There are always two camps ready to do battle – Google/Android versus Apple – and never the two shall meet. It would be a great achievement if the two of them could get together, at some point, and exchange…not ideas, that would be asking too much…but what about simply the ability to exchange notifications. It looks like Google may be working on developing an update to its Android Wear that would enable it to work with Apple’s iOS devices. Okay, you feel the need to own an iPhone, and that’s fine, but now if you want one of the many Android Wear smartwatches now available, you will be able to buy one and use it with your iPhone to receive notifications.
A new video (below) shows the Android Wear Smartwatch receiving a notification from the iPhone of an incoming call. The software developer, Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh – the one that last month managed to get a modified Android Wear Smartwatch to display notifications from an iPhone, posted it. He claims this is done by using native APIs on the Android Wear smartwatch – APIs that are included in Apple’s own iOS and does not involve jailbreaking the iPhone at all.
Up until now, Apple users had no smartwatch of their own, so owning one with Android Wear would be a nice solution if it only worked with their iPhone. This news will most likely not sit well with Apple, as one of its main selling points for its own Apple Watch is its ability to communicate with an iPhone. If Google unleashes an update that will allow its own Android Wear devices, which are quite a bit cheaper and with more of a selection, it may deter iPhone users of purchasing the expensive Apple Watch and make the jump to Android Wear…especially if marketed properly.
Apple will be advertising the entire Apple experience – Apple iPhone and Apple Watch – and no matter how you ‘slice’ an Apple, they would never think to allow their Apple Watch to work with any device but their precious iPhone. Google has nothing to lose by opening up their Android Wear devices to iPhone users, in fact, it may actually bring over some new recruits from the Apple camp. What do you think about this situation – do you think it is a good idea for Google to ‘connect’ to an iPhone?