by Luke Johnson 23 February 2015 |
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Tired of waiting for the Apple Watch to launch? Thanks to one developer, Android Wear smartwatches can now receive notifications from your iPhone.
While official iPhone support for your Android Wear timepiece is still little more than a pipedream, developer Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh has managed to tweak his Moto 360 to receive iPhone alerts (via 9to5Google).
How has this cross-platform witchcraft been achieved? Through the use of a custom APK and the same ANCS technology found within the Pebble smartwatch line of course.
With Pebble watches capable of syncing with both iOS and Android devices, Abu-Garbeyyeh has repurposed the tech to work on Android Wear offerings such as the 360 and the LG G Watch R.
Further echoing the Pebble watch, this iPhone, Android Wear communication is a one-way street, with the wearable unable to send commands back to the hosting handset.
The detailed ins-and-outs of Abu-Garbeyyeh’s handiwork are still unclear, although he claims you neither need to jailbreak iOS, nor gain root access to Android Wear in order to make the hack work.
If you’re holding out hope of your iPhone speaking with your Android Wear watch, however, we have bad news. Abu-Garbeyyeh’s APK has yet to be given a public release.
Related: Everything you need to know about the iPhone 6S
For those waiting for more integrated iOS smartwatch support, the Apple Watch is set to hit retailers in April.
With prices set to start from $349 (£227), Apple’s first foray into the wearables market is set to be significantly harder on your wallet than Google’s debut offerings.