There are a lot of things that we like and dislike about the Galaxy Gear when it was announced last September. One of the major things was notifications and device support. At launch, the Galaxy Gear only supported the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition. However, since then Samsung has updated the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 to Android 4.3 which has support for Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, which allows you to connect the Galaxy Gear to your device. But still, that’s only 5 devices. Even if they are 5 of the most popular devices out there. But, there’s some good news for everyone here. Luckily, you can install the Galaxy Gear Manager app on your Nexus 5 and use the Galaxy Gear with your Nexus 5.
Simply install the gearmanagerstub.apk on your phone (we love sideloading apps, right?). Next you’ll want to download Gear Manager 1.6.111801 and rename the apk to zip. Next, you’ll want to open the zip and go into the assets/preinstallapks folder and install each individual APK onto your device. However the Music and Weather apps won’t install. Then you’ll want to install the full Gear Manager 1.6.111801 APK. Then you’re ready to pair your Galaxy Gear with your Nexus 5. Afterwards you’ll need to install ATNManager 1.2.2 and allow it access. With ATNManager, you can choose what notifications you’d receive on Galaxy Gear.
It’s a bit of a tedious process, and I really wish that Samsung would open up the Galaxy Gear to work with more devices. This is where Pebble is much better than the Gear, as it works with just about any Android or iOS device. But at least it’s possible at this point, right? How many of you are going to try and use your Galaxy Gear with your Nexus 5? Or really any other Android device.
Source: Smartwatch Fans