The much-rumored launch of an Android Wear app for iOS is now happening. Google announced that the new app is rolling out, and you'll be able to use it if you own an iPhone 5 or newer running iOS 8.2 or later. While there are some trade-offs in design and functionality, Google-powered wearables are starting to look a lot more promising—and with Android Wear devices selling at a variety of price points, they might just gain a footing among consumers in a way the Apple Watch hasn’t.
The ability to pair an Android watch with an Apple phone is conceptually interesting but functionally, it's a lose-lose proposition. Android Wear watches can't do most of the things they can do when paired with Android phones. iPhone users aren't able to install any third-party watch apps from Google Play onto their iPhones, meaning that apps compatible with Android Wear are limited.
This is an important move by Google, whose Android Wear products have had limited access to wearable devices so far. Until now, Google’s smartwatch platform was only compatible with Android phones running Android 4.3 Jellybean or later. This, coupled with a notoriously slow Android OS upgrade cycle, means that only 60% of Android Wear smartwatches are compatible with their Android phone counterparts.
Initially, only a handful of Android Wear smartwatches will come with official iPhone support, including the $350 LG Watch Urbane and the $349 Huawei Watch. You can download the Android Wear app directly from Apple iTunes Store.
The ability to pair an Android watch with an Apple phone is conceptually interesting but functionally, it's a lose-lose proposition. Android Wear watches can't do most of the things they can do when paired with Android phones. iPhone users aren't able to install any third-party watch apps from Google Play onto their iPhones, meaning that apps compatible with Android Wear are limited.
This is an important move by Google, whose Android Wear products have had limited access to wearable devices so far. Until now, Google’s smartwatch platform was only compatible with Android phones running Android 4.3 Jellybean or later. This, coupled with a notoriously slow Android OS upgrade cycle, means that only 60% of Android Wear smartwatches are compatible with their Android phone counterparts.
Initially, only a handful of Android Wear smartwatches will come with official iPhone support, including the $350 LG Watch Urbane and the $349 Huawei Watch. You can download the Android Wear app directly from Apple iTunes Store.
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