies to the LG Watch Urbane and the Android Wear watches from Huawei, Asus and Motorola that are coming out soon.

Google makes the news known through its own blog. As with Android smartphones, there is support for notification routing, fitness tracking, and Google Now functionality also extends to the smartwatches. The weather and translation apps have also been transferred.

However, certain features are again absent due to Apple’s App Store regulations; for example, users cannot respond to a text message with their smartwatch. It is also not possible to install third party apps on the smartwatch because Apple does not allow them in the App Store. Because Android Wear is also not allowed to communicate with the other apps on an iPhone, the Apple Watch ultimately has more functionality than Android Wear.

Existing Android Wear devices, with the exception of the LG Watch Urbane, therefore, do not support iOS. Google justifies the decision by stating that user-friendliness is paramount. “It should work right away, without a software update,” Jeff Chang of Google’s Android Wear division told The Verge. It is unclear whether manufacturers can simply release support for iOS via an update.

At the moment there is a limited range of watch faces available for iOS, but Google has made sure that a selection has been transferred. The Android Wear app is now available in the App Store. The Huawei Watch, the new Moto 360 and the Asus ZenWatch 2 that are coming soon will also support iOS.

Update, 19:05: 9to5Google reports that after a factory reset, existing Android Wear smartwatches will work with iPhones. The site claims to have tested this with the LG G Watch R and the Moto 360. So it is possible that all Android smartwatches will work with iPhones, not just the models mentioned above. A link to the now available iPhone app has also been added.