Newer Android Wear Watches Now Work On iOS

Newer Android Wear Watches Now Work On iOS

More than a year after the launch of the first Android Wear watches, Google is now finally bringing iOS support to its smartwatch platform with the launch of its Android Wear mobile app in Apple’s App Store today.

This probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise, given that Huawei spoiled this launch by announcing iOS support for its upcoming Android Wear watch last week, but it’s a long-overdue step for Google.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though. Android Wear for iOS will only officially support the LG Watch Urbane and all future Android Wear watches (including upcoming watches from Huawei, Asus and Motorola). (Update: it looks like you may be able to pair the Moto 360 and other older Android Wear watches with an iPhone, assuming the watch already runs Android Wear 1.3. Older watches won’t come with version1.3 pre-loaded, so they won’t connect to the iPhone and hence can’t get the update. It’s unclear for how long Google will unofficially support these older watches, though).

Given that all of these older watches work just fine with Android, it’s a bit of a puzzle why Google made this decision. When we asked the company about this, a spokesperson told us the following:

We wanted to make sure that iOS users would have a great experience with Android Wear out of the box. We’ve worked with manufacturers to ensure that the newest watches work really well with modern iPhones, but last year’s watches aren’t technically supported.”

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