Does Apple Watch work with Android? What actually works in 2026 — and what to use instead

Short answer

No, not officially: an Apple Watch still has to be set up and activated with an iPhone, and Apple doesn't offer a Watch app for Android. You can't pair a new Apple Watch straight out of the box with a Samsung, Pixel or other Android phone.

What has changed in 2026:

• Xiaomi HyperOS 4 lets an Apple Watch that was already set up with an iPhone connect to a Xiaomi phone for calls, messages, notifications, device finding and health data in Mi Fitness. It needs Apple Watch Series 6, SE 2, any Ultra or newer on watchOS 11 or later (1).

• Merge Watch, a third-party app, mirrors Android notifications to an Apple Watch after initial iPhone setup; full features cost $6 a month and alerts can be unreliable (2).

• An open-source project paired an Apple Watch with a rooted OnePlus phone without an iPhone in October 2026, but health sync, calls and notifications don't work properly yet (3).

If you're on Android and want reliable heart rate, HRV and sleep tracking, a Wear OS watch such as a Samsung Galaxy Watch or Google Pixel Watch — or a Garmin — is still the practical choice. If you've been frustrated trying to make it work, you're not imagining the problem and it's not your fault: the limit is by design.

Note: this guide is published by Welltory, which makes one of the apps mentioned. Welltory is a general wellness product: it helps you track and understand your data and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Third-party apps and tools mentioned here are not endorsed by Apple; check their privacy policies before installing.

Why doesn't Apple Watch work with Android?

The Apple Watch is built as an extension of the iPhone. Setup, software updates, the Watch app, Apple Health and most watch apps live on the iPhone side. There is no Apple Watch app on Google Play, so an Android phone has nothing to pair with.

Even the most promising workarounds of 2026 confirm this: Xiaomi's HyperOS 4 feature and the Merge Watch app both still require you to activate the watch with an iPhone first (1, 2). Apple does not officially support either approach (1).

What you need before you try any workaround

Every route in this guide starts in the same place: an iPhone. Apple's own setup guide lists an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 27 or later as the requirement for pairing an Apple Watch (9). Borrowing a friend's old iPhone may not be enough if it can't run a recent version of iOS.

Before you spend money on a bridge app or a new phone, check four things:

• Which iPhone you'll use for setup, and whether you can keep it. watchOS updates, restoring from a backup and many settings live in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone (9). If you give the iPhone away, those become hard or impossible.

• Which Android phone you have. Xiaomi's HyperOS 4 support only helps on supported Xiaomi phones; everyone else is limited to third-party apps (1).

• What you actually want on your wrist. If it's mostly notifications, a bridge app may be enough. If it's long-term health history, read the next section first.

• Whether you're comfortable with a third-party app seeing your notifications and health data. Read its privacy policy before you install it.

Your options at a glance

What works with Xiaomi HyperOS 4?

Xiaomi added Apple Watch support in HyperOS 4, launched with the Xiaomi 18 Pro series in September 2026 (1). After you activate the watch with an iPhone, you install the Xiaomi Connect app on the watch, scan a QR code with the Xiaomi phone and grant permissions on both devices.

What you get:

• calls, text messages and app notifications from the Xiaomi phone on your wrist;

• Xiaomi's live activities ("Super Island") on the watch;

• health and workout data recorded by the Apple Watch inside Mi Fitness;

• each device can make the other ring if you lose it.

What's unclear: which regions get the feature, which Xiaomi phones beyond the 18 Pro series are supported, and which features depend on the device (1). If you don't use a Xiaomi phone, it doesn't help you.

What about apps like Merge Watch?

Merge Watch is installed on both the watch (from the App Store) and the Android phone (from Google Play). After the watch is set up with an iPhone, it forwards notifications from Android, lets you reply to messages and control music, and shows ECG recordings and sleep data on the phone. Health data goes through Google Fit and can take a while to appear (2).

The trade-offs, according to Engadget's review: notifications appear inside the Merge app rather than as native watch alerts, the phone still buzzes, the watch sometimes stops getting alerts until the app is relaunched, battery drains faster, and full features need a $6 monthly subscription (2).

Can you pair an Apple Watch with Android without an iPhone?

Technically, someone has — but you shouldn't try it on your daily phone. In October 2026 an open-source project on GitHub showed an Apple Watch Ultra 2 being found, paired and activated from an Android phone without an iPhone (3). It needs a rooted phone and a Magisk module, works only with one OnePlus model so far, and health sync, calls and notifications aren't finished. The reviewers advise against installing it for now (3).

Rooting can void warranties, break banking apps and weaken your phone's security. For health tracking you rely on every day, that's a poor trade.

I'm switching from iPhone to Android. What happens to my Apple Watch?

Plan the switch before you wipe the iPhone:

1. Keep the iPhone if you want to keep using the watch normally. Without it you lose updates, settings and most sync.

2. Export your Apple Health data from the iPhone (Health app → profile → Export All Health Data). It creates a file you can keep; most Android apps can't import it directly, but you'll have your history.

3. Unpair the watch from the iPhone if you're selling or giving it away, so Activation Lock is removed.

4. Decide how you'll track health on Android. Pick a watch that connects to Health Connect or Samsung Health so your new data flows into the apps you use.

Exporting and unpairing: the details that trip people up

The export is a file, not a sync. Apple Health exports your data as a .zip archive of XML files (11). It can take a long time on a phone with years of data, and a screen that locks mid-export can make it fail, so set Auto-Lock to Never while it runs (11). Store the file somewhere safe, such as cloud storage or a computer, before you reset the iPhone.

Unpair with the iPhone, not just on the watch. Unpairing from the Apple Watch app erases the watch and turns off Activation Lock after you enter your Apple Account password (10). Erasing the watch from its own settings without the iPhone does not remove Activation Lock, so whoever gets the watch next will need your Apple Account details (10). If you're selling or gifting the watch, Apple recommends unpairing with the iPhone (10).

A watch set up through Family Setup is a different case. Family Setup lets a family member manage a cellular Apple Watch from their own iPhone, but some health features are restricted on those watches — MacRumors' guide lists ECG, irregular rhythm notifications and sleep tracking among them (16). It's designed for kids and older relatives in an iPhone household, not as a way to use an Apple Watch with your own Android phone.

What you'd lose using an Apple Watch with Android

Even with the best workaround, an Apple Watch on Android is a reduced version of itself. Expect to give up most of the following:

If health tracking is the main reason you wear a watch, the loss of Apple Health history and reliable sync is the biggest problem — your data ends up scattered or missing.

What happens to each health feature

The short version: the Apple Watch keeps measuring, but the place where those measurements are stored, combined and shown to you is the iPhone's Health app. Take that away, and each feature behaves differently.

Heart rate, workouts and activity. The watch records them on its own. Getting them onto an Android phone depends on the workaround: Xiaomi's HyperOS 4 shows Apple Watch health and workout data in Mi Fitness, while Merge Watch passes data through Google Fit, sometimes with a delay (1, 2).

Google Fit is on its way out. Google says its Google Fit APIs will be supported until the end of 2026 and recommends that apps move to Health Connect (14). If a bridge app relies on Google Fit, check whether it has a plan for Health Connect before you rely on it for months of data.

Health Connect is Android's equivalent of a shared health store. Apps read and write data such as heart rate, steps and sleep sessions there, and you grant or revoke each app's access separately (14, 15). It's the layer most Android health apps, including Welltory, read from — which is why a watch that writes to Health Connect is easier to live with than one that only syncs through a single bridge app.

ECG and heart notifications. These are set up and managed from the iPhone. Merge Watch can show ECG recordings on the Android phone, but that's a viewer, not Apple's health record (2).

Sleep and long-term trends. Apple's sleep and trend views live in the Health app on the iPhone. On Android you'll see whatever the bridge app or Mi Fitness chooses to show, which is usually less.

Your history. Years of Apple Health data don't move to Android automatically. Exporting it is your safety net (see below).

What to use instead on Android

For heart rate, HRV and sleep tracking that works natively with Android:

Welltory's device list confirms that Samsung Watch (Wear OS) supports both HRV and activity tracking, while most other watches and rings pass activity data only (4, 5). For a longer comparison, see our guide to the best Android smartwatch for heart health.

Android watches have phone rules too

It's worth knowing that the lock-in works in both directions, so you don't swap one compatibility problem for another.

• Google Pixel Watch works only with Android. Google's compatibility page states that iPhones aren't supported, and each Pixel Watch generation needs a minimum Android version — Android 12 or later for Pixel Watch 5, for example (12).

• Some Galaxy Watch health features need a Galaxy phone. Samsung's support page says the ECG feature in the Samsung Health Monitor app requires a Galaxy smartphone, with the app installed from the Galaxy Store; it works on Galaxy Watch4 and later (13). A Galaxy Watch still pairs with other Android phones, but you lose those features.

• Garmin and chest straps are the most phone-neutral. They connect through their own apps and can pass data on to Health Connect-based apps, which is why they're popular with people who switch phones often.

So the practical rule is simple: match the watch to the phone you plan to keep for the next few years.

Which path fits you

• You already own an Apple Watch and are moving to Android for good. Export your Apple Health data, unpair the watch with the iPhone, and either sell it or keep it as a standalone workout recorder. Budget for an Android watch if continuous tracking matters to you.

• You own a supported Xiaomi phone and an Apple Watch you've already set up. HyperOS 4 is the most complete option right now; check which features work on your model (1).

• You carry two phones, or plan to keep an old iPhone at home. A bridge app like Merge Watch can cover notifications, as long as you accept missed alerts and extra battery drain (2).

• You care most about heart rate, HRV and sleep data you can trust over months. Choose a watch built for your phone — Galaxy Watch with a Galaxy phone, Pixel Watch with a Pixel or other recent Android phone, or Garmin with any — so your data lands in Health Connect or Samsung Health without a bridge.

• You just want to start tracking stress and recovery. Use your phone's camera for a morning reading and decide on a watch later.

Do you need a watch at all?

Not necessarily. If your main goal is to track heart rate variability, stress and recovery, you can take a measurement with your phone's camera in about a minute each morning (6). A watch adds continuous data — sleep, steps, all-day heart rate — but it isn't required to start.

Questions people ask next

"Can I use my old Apple Watch just as a fitness tracker without a phone?" Partly. Once set up, the watch records workouts and heart rate on its own, but data can't sync to an Android phone without the workarounds above.

"Will the Apple Watch heart alerts work with Android?" Alerts like high or low heart rate are set up through the iPhone. With Merge Watch, ECG recordings can be viewed on the phone, but none of these workarounds are medical tools.

"Does Apple Health work on Android?" No. Android uses Health Connect (and Samsung Health on Galaxy phones) instead.

"Is it worth buying an Apple Watch for an Android phone in 2026?" For most people, no. Even with the new workarounds you need an iPhone for setup, and features are limited.

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How Welltory helps — and what it cannot do

The limits first. Welltory is a general wellness product, not a medical device. It doesn't make an Apple Watch work with Android.

On Android, Welltory reads data from Health Connect and Samsung Health, so most watches and rings that sync there can feed sleep, activity and heart-rate data into it (5).

HRV measurements. Take readings with your phone camera, a Galaxy Watch through the Welltory watch app (7), or a compatible chest strap (4).

See what affects you. Tag events like "late workout" or "poor sleep" and Welltory looks for patterns over time (8). Some sections need a paid plan.

How we made it

We reviewed coverage of Xiaomi's HyperOS 4 Apple Watch support (September 2026), Engadget's review of the Merge Watch app (September 2026) and reporting on the open-source Apple Watch Companion project (October 2026), and checked device support against the Welltory Help Center on October 24, 2026. On October 29, 2026 we also checked setup, unpairing and compatibility requirements against Apple, Google, Samsung and Android Developers support pages. Search questions came from what people in the United States most often ask about using Apple Watch with Android. Features and prices of third-party tools change quickly; check the developer's site before buying.

Made with AI tools, then edited and fact-checked by the Welltory team. See our Editorial & AI policy.

Jane Smorodnikova, co-founder of Welltory, built the methodology behind how we read physiological data.

Written by Tatsiana Yashyna.

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