Google has good news for iPhone users curious about Android Wear and the diverse design selection of smartwatches running the OS. Starting today Android Wear watches will work with the iPhone for the first time. Just like Apple Watch, Android Wear watches is compatible with iPhone 5 or higher with iOS 8.2 or higher required. The slight catch is that not all current Android Wear watches will be compatible with iOS…
Google says for now official iPhone support will be limited to the LG Watch Urbane with all future Android Wear watches supporting iOS. This includes Huawei’s shiny new timepiece seen above that we first saw earlier this year plus new watches from Asus and Motorola coming soon. This suggests full support for the popular Moto 360 and other existing Android Wear watches is limited for now.
Unofficially, Android Wear compatibility on iOS has been tried by developers already with limited success. 9to5Google has tested other Android Wear watches with the Android Wear iPhone app and discovered that the LG G Watch R, Moto 360, and likely other Android Wear watches actually work although they’re not officially supported.
Last year 9to5Mac reported on the possibility of Android Wear coming to iOS while noting that it was not in the cards for 2014. Now with a collection of new Android Wear watches set to hit the market, Google is ready to open its smartwatch platform to iOS as some reports expected. Apple’s watchOS of course is heavily locked down to iPhones and is not compatible with Android.
Android Wear for iOS is rolling out today. Just pair your iPhone (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus running iOS 8.2+) with an Android Wear watch to bring simple and helpful information right to your wrist:
Get your info at a glance: Check important info like phone calls, messages, and notifications from your favorite apps. Android Wear features always-on displays, so you’ll never have to move your wrist to wake up your watch.
Follow your fitness: Set fitness goals, and get daily and weekly views of your progress. Your watch automatically tracks walking and running, and even measures your heart rate.
Save time with smart help: Receive timely tips like when to leave for appointments, current traffic info, and flight status. Just say “Ok Google” to ask questions like “Is it going to rain in London tomorrow?” or create to-dos with “Remind me to pack an umbrella.”
Aside from being limited to mostly new Android Wear watches, iPhone users will also have a limited experience than Android users as Android Wear apps won’t be supported. As Fast Company reports, differences between the two mobile operating systems makes pairing possible, but not app support.
Google’s official Android Wear app for iPhone is now available on the App Store.
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I’m surprised Apple approved the app. Much cheaper and arguably better looking watches from Motorola, LG or Huawei could be a bit of a threat to the Apple Watch.
If that was the case I think they would have sold far better when they were released. Also a nice looking watch that functions like crap still functions like crap. So I don’t think these watches are a big threat to the Apple Watch. All this shows is that Google is doing all it can in order to help sales numbers, if that is even possible.
Well, I have an Apple watch. It is by no mean perfect. Check this video of my watch behaving rather buggy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls7hmliLn1g Problem comes and goes. I have sent it twice to Apple care for a fix and they keep sending it back to me saying they have found nothing wrong… I gave them the links to multiple videos but apparently they don’t watch them… so they keep sending me the same broken watch over and over. What a pain.
Oh and continue to collect as much data as possible from as many users as it can.
They are big, gross and poorly made, seriously…
The “cheaper” part is relative.
Comparing the $349 Apple Watch to $349 Android Wear devices like the Asus Zen2, LG Urbane, Huawei.
The Apple Watch actually does more, has better specs, for the same money.
The $349 apple watch doesn’t even have a leather or metal band and is very small. Most Android Wear watches are pretty bad, but they’re getting better and something like the new Moto 360 or Huawei watch could be a threat as they’ll come with a premium band and design for possibly less than the cheapest Apple Watch. The moto 360 when it was released for example, only cost $250.
And I don’t need my smartwatch to do a lot. It would be quicker and easier to just get my phone out in the extra time it takes to fiddle around with a watch app.
Very small? It’s the size of a normal watch. Is being big a plus now?
No, it has a rubber strap, that’s the one you need for sports, if it came with the cheap eBay $0.66 “genuine leather” that looks like crap, and is useless for sports, straps that android wear watches come with, will be a direct-to-trash-can for me, and a liability like “apple buys low quality leather from animal farms in china”.
$250 is not worth it, when the $350 is so much better, with enough memory for listening to music, much better screen, much better battery that you can depend on, decent 28nm processor, etc…
so one day i wondered into best buy and past the Android wear / smart watch area. i thought i had heard a lot of good stuff about the LG and moto watches. i have never been so underwhelmed. they look nice but feel cheap. wasn’t impressed with the UI either. i haven’t played with a apple watch yet but i can’t imagine AW is all that hard to beat.
Then try it, if you don’t want a toy, you don’t have anything else…
Google is going to continue to hitch a ride along with Apple and it will make Google stock all the more valuable. It’s a smart move to let Apple do the heavy lifting and Google can run in Apple’s slipstream. I’m not exactly sure how many people with iPhones will prefer to use Android smartwatches but at least they have the option to decide. With AppleWatch, users get no choice. It’s either the iPhone or nothing else. I’m not sure which strategy is better, Apple’s or Google’s. Apple mainly makes money from hardware so I guess it’s better for Apple to keep AppleWatches selling rather than support Android smartwatches.
so i have a sony smartwatch 3, this android wear support is basically garbage so far. it officially works with one watch and unofficially with a handful more. there is no support for the sony smartwatch 3. there is nothing in the app description or the app itself to indicate that it only works with a select few android wear watches. i know it’s google and to always expect beta, but this is incredibly rough even for beta.
I just paired my Sony with my iPhone 6. Make sure you reset the watch first then it is dead easy. Real world test about to begin. I’d expect a few upcoming updates will attend to the initial bugs we’re likely to see. :)
Bill, do you confirm that Sony smartwatch 3 is compatible with iphone 6? Are you happy with the performance of both? Can you run google maps without alone in the sony without connection to iphone? Thanks for your feedback :)
Hey, thanks for asking. I have succumbed to the Apple Watch but, just for you, I wore my Sony yesterday with the iPhone 6. Each time I asked directions it pointed me to open on the phone. So, I may have missed something but experience wasn’t good. Also, just FYI, happier with the Apple Watch as an overall item.
Hi Bill, do you confirm tha Sony smartwatch 3 is compatible with iphone 6? Can you run google maps on Sony without connection to iphone? Are you satisfied with them compatibility? Thanks in advance :)
Google also chose not to intregrate with healthkit.
People complain about Apple using their muscle to get things done, but I think this is an area that needs some hard rules. I would love for Apple to make a rule that any apps that reasonably should read or write data from healthkit be required to do so. Fitbit should write heart rate data to healthkit, and Runkeeper should pick it up from there. Healthkit only works if everyone uses it. When the biggest players in the space refuse to integrate, it damages the entire platform.