Wear OS 3 leaves the door open for that one iPhone user who hates the Apple Watch

It turns out previous restrictions might be from Samsung, not Google

We're just a few weeks away from the launch of the first non-Samsung smartwatch running Wear OS 3. It's been a long time coming, with the Galaxy Watch4 having held a monopoly on Google's latest wearable upgrade — and the best smartwatch crown — for nearly a year. While it's frustrating for fans of stock Wear OS to have waited a year for a substantial update, there's a silver lining hidden with Montblanc's latest smartwatch: it'll actually work with iPhones.

While the Apple Watch has never worked with Android phones — or iPads, for that matter — Google has been a little more flexible about its wearable software working with the mobile competition. Wear OS 2 smartwatches have supported iOS for years now, and while it's not the best experience, it does offer some compatibility. While most notifications aren't actionable, there's something to be said about seeing your messages roll in on your wrist, all on a rounded display that looks a hell of a lot better than the Apple Watch.

When the Galaxy Watch4 arrived last summer, Samsung confirmed it wouldn't work with iOS, leaving many to assume that Wear OS 3 was exclusive to Android devices. Fortunately for some, that's not the case. With the arrival of Montblanc's Summit 3 smartwatch, we've learned the Watch4's restrictions are from Samsung — not Google. The folks at Wareable spoke directly with Qualcomm, the company behind the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ powering the Summit 3, who confirmed the watch would work with iPhones, just as previous Wear OS 2 gadgets did before.

While you should expect the same amount of limitations from pairing Wear OS and iOS together as always, it should please any iPhone owner who had their eyes on Google's upcoming Pixel Watch. If you can't wait until this fall, Montblanc's Summit 3 is set to launch in the US and Europe on July 15th for the wallet-crushing price of $1,290.