Google is reportedly close to making its Android Wear platform work with Apple’s iOS, giving iPhone users a cheaper alternative to the Apple Watch. But surely Apple will step in soon to block this development…
According to The Verge, who cite a member of the development team, Google is ready to put the final technical bits and pieces in place to allow its wearable OS to communicate with devices running on Apple’s own platform.
Android Wear devices do currently work with iPhones to a point, pairing up to iPhones and letting users see notifications and Google Now cards. However, full compatibility could see a raft of new features opened up to iPhone users who are keen to take up an Android Wear device instead of the upcoming Apple Watch, including upcoming additions like gesture and Wi-Fi support.
If Google is successful in tailoring its wearable software to work with Apple’s operating system, it would see Android Wear devices go head-to-head with Apple’s premier smartwatch, which is due to launch on April 24th. Given the significantly lower cost and arguably better hardware of many of the Android Wear offerings, this development could prove to be catastrophic for Apple’s first wearable.
Which means that Apple is likely to block any move from Google to allow Android Wear devices to fully function with iOS. Not just to preserve the exclusivity of its own watch, but also to continue its long-held embargo on all things with ‘Android’ in the title from the App Store.
Observers have noted that Apple played nice with Pebble over its smartwatches, which both work well on iOS and Android, but the cynics among us might point out that Pebble poses little threat to Cupertino’s superiority – while the likes of Google, Samsung, LG and so on most certainly do.
Google hasn’t officially confirmed or denied the rumours, so until we have something from way up on high, it’s best to consign this gossip to the ‘wishful thinking’ pile and move on with our lives.
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