How to get Samsung Gear Sport and S3 working with iPhone

You can get Samsung's Tizen-powered smartwatches to play nice with iPhone
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Listen up, iPhone owners: You don't have to get an Apple Watch. Samsung has let its Gear S2, Gear S3, and Gear Sport play nicely with Apple's iPhones from the beginning of 2017. Likely soon, the Galaxy Watch will join them.

iPhone compatibility was originally announced way back in 2015. It took a little longer than expected to get here, but now it's possible to put a Samsung on your wrist and an iPhone in your pocket.

Essential reading: Which Samsung Gear smartwatch should you buy?

But how do you do it? First things first: Make sure you download the Samsung Gear S app on your iPhone. This is your portal on iOS to all of Samsung's smartwatches.

In fact, thanks to all of these smartwatches running Tizen, the setup process for the Gear S2, Gear S3, and Gear Sport is exactly the same. They also have the same exact software and hardware reset procedures.

Downloaded that app yet? Good, we're ready to go.

How to get Samsung Gear Sport and S3 working with iPhone

Pairing your Samsung Gear with the iPhone

When you boot up your Gear for the first time, you'll get a series of prompts. Once they are over with your Gear will enter pairing mode.

From there, it's time to open up the Gear S app on your iPhone.

1. Click Start Your Journey.
2. Choose your Gear.
3. The app will automatically scan for Gear devices in the area.

Your Gear should pop up, and there'll be a model number that you can compare to your Gear's device screen so that you can confirm.

4. Choose your Gear device.
5. Confirm the passkey
6. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete pairing. This will include things like privacy permissions and your Samsung account.

If you've got to pair your old Gear to a new iPhone, you'll need to reset your phone first. There are two ways to do this.

The first is through the menus.

1. Click Settings.
2. Tap Gear info.
3. Select Reset Gear.
4. Choose Factory reset.
5. Click OK and you're done.

As for the hardware option:

1. Turn the Gear off.
2. Hold the Power button until Rebooting displays.
3. Press the Power button repeatedly until Reboot Mode displays.
4. Press the Power button to highlight Recovery.
5. Press and hold Power to select.
6. Hold the Power button until it reboots.

Once you've done that, you can go ahead and pair with your iPhone.

Then you'll be able to customise your notifications, download apps from the Samsung app store, access fitness and activity tracking through S Health and more.

If you've got a Gear Fit2 Pro, you'll have to download a separate app called Samsung Gear Fit.



How we test



Husain Sumra

By

Husain joined Wareable in 2017 as a member of our San Fransisco based team. Husain is a movies expert, and runs his own blog, and contributes to MacRumors.

He has spent hours in the world of virtual reality, getting eyes on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR. 

At Wareable, Husain's role is to investigate, report and write features and news about the wearable industry – from smartwatches and fitness trackers to health devices, virtual reality, augmented reality and more.

He writes buyers guides, how-to content, hardware reviews and more.


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