There have been rumors for some months that Android Wear would support iPhone, but they just remained rumors until now. If you’ve got a smartwatch running on Android Wear and also use an iPhone, then the good news is that the Android Wear now supports iPhone. However, before you get excited, let’s clear up a few things.
Android Wear iOS app
As you might have already guessed, you will need the Android Wear iOS app installed on your iPhone to get started. The app’s description says that once it is connected to your watch, you will receive notifications from all your iPhone apps on your watch, as well as timely information from Google Now (like weather, traffic alerts, and flight status).
The app will also allow you to configure which notifications should pop up on your smartwatch, which is a good thing as you don’t want each and every notification popping up on your watch.
iOS and iPhone Compatibility
The Android Wear iOS app requires at least iOS 8.2 or up, which means those running on older iOS won’t be able to run the app.
Moreover, the new app is only compatible with iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. It is worth noting that the app is not compatible with any model of iPad nor with any model of iPod touch (not even the latest iPod touch 6th generation).
Smartwatch compatibility
Now comes the bad news. At the moment, the only Android Wear smartwatch on the market that is compatible with this iOS app is the LG Watch Urbane. However, Google in an official blog post has promised that “all future Android Wear watches, including those from Huawei, Asus, and Motorola will also support iOS.”
There are, however, some limitations, mostly because of the restricted behavior of iOS. For example, you cannot receive phone calls, and cannot run third-party apps. That said, it is a positive development that iPhone users can finally try out the Android Wear app and receive important notification or interact with Google Now.
