Google has announced that it now offers an iOS app, called Android Wear, that allows users to connect certain Android Wear smartwatches with iPhones.
The iOS Android Wear app will allow users to check smartphone information, like phone calls, receive messages, and get notified about app updates. Users will be able to track their fitness, set fitness goals, and view daily as well as weekly progress updates. The app also offers users Google Now reminders, for example updates about when to leave for appointments, current traffic info, and flight status.
The app will work with iPhones 5 and higher that are running iOS 8.2 at a minimum.
For now, the only Android Wear watch that works with the iOS app is the LG Watch Urbane, but other upcoming smartwatches including devices from Huawei, Asus, and Motorola will support the app after launch.
Although most dedicated fitness tracking devices sync with iPhones, until now, few smartwatches have synced with iPhones, but Pebble and Apple's own smartwatch do. This Android Wear app launch provides iPhone owners many more smartwatch options to choose from.
A few months ago, the NPD Group predicted that 9 percent of American adults will own a smartwatch by the fourth quarter of 2016. Around 21 million Americans will own smartwatches at that point, NPD predicts, while 32 million will own dedicated activity trackers. NPD also projected that while activity tracker adoption will peak at 32 million, smartwatch adoption will continue to grow, potentially eclipsing dedicated activity trackers over the next few years.
This week, a report from IDC estimated that in the second quarter of 2015, Apple shipped 3.6 million units of the Apple Watch globally, just under Fitbit’s 4.4 million units.
