Which Wear OS watches work with iPhone?
Can you use Wear OS watches with an iPhone?
Fossil, Mobvoi, and Montblanc watches with Wear OS 3 can theoretically connect to your iPhone using the Wear OS by Google app. Unfortunately, it’s a very limited experience by design, as Apple wants to reserve smartwatch functionality for the Apple Watch; Google has all but abandoned the app.
Samsung and Google watches aren’t compatible with iOS and won’t ever be. The same applies to other new Wear OS watches from OnePlus and Xiaomi, as they’re closely tied to the Android ecosystem and use proprietary Android apps for setup.
That said, there is a Play Store app called Merge — Connect to iPhone that (in theory) makes any Android watch compatible with an iPhone, including a Galaxy Watch or Pixel Watch, for notifications and Bluetooth calling.
Which Wear OS watches work with iPhone?
The unfortunate answer to this question is that your selection of Wear OS 3 or Wear OS 4 watches with iOS support is very limited.
The Fossil Gen 6, Gen 6 Wellness Edition, and spin-off models (Michael Kors or Skagen Falster Gen 6) do support iOS after their jump to Wear OS 3, via the Fossil Smartwatches iOS app. Unfortunately, you can’t access Google Assistant and notifications aren’t actionable like they are through an Android phone.
Another issue is that Fossil is abandoning Wear OS after running into serious issues keeping up with new Wear OS updates; it’ll continue to support its existing smartwatches “for the next few years,” but it’s probably time to move on, regardless.
Mobvoi is another brand that supported Wear OS/ iOS cross-platform compatibility in the past. It took two years for Wear OS 3 to roll out to models like the TicWatch E3 and TicWatch Pro 3, so now, technically, they qualify as Wear OS 3 watches with iOS support. The same limitations with messaging and voice assistant support apply, of course.
We’ll also point out that Mobvoi chose not to make the newest TicWatch Pro 5 iOS-compatible, which is another portent that you shouldn’t expect future Wear OS models of any brand to work with iPhones directly.
Lastly, the ultra-expensive Montblanc Summit 3 received Wear OS 3 and has an iOS app.
The problem of Wear OS and iOS compatibility
Before Wear OS 3, many Wear OS 2 watches were compatible with iOS, including the Galaxy Watch 3. Brands like Mobvoi and Fossil still have their own iOS apps, while the Wear OS by Google app offers a more generalized option for connecting an Android watch to an iPhone.
Since the launch of Wear OS 3, though, most brands have relied solely on their individual apps for smartwatch set-up and phone connectivity, which means the Wear OS by Google app is mostly useless.
Beyond that, Samsung abandoned iOS for a reason: the company “could not deliver the same level of experience with Android and iOS,” as Samsung Director of Global Product Planning Junho Park told Techradar. Wear OS watches don’t stay connected to iPhones consistently, and you don’t get the same voice assistant support or the ability to download watch apps through your phone.
Truly, there is very little reason to buy Wear OS watches as an iPhone owner. They only last a day or two per charge because of their battery-guzzling CPUs and RAM, but you can’t even take advantage of the processing power because iOS only lets Apple Watches use “smart” features.
That being said, the aforementioned Merge app essentially does what Wear OS by Google is supposed to do: lets you see iOS notifications on your Wear OS watch. It may not work for every Android watch model, it won’t give your watch its missing functionality, and it may still have the same frustrating connectivity issues with your iPhone at times.
We still appreciate having the option! And some Merge app reviewers say they managed to connect their Android watch to their iPhone and their Android phone simultaneously, getting notifications from both. That’s a pretty neat function if you have a work phone and a personal phone.
Ultimately, you may be better off looking into watches from fitness brands like Garmin or Fitbit, designed to work with both iOS and Android, and with better battery life and fitness features.
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