How To Connect Gear S To Iphone

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Gear S and iPHone: How to achieve maximum functionality

Thread starter gidi
Start date Jan 27, 2015

Hi all,

For those who may be interested, i have made a video as well as a guide that describes my method for achieving maximum functionality when using my Gear S with my iPhone.
Special thanks to XDA forum members @cipherswitch, @sticmou and @pityu for the guidance and inspiration.

Please see the YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEicnFrh5IM

Feel free to ask any questions here or preferably in the YouTube video comments section.

Best regards

Hi all,
For those who may be interested, i have made a video as well as a guide that describes my method for achieving maximum functionality when using my Gear S with my iPhone.
Special thanks to XDA forum members @cipherswitch, @sticmou and @pityu for the guidance and inspiration.

Please see the YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEicnFrh5IM

Feel free to ask any questions here or preferably in the YouTube video comments section.

Best regards

Damn... very nice. Good job sir....

Working on LG G2

Thank you, It's working and in my case I use LG G2 as a notification relay

Anyway sometime when I pick up a call on Gear S it automatically transfers to iPhone which really annoy.

To fix this, On iPhone go to Setting > General > Accessibility > Call Audio Routing select Headset

Thank you, It's working and in my case I use LG G2 as a notification relay
Anyway sometime when I pick up a call on Gear S it automatically transfers to iPhone which really annoy.

To fix this, On iPhone go to Setting > General > Accessibility > Call Audio Routing select Headset

Thank you for the tip!
Did you by any chance find any way to activate Siri through the watch?

Thank you for the tip!
Did you by any chance find any way to activate Siri through the watch?

So let me get this straight. Be "remotely" connected to a Samsung phone can that be with Wifi OR 3G? In other words, you don't need to be remotely connected on the same wifi as the Samsung phone, just connected to the internet somehow on the Gear S which is linked to that Samsung phone? Am I understanding that right?

So let me get this straight. Be "remotely" connected to a Samsung phone can that be with Wifi OR 3G? In other words, you don't need to be remotely connected on the same wifi as the Samsung phone, just connected to the internet somehow on the Gear S which is linked to that Samsung phone? Am I understanding that right?

yup, its all in the cloud somewhere..... and nobody understand the cloud. I was experimenting with battery life and turned off bluetooth and used 4g all day, within a few minutes my gear gave me a confirmation that call forwarding was on and my phone said "connected remotely", notifications to my phone came to the watch just the same but a few seconds delayed vs a bluetooth connection.

yup, its all in the cloud somewhere..... and nobody understand the cloud. I was experimenting with battery life and turned off bluetooth and used 4g all day, within a few minutes my gear gave me a confirmation that call forwarding was on and my phone said "connected remotely", notifications to my phone came to the watch just the same but a few seconds delayed vs a bluetooth connection.

Wow that is pretty cool then. Buy a cheap Samsung phone, no SIM and just leave on wifi at home all the time and it will send notifications to your watch....pretty freakin cool!

Since I have an iPhone I guess the only thing missing would be texts and imessage so hopefully we can figure that out too!!!!

yup, its all in the cloud somewhere..... and nobody understand the cloud. I was experimenting with battery life and turned off bluetooth and used 4g all day, within a few minutes my gear gave me a confirmation that call forwarding was on and my phone said "connected remotely", notifications to my phone came to the watch just the same but a few seconds delayed vs a bluetooth connection.

@cipherswitch my man did you test with the latest B0A7 FW? What did you get? Was it significantly better than with the old FW?

Wow that is pretty cool then. Buy a cheap Samsung phone, no SIM and just leave on wifi at home all the time and it will send notifications to your watch....pretty freakin cool!
Since I have an iPhone I guess the only thing missing would be texts and imessage so hopefully we can figure that out too!!!!

@swyner You got that right. You can buy the cheapest comptaible Samsung phone and remotely connect to it. All you need is keep it charged at all times and connected to your home router and of course setting it up with all your accounts/apps you wanna be notified about.

Problem is, with that setup you cannot connect the watch to the iPhone via BT.

In order to do that as well you need to follow my method in the OP. And of course root your watch (see @cipherswitch's guide).

@swyner You got that right. You can buy the cheapest comptaible Samsung phone and remotely connect to it. All you need is keep it charged at all times and connected to your home router and of course setting it up with all your accounts/apps you wanna be notified about.
Problem is, with that setup you cannot connect the watch to the iPhone via BT.

In order to do that as well you need to follow my method in the OP. And of course root your watch (see @cipherswitch's guide).

So I have the following on my iphone today. 1) both iMessages (from iphone users) and text messages coming through imessage to my phone number. I have 2 email accounts, one Gmail and the other is setup in the iPhone Mail app but it's "controlled" by Mobile Iron for work. On other smartwatches that work with iPhone I get all these notifications on the watch. However, all replies and interactions are done on my iPhone.

If I move to this Gear S alternative, I can setup my Mobile Iron work email on an android (this is possible now). However, it requires a PIN to get in and see and reply to emails pretty much every 10 minutes. However, it will post notifications of new email with the short description. If I am unable to "unlock" the Divide/Mobile Iron email client on the Samsung phone at home, I wonder how this notification will look on the Gear S? Will I be able to reply to it? Likely not as the Gear S just provides notifications, right? As for Gmail, that is easy as I can set that up on Samsung phone at home and notifications will come through and I will be able to read the whole email.

As for text messages, I wonder we can use that solution someone came up with for the Gear 1 and install that message forwarding trick that can relay imessage and text message on a jailbroken iPhone. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784802&page=9 If this could be done on the Samsung phone at home, then I would hope that I could "see" those notifications on the Gear S......

So I have the following on my iphone today. 1) both iMessages (from iphone users) and text messages coming through imessage to my phone number. I have 2 email accounts, one Gmail and the other is setup in the iPhone Mail app but it's "controlled" by Mobile Iron for work. On other smartwatches that work with iPhone I get all these notifications on the watch. However, all replies and interactions are done on my iPhone.
If I move to this Gear S alternative, I can setup my Mobile Iron work email on an android (this is possible now). However, it requires a PIN to get in and see and reply to emails pretty much every 10 minutes. However, it will post notifications of new email with the short description. If I am unable to "unlock" the Divide/Mobile Iron email client on the Samsung phone at home, I wonder how this notification will look on the Gear S? Will I be able to reply to it? Likely not as the Gear S just provides notifications, right? As for Gmail, that is easy as I can set that up on Samsung phone at home and notifications will come through and I will be able to read the whole email.

As for text messages, I wonder we can use that solution someone came up with for the Gear 1 and install that message forwarding trick that can relay imessage and text message on a jailbroken iPhone. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2784802&page=9 If this could be done on the Samsung phone at home, then I would hope that I could "see" those notifications on the Gear S......

@swyner Dude, as long as smth is considered a notification on the compatible Sammy phone, then it can be forwarded to the watch via the remote connection.
It is true that most notifications on the watch are not actionable, UNLESS you are using the more than excellent Gear Notification Extender by @gottahavit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-s/themes-apps/exclusive-to-xda-alpha-release-gear-t2941977

That particular software can handle all notifications and provide actionable notifications. However, you still need to download the beta and see for yourself if that particular client is supported.

I have extensively used the cloudnotifier Cydia tweak in the past, with my Gear 1 and iPhone. It was actually a desperate (but it did work!) way to emulate the "Remote connection" Samsung is currently offering. No actionable notifications, though!
So with cloudnotifier a kind of remote connection is set up between a JB iPhone and a Gear 1 running Null ROM that is being tethered to the internet.

Therefore one could assume that we could again use cloudnotifier in order to "fetch" from the iPhone SMSs and iMessages. Unfortunately there is a catch. You have to be able to install smth on the Gear S that catches what the iPhone is sending over the internet, and i do not think anything like that is available for Tizen OS.

If you can find smth, please let us know.

Hope that helped.

BTW, you may wanna see my previous video where i present my setup of Gear 1 and iPhone 5S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqCjVBqpTiI

@swyner Dude, as long as smth is considered a notification on the compatible Sammy phone, then it can be forwarded to the watch via the remote connection.
It is true that most notifications on the watch are not actionable, UNLESS you are using the more than excellent Gear Notification Extender by @gottahavit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-s/themes-apps/exclusive-to-xda-alpha-release-gear-t2941977
That particular software can handle all notifications and provide actionable notifications. However, you still need to download the beta and see for yourself if that particular client is supported.

I have extensively used the cloudnotifier Cydia tweak in the past, with my Gear 1 and iPhone. It was actually a desperate (but it did work!) way to emulate the "Remote connection" Samsung is currently offering. No actionable notifications, though!
So with cloudnotifier a kind of remote connection is set up between a JB iPhone and a Gear 1 running Null ROM that is being tethered to the internet.

Therefore one could assume that we could again use cloudnotifier in order to "fetch" from the iPhone SMSs and iMessages. Unfortunately there is a catch. You have to be able to install smth on the Gear S that catches what the iPhone is sending over the internet, and i do not think anything like that is available for Tizen OS.

If you can find smth, please let us know.

Hope that helped.

BTW, you may wanna see my previous video where i present my setup of Gear 1 and iPhone 5S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqCjVBqpTiI

Thanks bud!! One question is "smth" supposed to be the word "it"?

Thanks bud!! One question is "smth" supposed to be the word "it"?

smth=something

LMAO. Perfect. I have to get better at my forum lingo!!!

---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------

@swyner Dude, as long as smth is considered a notification on the compatible Sammy phone, then it can be forwarded to the watch via the remote connection.
It is true that most notifications on the watch are not actionable, UNLESS you are using the more than excellent Gear Notification Extender by @gottahavit:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gear-s/themes-apps/exclusive-to-xda-alpha-release-gear-t2941977
That particular software can handle all notifications and provide actionable notifications. However, you still need to download the beta and see for yourself if that particular client is supported.

I have extensively used the cloudnotifier Cydia tweak in the past, with my Gear 1 and iPhone. It was actually a desperate (but it did work!) way to emulate the "Remote connection" Samsung is currently offering. No actionable notifications, though!
So with cloudnotifier a kind of remote connection is set up between a JB iPhone and a Gear 1 running Null ROM that is being tethered to the internet.

Therefore one could assume that we could again use cloudnotifier in order to "fetch" from the iPhone SMSs and iMessages. Unfortunately there is a catch. You have to be able to install smth on the Gear S that catches what the iPhone is sending over the internet, and i do not think anything like that is available for Tizen OS.

If you can find smth, please let us know.

Hope that helped.

BTW, you may wanna see my previous video where i present my setup of Gear 1 and iPhone 5S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqCjVBqpTiI

Oh and what I meant with Cloud Notifier is can you install and use on the Samsung phone left at home that is remotely connected to a jailbroken iPhone to notify of imessages? Then if there is a notification, it will remotely notify on Gear S? I know, I know, a lot of cumbersome connections but may work

LMAO. Perfect. I have to get better at my forum lingo!!!
---------- Post added at 08:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 PM ----------

Oh and what I meant with Cloud Notifier is can you install and use on the Samsung phone left at home that is remotely connected to a jailbroken iPhone to notify of imessages? Then if there is a notification, it will remotely notify on Gear S? I know, I know, a lot of cumbersome connections but may work

You know what, i think it will work.
Problem is i do not have the time to setup everything again.
Please try it out and let us know.

A guide would be great!!!

You know what, i think it will work.
Problem is i do not have the time to setup everything again.
Please try it out and let us know.
A guide would be great!!!

I will definitely go down that path IF I decide to go this route. I have been looking for a real solid Smartwatch for iphone and the Gear S is just an amazing device. I am not a huge fan of the size though.....that is what is holding me back from actually buying one. So I am now just investigating the possibilities before I take the plunge.

I will definitely go down that path IF I decide to go this route. I have been looking for a real solid Smartwatch for iphone and the Gear S is just an amazing device. I am not a huge fan of the size though.....that is what is holding me back from actually buying one. So I am now just investigating the possibilities before I take the plunge.

My man, if you want the SIM card functionality, the Gear S is the only thing available out there.
Of course the Apple Watch will be smoothly integrated in the Apple ecosystem, but you will still need to carry the phone with you at all times.

It really is a liberating feeling not having to carry a phone with you at all times. Yet remain (somewhat) connected.

My man, if you want the SIM card functionality, the Gear S is the only thing available out there.
Of course the Apple Watch will be smoothly integrated in the Apple ecosystem, but you will still need to carry the phone with you at all times.
It really is a liberating feeling not having to carry a phone with you at all times. Yet remain (somewhat) connected.

Oh I hear ya! That is what is so tempting. I just wish in Canada we could have 2 SIM cards with 1 phone number so I can literally use my Gear S as my iphone (number and text messages) if needed. Will keep you posted

Oh I hear ya! That is what is so tempting. I just wish in Canada we could have 2 SIM cards with 1 phone number so I can literally use my Gear S as my iphone (number and text messages) if needed. Will keep you posted

We have that in Greece and it is very convenient.
However you do not really need that, since the Gear S supports call forwarding.
It is rather smartly implemented from what I've read.

Check the forums.

We have that in Greece and it is very convenient.
However you do not really need that, since the Gear S supports call forwarding.
It is rather smartly implemented from what I've read.
Check the forums.

Will that call forward feature work only on the Samsung phone at home?? If so, there will be no SIM in there, just in my iPhone (main phone) and Gear S. And if iPhone is connected to Gear S via Bluetooth, I will be able to make and receive calls from the Gear S using my iPhone connection? Is there a way to make a call from the Gear S that does not use the SIM in the Gear S but the Bluetooth connection to iPhone?
Anyway, I think the phone function is fine for me. It's the texting...would love to text from Gear S but have it coming from my iPhone phone number...hence the desire to have 2 SIMS with one phone number.

Anyway, Gear S just went on sale in Canada for $50 off so that may seal the deal!!!