KeepMyWatchDoes Apple Watch work with Android?
Not on its own. Apple Watch pairs only with an iPhone, and Apple makes no Android app for it. Once the watch is set up, a watch app such as KeepMyWatch can bring your Android phone’s alerts and calls to it over Wi-Fi or cellular.
Why it doesn’t work out of the box
An Apple Watch is set up, updated and backed up through the Watch app on an iPhone. Apple’s own guide to pairing and setting up Apple Watch starts with an iPhone, and there is no Android version of that app.
The watch keeps working on its own after setup, though. Apple explains what a watch can do without its iPhone nearby: on Wi-Fi or cellular it can still run its own apps and get their notifications. That is the door a watch app can use.
What an app can add
KeepMyWatch has two parts: an app on your Android phone that reads its notifications, and an app on the watch that receives them. Each alert is locked on the phone and opened on the watch. Tried by hand on Samsung Galaxy S26 and S24 phones with an Apple Watch Series 9:
| What | On the watch |
|---|---|
| Alerts from every app, with the app’s icon | Works |
| Reply to WhatsApp | Works |
| Phone and WhatsApp calls | Shown, with Decline |
| Find my phone | Plays a melody at full volume, even on silent |
| Music playing on the phone | Play, pause, skip and volume |
| Find my watch | Buzzes six timesNo sound: Apple doesn’t let apps play their own sound on a silent watch. |
| Health, fitness and sleep | Coming soon |
What still needs an iPhone
- Setting up a new or reset Apple Watch. Borrowing an iPhone for a few minutes is enough.
- Settings that live only in the iPhone’s Watch app.
Keep the watch set up from your iPhone before you switch, and don’t reset it afterwards.
What you need
- Apple Watch Series 4 or newer, with watchOS 10 or later, already set up with an iPhone.
- An Android phone with Android 13 or later.
- Wi-Fi or cellular on the watch: alerts reach it over the internet, not Bluetooth. A Wi-Fi watch can use your phone’s hotspot when you’re out (see the hotspot guide).