Guides

Keeping an Apple Watch after switching to Android, step by step. The KeepMyWatch steps were tried on Samsung Galaxy S26 and S24 phones with an Apple Watch Series 9.

• Does Apple Watch work with Android?

  Not on its own: Apple Watch pairs only with an iPhone. Here is what an app can add, what still needs an iPhone, and what never works.

• Switching to Samsung? Keep your Apple Watch

  The order that works: set up the watch while you still have the iPhone, then install KeepMyWatch on the watch and your Galaxy, pair them, and allow alerts.

• Keep a Wi-Fi Apple Watch online when you leave home

  A Wi-Fi Apple Watch can’t get alerts away from known Wi-Fi. A Samsung routine can switch your phone’s hotspot on when it leaves Wi-Fi, and off when it’s back.

• Samsung battery settings for on-time watch alerts

  Android can hold an app back to save battery, and alerts then reach the watch late. Two Samsung settings stop that: Unrestricted battery use and Never auto sleeping apps.

• WhatsApp on your Apple Watch with an Android phone

  WhatsApp’s own watch app needs an iPhone. With an Android phone, KeepMyWatch brings WhatsApp messages and calls to the watch, and lets you reply and decline.

• Find your Android phone from your Apple Watch

  One tap on the Apple Watch plays a melody on your Android phone at full volume, even on silent. It stops after 15 seconds or when you tap Stop.

• Alerts late or missing on your Apple Watch?

  When alerts from an Android phone reach the Apple Watch late, it is almost always the phone’s battery saving, the watch being offline, or Low Power Mode. Here is how to check each.

• Is KeepMyWatch safe?

  KeepMyWatch needs to read your phone’s notifications. Here is what that means, how each alert is encrypted between your phone and watch, and what our relay can and can’t see.

• iPhone to Samsung: the switch checklist

  What to do before, during and after moving from an iPhone to a Samsung Galaxy, so your messages, WhatsApp chats and Apple Watch all come with you.