Your Samsung Galaxy Watch May Soon Work with iPhones
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Your Samsung Galaxy Watch May Soon Work with iPhones
Apple is reportedly working to make the iPhone compatible with third-party smartwatches. Some older Galaxy Watches, like Watch 3, Watch Active, and Watch Active 2, worked with iOS through the Galaxy Watch iOS app. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires Apple to make iPhones interoperable with devices from other brands. It will be interesting to see if Apple makes this feature available when the build reaches the stable channel.
Apple is reportedly testing third-party smartwatch compatibility on iPhones
Some older Galaxy Watches, like Watch 3, Watch Active, and Watch Active 2, worked with iOS through the Galaxy Watch iOS app. These models ran on Samsung’s older Tizen OS, which allowed iPhone users to pair their devices for notifications, fitness tracking, and more. Since newer Galaxy Watches (starting with the Galaxy Watch 4) adopted Google’s Wear OS, compatibility with iOS disappeared. Samsung has not developed an app that makes it possible for newer smartwatches to pair with an iPhone.
It looks like Apple will allow iPhones to send notifications to third-party smartwatches, including Galaxy Watches, through a feature called Notification Forwarding. Folks over at Macworld have discovered this new feature within the latest iOS 26.1 beta code. It will only send notifications to one accessory at a time, meaning you can not receive notifications on multiple smartwatches simultaneously.
The publication also found a reference to a new framework called AccessoryExtension within the beta code. This framework appears to improve how third-party accessories connect and pair with iPhones. You might be wondering why Apple is making this step now. One possible reason is that the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) requires Apple to make iPhones interoperable with devices from other brands.
Note that the Notification Forwarding option is not yet active on the settings page — it is hidden within the iOS 26.1 build, so you can not enable it right away. It will be interesting to see if Apple makes this feature available when the build reaches the stable channel. If it does, iPhone users will have much more flexibility in picking their wearable devices.
Source: https://sammyguru.com/your-samsung-galaxy-watch-may-soon-work-with-iphones/