Android Wear watches aren’t connecting to the iPhone 7

One of Android Wear’s biggest strengths is it that the platform is designed to be cross compatible with Android and iOS. However, a number of consumers are reporting that they can’t connected a range of Android Wear smartwatches up to the new iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

What’s happening is that customers aren’t managing to get to the accept message screen when pairing their smartwatch to an iPhone 7, suggesting that the Bluetooth pairing function is failing somewhere.  Google has officially acknowledged that there is an issue with the Moto 360 v2, ASUS ZenWatch models, Fossil, MK, and Tag Heuer watches. However, many more consumers, through the Google forums, are also reporting the same problem when using the LG G Watch and the first generation Moto 360. Here’s what just some users are saying about the issue:

I’ve got a TAG Heuer Connected that was working fine with my iPhone 6 even after I upgraded to iOS 10, but then since I unpaired to connect to my new iPhone 7 I haven’t been able to pass the pairing screen. I’ve tried with both phones, even tried to after downgrading the iPhone 6 to 9.3. I’ve also tried to a factory reset through the ‘Android dead robot’ as advised by TAG, but didn’t help, none of the phones get the code from the watch. Thanks!

Just wanted to let you guys know I’m facing the same issue. Can’t get my Moto360 2nd gen to pair with my iPhone7 (iPhone 6 and 6s with iOS10 was no problem). My iPhone7 sees my Moto360 2nd in the Android Wear App and in the bluetooth list when trying to pair but I never get the “accept message” on my Wear App when trying to pair so the pairing keeps failing.

The exact cause of the problem isn’t yet fully understood, but it’s looking increasingly like a hardware problem of some sort. Users don’t appear to be running into the same connectivity problems while using iOS 10 on the iPhone 6 or 6S, so it looks to only be affecting iPhone 7 units.

Google has confirmed that it is looking into the issue, plans to fix it as soon as possible, and has reported the problem to Apple. Apple has not commented on the matter yet. So, if you really want to keep using your Android Wear smartwatch, it might be best to avoid picking up an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus for now.