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Samsung Releases iOS Apps for its Gear Family of Smartwatches

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Apr 12, 2001
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Samsung today announced the first iOS apps for its popular Gear family of smartwatches, which were previously only compatible with Android phones.

The Samsung Gear S app brings iPhone connectivity to the company's Gear 2 and Gear 3 wearables, while the Gear Fit app offers similar compatibility for Gear Fit2 watches. The apps allow device owners to monitor features and manage applications installed through the Gear appstore.

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While features and functions will vary by device, iOS users will be able to enjoy the Samsung Gear S3's timeless and stylish design, IP68 water and dust resistance, as well as the built-in GPS, Alti/barometer and Speedometer apps.

It is available in two bold models - the Gear S3 frontier, which takes inspiration from the active explorer with a rugged design, as well as the Gear S3 classic, featuring an elegant style with the balance found on luxury timepieces. Users will also be able to track their fitness by monitoring distance and route traveled, running pace, calories burned and heart rate.
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Apart from being able to manage apps on their Samsung Gear devices, users can also adjust individual app settings, control update notifications and enable/disable automatic updates, as well as use the Find my Gear feature for lost watches. Syncing health and fitness data with S Health is also supported, as are iPhone notifications on the wearables.

Samsung Gear S and Gear Fit apps are available as free downloads for iPhone and iPad on the App Store.

Article Link: Samsung Releases iOS Apps for its Gear Family of Smartwatches
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/07/samsung-ios-apps-gear-family-of-smartwatches/
Aluminum213

Aluminum213

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2012
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Useless unless Apple allows full integration but that would mean Apple allowing competition, which is a big no no
 
rjohnstone

rjohnstone

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Dec 28, 2007
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I've been a beta tester for this for the last 6 months.
It's come along way and the stability is pretty good.
The app is limited by Apple not allowing third party apps to interact with some of the services.
But all notifications on your phone can be viewed and dismissed from the watch. The health monitoring works great too. No integration/syncing with Health app though.
 
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Glassed Silver

Glassed Silver

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Mar 10, 2007
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rjohnstone said:
I've been a beta tester for this for the last 6 months.
It's come along way and the stability is pretty good.
The app is limited by Apple not allowing third party apps to interact with some of the services.
But all notifications on your phone can be viewed and dismissed from the watch. The health monitoring works great too. No integration/syncing with Health app though.
Click to expand...
****ing ironic if you consider that the Samsung watch will sync notification deletion, receival and interaction better than two Apple devices using the same damn AppleID, same WiFi, etc...

I wonder if the nightmare of dismissing almost everything three times over and over again will ever stop.

About the lack of Health app integration: Real dealbreaker unfortunately.

Glassed Silver:ios
 
S

sirozha

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Jan 4, 2008
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Answering calls from the Watch is a killer feature for me. "Wi-Fi calls on other devices" allows me to leave my phone in the locker room located on the first floor of Lifetime Fitness and still be able to take calls from my Apple Watch while working out on the second floor. This has been my dream for years now so that I don't miss an important call while working out without having to have the iPhone with me. Being able to listen to the music streaming from the Apple Watch while working out is an added benefit. Moreover, I can power down my iPhone, and as long as my Apple Watch is on a Wi-Fi network, I can take and make calls. This means the Watch doesn't even have to be on the same Wi-Fi as the phone. In the cities with municipal Wi-Fi, one can go for a run around town and have a full phone capability on their Apple Watch without having to bring the iPhone for a run.

Do Samsung watches have the same feature that would allow one to leave their Samsung phone in the locker and take calls from the watch while being far away from the phone? If so, can the Samsung watches function as phones while the Samsung phone they are paired with is powered down?
 
VirtualRain

VirtualRain

macrumors 603
Aug 1, 2008
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Vancouver, BC
I've had a stainless Apple Watch since launch and I'm definitely considering getting an S3 Frontier. My friend has an S2 and when he demoed it for me, I was honestly a bit jealous. I love the styling and the bezel is a great way to interact with the watch. The circular face is also very elegant. Functionally, it seems it will do everything I need (which to be honest, is very little on my Apple watch) and with an always on face and better advertised battery life it's very alluring.
 
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D

dilbert99

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Jul 23, 2012
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AppleFan91 said:
Omg, I love pointless apple-bashing on a pro-apple website, it's so hip and trendy Yo!
Click to expand...
Its sad, but Apple makes it so easy at the moment.

Here's one that my work colleague often points out when he tries to forward the support iPhone to his number, he has to type it in manually rather than just select a contact to forward it to. Also took an age to allow you to even paste in to the call forwarding field.
 
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modemthug

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Apr 20, 2010
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What could be worse than your nightstand catching on fire? Your arm catching on fire.
 
V

vwguy60

macrumors newbie
May 7, 2006
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Southern California
The Samsung Gear S2 and S3 and especially the S3 Frontier is the best looking smartwatch in my opinion. I am a watch fanatic and I have old school mechanicals, mainly diver watches. To me (this is my opinion and yours may differ) round looks better. Granted, the rectangular shape of the Apple Watch is far more functional for a smartwatch, however as a watch guy that likes mechanical watches, rectangular is not attractive at all. Again, this is my preference.

I had a LG G Watch R connected to my iPhones, needless to say Android Wear on iOS sucks badly but it worked with many limitations. When connected to an Android device, it was as good as Android Wear can be, on iOS, it was way too limited.

The Samsung OS Tizen is also not the greatest, but when connected to iOS it is better than an Android Wear device connected to iOS. It is obvious that an Apple Watch connected to an Apple phone offers the best experience like an Android Wear device connected to an Android phone.

It is my opinion that if you want a round watch and you have an iPhone, the Samsung Gear S2 or S3 is the way to go. There are far more watch faces, you can also download the face making app and make your own. On Android Wear for iOS, you were stuck with the crappy ones they offered. There are more apps for Samsung on iOS than Android on iOS, there are not many but it is better. It's a compromise when you want a round watch and love iPhones, Samsung is the better of the two choices as of now in my opinion.
 
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DUIduckSAUCE

DUIduckSAUCE

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Sep 12, 2016
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Sevanw said:
Always good to have compatibility, but only so much you can do when the other company only cares to close their customers in.
Click to expand...
Part of the reason apple has such a good user experience is that is closed its customers in. The more options you give, the more that can go wrong.
 
Z

zelman

macrumors member
Jan 6, 2004
93
22
sirozha said:
Answering calls from the Watch is a killer feature for me. "Wi-Fi calls on other devices" allows me to leave my phone in the locker room located on the first floor of Lifetime Fitness and still be able to take calls from my Apple Watch while working out on the second floor. This has been my dream for years now so that I don't miss an important call while working out without having to have the iPhone with me. Being able to listen to the music streaming from the Apple Watch while working out is an added benefit. Moreover, I can power down my iPhone, and as long as my Apple Watch is on a Wi-Fi network, I can take and make calls. This means the Watch doesn't even have to be on the same Wi-Fi as the phone. In the cities with municipal Wi-Fi, one can go for a run around town and have a full phone capability on their Apple Watch without having to bring the iPhone for a run.

Do Samsung watches have the same feature that would allow one to leave their Samsung phone in the locker and take calls from the watch while being far away from the phone? If so, can the Samsung watches function as phones while the Samsung phone they are paired with is powered down?
Click to expand...
You could get a Samsung watch that is a phone and forward your calls.
 
T

Tubamajuba

macrumors 68020
Jun 8, 2011
2,186
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here
AppleFan91 said:
Omg, I love pointless apple-bashing on a pro-apple website, it's so hip and trendy Yo!
Click to expand...
It's really hard for some people to come to terms with the fact that Apple doesn't make the products they want anymore, and that they would be better served by going with one of Apple's competitors.

And then you have the people that have proudly sworn off Apple and stick around here to tell us how we're all sheep. Which is understandable, being that this is the internet.

Me personally, I think it's cool that Samsung now has a line of smartwatches that work on both major mobile operating systems.
 
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timborama

timborama

macrumors 6502a
Oct 12, 2011
696
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Sadly Apple dragged their feet on the review process until AFTER Xmas. Would have been nice to get the app BEFORE Xmas so I could use my Gear S3. Thankfully I'll only have to use my iPhone just a little bit longer until the Galaxy S8 comes out.
 
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