Are you an iPhone user who wants a smartwatch but doesn’t want to shell out for an Apple Watch? Well, you’ve now got a few extra options for smartwatches compatible with your phone. Samsung, as promised, has finally enabled support for iOS on the Gear S2, Gear Fit 2, and the new Gear S3.
The move is long overdue. Samsung said in December 2015 that it would enable support for the Gear S2 on iOS in mid-January 2016. Now, after almost a year, a monthslong beta program, and a number of rumors, we finally have that feature.
To get the compatibility, you can download the Samsung Gear S app from the Apple App Store — although, there may not be too many people who own a Gear S smartwatch and an iPhone since the two haven’t worked together until now. Once you download the app, all you need to do is tap on the “Connect to Gear” button, and the app will automatically sync with the watch.
Not all iPhones will work with the watches — you’ll need the iPhone 5 or later running iOS 9.0 or later.
It is nice that most smartwatches are compatible with both iPhone and Android devices — but a little frustrating, although not surprising, that the Apple Watch is really only compatible with the iPhone. Hopefully all of Samsung’s future smartwatches will be compatible with the iPhone out of the box.
The Gear S3 is Samsung’s latest smartwatch, and is really a pretty nice device. It really just looks like a classic watch, and is available in two models — the Gear S3 Frontier, which is a little sportier, and the Gear S3 Classic, which is slightly more refined and a little classier.
