Smartwatches can be proven very effective and helpful in recent times. They allow you to stay connected even when your phone is tucked away in your pocket. However, if you’re not sure how to connect your smartwatch to your phone, don’t worry – we’re here to help. We’ll show you how to connect your smartwatch to your Android phone or iPhone in this post. So read on for all the details!
Are you looking to connect your iPhone or Android device to your smartwatch? With these two devices becoming so popular, the question has become peculiarly common. And while this article won’t provide a definitive answer, it does give some basic information necessary for connecting these devices.
How do i connect my smartwatch to my phone
Initially, smartwatches were designed for fitness purposes, and as such, each watch has its own built-in heart rate monitor and GPS tracker. Suppose you’re not interested in using your device for fitness but are looking at using it for daily use. In that case, this article is perfect for you providing you with a few essential tips on how to connect your device to your phone without any hassle.
Understanding your watch and its compatibility with your phone
Often it can be confusing wondering if your smartwatch and phone are compatible or if you have the correct operating system, but this is where you need to do a little research. Make sure that you look into any technical specifications of your smartwatch. This information can be found in the product description or online under the “quick specs” icon in most scenarios. With this information, you should be able to easily identify the type of device it is (android or iOS) and what version of OS it runs on.
Each watch supports the following software versions (or operating systems):
Android Wear smartwatches (Google operating system)
Version 2.0 – 2.6.0 of the Google Android operating system.
iOS – Apple’s iOS Device Operating System (OS). Version 5 or above.
Arguably, the most important piece of information you’ll need to understand is whether either device supports a certain OS version or not. For example, both OS 2.8 and OS 3.0 are supported by the Samsung Gear S. However, OS 3.0 isn’t supported by the Apple Watch. This is because the Apple Watch is a new smartwatch released this year, whereas all the other devices mentioned were released years ago and are now considered outdated.
Installing software and preparing your phone to receive notifications
Assuming that your Android smartphone or smartwatch supports the correct operating system, you should be able to install apps from Google Play Store onto your device with little hassle. Once done, unlock your phone, open up some apps to let it sync with your smartwatch, and wait for it to finish syncing once you have installed that particular app, or keep an eye on its progress.
While installing the app itself is easy, getting your phone to sync with your smartwatch is another story. It can sometimes take quite a bit of time, especially if you have a lot of other apps on your phone. This isn’t due to any problems with the app or the watch, but rather the number of other apps on your device that need to sync before the smartwatch can receive notifications.
Go ahead and unlock your phone, open up some apps and let it sync for around 30 minutes; this should be plenty of time for most Android devices as well as older iPhones (assuming it’s not too old). Then go ahead and check to see if your device properly syncs. You should find a notification in the notification center showing that the data is successfully synced.
If you’re using an iPhone, then most likely, your phone will not be able to update the OS to the latest version for a long time, meaning that your smartwatch will be unable to receive notifications from apps running on iOS 5 or earlier.
Once everything is ready, go ahead and open up some of your favorite apps on your phone from which you can receive notifications. Then, wait patiently while they sync with your smartwatch. Because both devices do this automatically, it won’t take too long before they are both set up and ready for action.
Setting up notifications for specific apps.
To receive notifications from certain apps on your smartwatch, you need to know the app’s notification settings. This is one of the few cases where you can assign an app directly to your smartwatch without installing it on your phone first. This is done by going into the settings of that particular app and choosing “open via notification” or “always app-enabled.” The latter option is assigned automatically to any app with its dedicated function buttons on the watch itself. However, some apps may not have this feature. If you are unsure about how it works, go ahead and follow the steps above. Then all that is left to do is wait until you receive notifications from your favorite apps.
Another thing to keep in mind is that notifications can only be displayed for a certain period of time. On the default settings, this time frame will last for around 6 or 7 seconds before disappearing completely, although some watches such as the LG G Watch R have an option for changing this. In the end, smartwatches are still new devices, and much of their functionality depends on app developers and their willingness to accommodate these devices and their unique abilities. This means that it can be very frustrating when trying to receive notifications on your smartwatch.
Pairing your watch with your phone
When you have successfully connected your smartwatch to your Android smartphone, you should get notifications from that app(s) on the phone. However, if you try receiving a notification from a specific app but it is not working, then you’ll need to go into the settings of the app itself and check if it allows for syncing with other devices. If so, then make sure that the notification settings for this particular device are turned on in step one above.
If it doesn’t allow for syncing, you will need to get the app developer to implement support for smartwatches. Unfortunately, this is something that only a very small number of apps are doing right now, as most people would rather use Android Wear instead.
As a rule of thumb, it is best to contact app developers directly instead of using forums or social media to ask questions if you have already purchased the said app and are unhappy with the experience; otherwise, you may end up in a forum where the majority of users are very rude and will not offer any help or advice when asking technical questions. The same goes for the app developers; they may not offer any help if you ask them questions concerning the use of their application.
For example, if you have purchased Wunderlist and are unhappy with it, it is best to contact their support team directly instead of posting your issues on a forum or social media. Likewise, if you have an issue with another app, it will be better to contact their support team instead of posting comments on forums or social media.
How do I set up my smartwatch?
If you are unsure what to do to get your smartwatch working, this section is for you. The process can be quite simple, depending on the Android device you are using. If you have a phone running Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) or later, your device should be able to connect to Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n networks with 2.4 GHz frequency support.
Once you have the Wi-Fi turned on and paired with your phone, go to your watch and select the access point that connects to the local network. You can do this by clicking on “Settings” on most watches, then click on “WLAN,” click next to “Network,” click next again and then enter the password if required. Then go ahead and turn it on; you should connect with no issues.
If you are using an older Android device, then keep in mind that it might not connect with all smartwatches. If you are having a hard time connecting your device without any issues, then I would recommend updating your device’s software if possible. Some Android devices, such as the Nexus 5, do not have a built-in feature to update your device, so you will need to install an alternative third-party application to do the job for you.
Once it is done successfully, go ahead and restart your phone by turning it off and then back on again. Please note that if you are using a smartphone, this will only work with Android 4.3 or later. You should also ensure that you have at least 50% of battery power left because this process needs to connect over the internet and may take a while, depending on your Internet speed and battery status.
Can a smartwatch work with any phone?
Not every smartwatch will work with every Android smartphone. To get your smartwatch working, you need to pair it with an Android device using Bluetooth. Because smartwatches are designed to seamlessly sync with a smartphone, we believe that pairing your watch with an Android device is essential before proceeding further to get the most out of the watch.
In other words, choose your smartphone wisely because it will be connected to your watch for the foreseeable future. Of course, some watches have their cellular support and RAM, which will allow them to work independently from a smartphone, but at this point, we feel that pairing your smartwatch is essential before determining its overall usability.
While it might not be a requirement to use the watch, we always suggest pairing it with an Android smartphone first because you can always make the most of the features and features of your watch. After all, why would you buy a smartwatch if you already have one?
How do I pair my smartwatch?
If you are using an Android device with 4.3 Jellybean or higher, your smartphone should be able to connect to your Wi-Fi and automatically connect to the smartwatch. You will know if this is possible if a notification on your phone says “2.4 GHz connection detected”. If this is the case, then go ahead and pair your device. As with most of the other devices, you will need to allow it to access your Wi-Fi network for it to connect automatically.
If pairing is not possible, then you will need to do the following:
Check that the watch has a battery charge of at least 50% (if not connected to a smartphone). You can access the settings menu by pressing on the crown button and then selecting “Settings.” This is only available on some watches. This setting is located under “Connect” in almost all watches. If you are using an Android device running 4.3 or above, you will need to go through the following steps.
Turn on Bluetooth on your phone and click on it once it appears to set up a search area.
Switch on the Wi-Fi connection that your watch is connected to and wait for the watch to connect automatically. Depending on the Android device, this may take a while as it needs time to sync data from both devices. Eventually, you will be able to establish a connection between them, resulting in the watch asking if you want to pair it with your phone. Tap “Finish” for this option.
If you are using a smartwatch with an older version of the Android operating system, then you will need to do the following:
Tap on the crown button located on your watch. Depending on the watch model, this is usually used to turn it off and adjust the time settings. Once this is done, you will see a list of all available options. Click on “Settings” or “Connectivity” (depending on your watch).
Select “Add Wi-Fi.” This should appear as an available option for most watches. If your smartwatch does not feature this option, then select “Connectivity,” click on “Settings,” select “Wi-Fi,” and click on the network that you are connected to. Once this is done, you should sync your device straight away to pair it with the smartwatch. If this is not successful, then go back a step and repeat.
