After the US Division of Justice (DOJ) formally filed an antitrust lawsuit in opposition to Apple, the corporate instantly defended itself in opposition to the accusations with a sequence of statements. Curiously, Apple even confirmed that it thought of making the Apple Watch appropriate with Android in some unspecified time in the future. Nevertheless, doing so wouldn’t be simple for Apple from a technical and strategic standpoint.

Apple Watch and iPhone

When Apple Watch was introduced in 2014, Apple made it clear that it was designed as an adjunct for iPhone customers. Pairing and establishing an Apple Watch requires a smartphone from Apple, and that’s it – it doesn’t work with an iPad or Mac, for instance.

Because the years glided by, Apple made the Apple Watch rather less depending on the iPhone. You possibly can, for instance, arrange an Apple Watch for a kid even when the kid doesn’t have an iPhone of their very own. Nevertheless, an iPhone continues to be required, and the DOJ is utilizing this truth as proof to justify its declare that Apple is a monopoly.

Apple’s smartwatch—Apple Watch—is just appropriate with the iPhone. So, if Apple can steer a consumer in direction of shopping for an Apple Watch, it turns into extra pricey for that consumer to buy a unique form of smartphone as a result of doing so requires the consumer to desert their pricey Apple Watch and buy a brand new, Android-compatible smartwatch.

In keeping with Apple itself, the corporate has thought of making its smartwatch appropriate with Android smartphones. Nevertheless, the concept was scrapped after a three-year investigation. Apple says the undertaking wasn’t possible because of technical limitations. Whereas it’s simple to suppose that the corporate gave up on the concept due to its enterprise technique, there are in actual fact many technical limitations behind making Apple Watch appropriate with Android.

watchOS closely depends on iOS

watchOS, the Apple Watch working system, is an unbiased platform based mostly on iOS, similar to tvOS. Nevertheless, due to the way in which watchOS was developed, it’s straight tied to most of the options accessible in iOS in an effort to function.

Within the early days of watchOS, it wasn’t doable to run apps utilizing the Apple Watch {hardware}. As a substitute, apps ran straight on the iPhone and have been mirrored within the background to the Watch display screen. This was partly as a result of watchOS was a brand new platform, which gave Apple extra time to refine a local SDK earlier than making it accessible to builders.

However on the similar time, Apple made the Apple Watch tremendous reliant on the iPhone as a result of it could additionally save quite a lot of {hardware} utilization. The primary Apple Watch didn’t have a robust chip – those that had the expertise of utilizing one in all probability bear in mind how lengthy it took to open an app or reboot the Watch.

The Apple Watch is actually a mirror for what occurs on the iPhone.

The Apple Watch has grow to be extra unbiased, however…

Plenty of issues have modified since then. With watchOS 2, Apple lastly allowed builders to create apps that run natively on the Apple Watch {hardware}. Native apps can hook up with Wi-Fi and work even when the iPhone isn’t close by. On the similar time, new variations of the Apple Watch have been geared up with extra highly effective chips.

Apple Watch Collection 3 was additionally a major leap ahead when it got here to lowering reliance on the iPhone. With the introduction of the Mobile model, Apple made quite a lot of adjustments to make extra watchOS apps work on their very own with out the iPhone. This allowed customers to ship iMessages and even stream Apple Music straight from the 4G community.

Apple Watch is now extra unbiased than ever. Most apps work with out an iPhone close by, particularly for many who have a Mobile model. Nevertheless, the muse of watchOS 10 is actually the identical as earlier than. There are nonetheless quite a lot of iOS frameworks which can be required to make the Apple Watch work. The setup course of nonetheless will get every part it wants from an iPhone.

An incredible instance of that is that, in an effort to use some new watchOS options, customers additionally must replace to the newest model of iOS due to the shared frameworks between the 2 platforms.

Apple Look ahead to Android wouldn’t be unattainable, however wouldn’t it make sense?

Does this imply that it’s unattainable to make Apple Watch work with an Android telephone? Probably not. Nevertheless, it could definitely require much more effort from Apple, which continues to be slowly engaged on making the Watch much less dependent by itself smartphone.

Apple must utterly overhaul the Apple Watch setup course of and the way in which it handles issues like eSIM, for instance. As a result of earlier than making the Apple Watch appropriate with Android, Apple must utterly separate watchOS from iOS. Might Apple try this finally? Completely. Wouldn’t it be well worth the effort? I don’t suppose so.

At this level, Apple in all probability sees extra worth in convincing individuals fascinated about having an Apple Watch to purchase an iPhone than promoting a couple of extra Watch items to some Android customers right here and there. And we will’t blame Apple for that – there are competitor smartwatches that solely work with Android.

If there’s one factor the corporate may do proper now, it could be to open up its APIs in order that different firms can higher combine their smartwatches and different equipment with iOS with out having to depend on tips and workarounds. However that’s a subject for one more article.

What about you? Tell us if you happen to would use an Apple Watch with an Android telephone if it have been doable.