Google today announced that Android Wear is now compatible with iPhone 5 or later and is running at least iOS 8.2. Google created wearable operating system now being opened up to users who have an iPhone. Given the proliferation of iPhones out there, this step might help drag back some market share from massively successful Apple Watches towards Android Wear devices.
Most of the features you expect from Android Wear appear to be available on the iOS. Just install the Wear app and pair your phone with watch. One will be able to access notifications, keep track of fitness goals, heart rate, use voice commands, set reminders and more. Android Wear also lets you receive and read contents of your Gmail messages. Tap the Settings>Email Cards>Turn on Rich Gmail cards toggle.
At this moment, only one Android Wear smartwatch officially works with iOS: LG Watch Urbane. All future Android Wear watches like Asus ZenWatch 2, Huawei Watch and more will also work with it.
With Android Wear watch on iOS, iPhone owners will be available to view notifications, track fitness goals, Google Now cards and OK, Google voice search. Android Wear for iPhone has some features similar to Android users such as third-party watch faces, notifications, fitness tracking etc. It will also have Google apps such as weather and translate preinstalled, but third-party iOS apps are not supported due to Apple’s restrictions as Apple has a strict set of rules for App Store. Voice search works with Android Wear for iOS but it won’t have the same flexibility to search within apps as it does with Android smartphones.
Google says that Android Wear app for iOS is rolling out today and will be compatible with any iPhone 5 or 6 running iOS 8.2 or higher.
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