TL;DR
- Google has previewed the Pixel Watch and it looks like the device won’t work with iPhones.
- The company’s first smartwatch will be compatible with phones running Android 8.0 or newer versions.
Google gave us a sneak peek at the Pixel Watch during yesterday’s I/O 2022 developer conference. While it did not announce many details about the wearable, we now know that it’s coming this fall alongside the Pixel 7 series. Google also put out a preview video of the smartwatch, revealing its compatibility details.
In the short clip, Google mentions (see the fine print) that the Pixel Watch will require phones running Android 8.0 or newer versions. There’s no mention of iPhones here.
While Google hasn’t explicitly said the Pixel Watch wouldn’t work with Apple’s phones, it’s not very surprising if it doesn’t. The Galaxy Watch 4 features Wear OS 3 and is also not compatible with iOS. It’s the first Wear OS watch since 2015 that doesn’t bring iPhone support. Back then, Google had announced that all future Android Wear watches (that’s what the software was called back then) would support iOS.
With the Pixel Watch carrying forward the trend of not being iOS compatible, it’s possible future Wear OS 3 smartwatches also won’t come with iPhone compatibility.
On the other side of the fence, Apple Watches also don’t work with Android phones. So Google striking off iPhones from the list just seems like a natural move.
