I have been using the Galaxy Watch for a while now with the Note 9 and it works great with the Samsung smartphones. That said the Tizen OS-powered smartwatch is also compatible with most other smartphones, including the iPhone. Let’s see how to pair your Galaxy Watch with Android and iPhone.
Pair Galaxy Watch With Android
You’ll need to download the Galaxy Wearable app on your Android. The app is not only required for pairing your watch, but also for adding apps, watch faces and managing health and fitness content.
After the app is installed, you need to log in to the app. If you haven’t made an account yet, you can tap on the create account to make one. It would take 5 minutes max.
The app will guide you through the process of pairing the watch your phone via Bluetooth. Make sure that your Android’s Bluetooth is turned on
Now that you’re logged in to the app, you are now ready to connect the Watch to the App. Power on the Galaxy watch by pressing the power button on the bottom right and once the watch boots up you will see the following screen.
It would flash a prompt screen on both the smartphone and the watch with a pairing code when the app automatically detects your watch and you can tap the tick icon to begin pairing.
Accept the request on both devices and sit back. When pairing for the first time it takes a few minutes as it downloads all the necessary updates and apps on the watch.
After it finishes updating the Watch, it is now ready and you can use it to tell time, measure your heart rate, stress, activities, exercise, and much more.
Pair Galaxy Watch With iPhone
Galaxy Watch, unlike the Apple Watch, works with both Android and iOS, you can pair it with your iPhone and use it like a regular smartwatch or even a replacement for the Apple Watch.
If you have been using your Galaxy watch with another device, you’ll have to perform a Factory Reset on the watch in order to pair it with an iPhone. To do this, go to your Galaxy Watch, tap on Settings > Gear Info > Reset Gear, and then choose which reset to perform.
To get started we need an app on the iPhone to accompany the watch. The app is a little different for the iPhone and we’ll download it from the App Store.
Once the app is downloaded you need to log in to the app with an email or phone. If you don’t already have an id registered, you can create one by tapping the create account button.
After you’ve created the account login to the account and turn the Galaxy Watch On. The app would then automatically recognize the watch nearby and prompt you for the connection.
The app will prompt you to allow quite a few permissions. Click on Allow.
Grant the permission on both the devices and let the app pair with the Watch. This would take a few minutes as it updates and installs necessary apps. Once the Watch updates, you are all set and you can use your watch to make and receive calls, read texts and notifications, and install apps.
Galaxy Watch With iPhone – Limitation
Due to Apple’s ecosystem restriction, there are certain features you won’t be able to use on the iPhone. As of now, here are few of them that I’ve noticed so far.
- Samsung device-only features like Samsung Pay, won’t work on iPhone
- You can’t export the screenshots of the Watch to the iPhone
- S Health features such as viewing map doesn’t work with iOS
- Reply to Email and Text Messages didn’t work with iPhone
Other than these minute limitations, the Galaxy Watch works with both ecosystems and just a little better on the Android. If you have a Galaxy Watch and face any problem pairing it with your smartphone, comment your query down below.
Also Read:Â How to Take Screenshots on Samsung Galaxy Watch And Gear S3
