iPhone users interested in a smartwatch will soon have many more options, with Google officially announcing its Android Wear system is now compatible with iOS.
All future Android Wear watches will work with Apple's iPhone, Google said in a blog post, beginning with LG's new Watch Urbane and imminent wearables from Huawei and ASUS. Previously released watches are not officially compatible.
Until now, the only smartwatch options for iPhone users have been Apple's own Apple Watch and the platform-agnostic Pebble. After downloading the free Android Wear app from the iOS App Store, users will now be able to pair a new Android watch to manage their notifications, receive Google Now cards and track their fitness with Google Fit. However, there are some caveats.
Apple's restrictions on the iOS system mean your iPhone apps will not be able to interact with or be controlled by your watch - they can only send it notifications, according the The Verge.
While the Android Wear watches will still have many tricks up their sleeve thanks to native apps (for checking the weather, tracking fitness, entering voice commands, translating spoken words and more), they won't be able to do everything the Apple Watch can do.
For example, while you can ask Siri to find and play a specific song in Apple Music via the Apple Watch, this is not possible for an Android Wear device. An Android Wear watch will still, however, be able to perform tasks other bluetooth devices can, like answering calls and controlling your music.
Of course, if you prefer to use the Google apps available on your iPhone instead of the Apple defaults — apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, Play Music and Google Maps — you'll get a more useful experience from an Android Wear watch. Google says the notifications sent from its own apps to a watch will be more "rich" than they would be on a different watch.
Also in Google's favour, the company will curate a collection of the best third-party watch faces to make available to iOS users. This will mean much more customisation in how the watch actually looks compared to the Apple Watch, which only offers a small number of official Apple faces.
It's this customisation and diversity Google hopes will make watches running its software a hit among iPhone users. There should be six or so compatible Android Wear watches on the market by the end of the year, and if the past is anything to go by they'll all have very distinct looks and vibes.
"Our vision is a lot of diversity of hardware choices regardless of what phone you use," Android Wear boss Jeff Chang told The Verge. "You'll be able to get the watch you want."
Another selling point will likely be the much lower price of Android Wear watches compared to Apple's own entry. The premium-looking LG Watch Urbane can be bought direct from Google for $459, $40 less than the cheapest Apple Watch.
