Samsung Waves Goodbye to iPhones with Galaxy Watch 4 Series

The new smartwatch no longer supports pairing with an iPhone

Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 4 series runs on Wear OS, as the South Koreans have made the surprising decision of giving up on their very own Tizen operating system and switch to a platform developed by Google.

In the long term, this is definitely good news for the future of Wear OS, but on the other hand, it looks like the transition to a different operating system comes with more changes under the hood.

Including the demise of support for iOS, that is. The new Galaxy Watch 4 won’t support pairing with an iPhone, so you’ll have to stick with an Android device for the whole thing.

Samsung’s Tizen-powered smartwatches previously supported iOS, though they came with lots of limitations. However, at least it was possible to sync devices and use a Samsung watch with an iPhone, even though the full capabilities were only available on Android.

Goodbye, iPhone!

Now that the Galaxy Watch 4 lands running Wear OS, the whole thing is changing and Samsung is ready to abandon even this limited support for iOS.

In the official specifications of the new smartwatch, Google explains that a smartphone is only supported for pairing as long as it comes with Google Mobile Services. In other words, only Android devices are compatible.

“Device activation is only available after connecting to a smartphone that supports Google Mobile Services(GMS). Please refer to your device manufacturer to find out whether your smartphone supports Google Mobile Services(GMS). Compatible smartphones and available features may vary by region, carrier and device,” Samsung says, adding that only Android 6 and newer are supported.

Furthermore, supported Android devices need to come with at least 1.5 GB of RAM to be able to pay with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, according to the official specifications released by the company.