How to Connect Your Smartwatch to Your iPhone

Trying to get your new smartwatch connected to your iPhone? The good news is that no matter which brand of smartwatch you have, you can connect it to your iPhone for at least some added functionality. But the process isn’t always simple or obvious. Check out this quick guide to connecting a smartwatch to an iPhone on three of the most popular watch OSes.

The Apple Watch makes up around 34% of the global smartwatch market and is the most popular choice, especially among iPhone users. Connecting a new or used Apple Watch to an iPhone is about as straightforward as can be, thanks to Apple’s famously tight ecosystem integration. Here’s what to do.

First, power on your Apple Watch (ideally while wearing it, though this isn’t an absolute requirement). You do this by holding the button on the side of the watch. Next, hold your iPhone near your Apple Watch. In a few seconds, you’ll see an Apple Watch pairing screen appear on your iPhone. Follow the prompts, and you’re connected.

If the pairing screen doesn’t appear, you can open the Apple Watch app on your phone, tap Pair New Watch, then select Set Up for Myself. Again, follow the prompts to get connected.

Your Apple Watch will sync with your iPhone, which could take a few minutes if you’re doing it for the first time. But after that, you’ll have a seamless experience between your phone and your smartwatch.

Early on in the smartwatch wars, Android-powered watches didn’t play well with iPhones. But as the brands relying on Google’s Wear OS continue to capture market share, the Android-centric smartwatch OS has gotten more and more features and tie-ins to the iPhone.

However, even the best Wear OS watches can’t come close to the level of integration between an Apple Watch and an iPhone. But you can at least get some functions connected between Wear OS and iOS now. Here’s what to do.

Step one is downloading the Wear OS app for your iPhone. You can get this app in the App Store just like any other app, and it will be the main point of interface for your Wear OS watch. Open the app and hit “Start setup.” Agree to the terms and conditions and then enable Bluetooth access via the prompts.

Next, pick up your watch and make sure it’s powered up. If you haven’t set it up, you’ll need to pick your language and agree to some terms. From there, you should see the watch show up as a selectable option on your iPhone. Tap it, and then wait for the Bluetooth pairing request, which you should accept.

Your iPhone (from within the Wear OS app) will guide you through selecting a Wi-Fi network for your watch and signing into your Google account. This could take some time as your phone pushes all your Google content to your watch.

Next, your iPhone will cascade a series of “Allow…?” prompts, giving your watch and phone the ability to communicate in various ways. Allow all of these, and you’re set up.

The process isn’t as smooth as pairing an Apple Watch with an iPhone. But if you find yourself with a Wear OS watch and an iPhone, it’s nice that you can connect the two at least this well.

Fitbit holds one of the larger shares among second-tier smartwatch makers that aren’t using Wear OS. Since Google has purchased the company, future Fitbit smartwatches will probably move to Wear OS. But for the time being, you might need to know how to connect something like a Fitbit Versa 3 to your iPhone.

The process looks a lot like the one for Wear OS. You start by downloading the Fitbit app onto your phone from the App Store. Then, open the app and look for your Fitbit device on the list. Again, you’ll need to make sure your Fitbit smartwatch is charged and powered on.

You’ll need to agree to a bunch of terms. Then, your phone will scan for the watch. You might receive a code on the watch that you need to enter on the phone. Again, this will take a few minutes. Next, you’ll set up the Wi-Fi connection for your Fitbit from your phone and accept any permission prompts on your iPhone.

As you might expect, Fitbit can share your health and activity data with your iPhone if you want to use Apple Health. Other limited connectivity options are here as well.

If you have a smartwatch that isn’t running WatchOS, Wear OS, or Fitbit OS, check with your watch manufacturer. Most will offer an app just like Wear OS and Fitbit OS do, so you’ll likely need to start there.

Connecting your devices is the first step toward enjoying a smartwatch/smartphone combination. But it doesn’t stop there; you also need to protect your devices with a warranty.

Upsie offers excellent extended smartwatch warranties and extended smartphone warranties. Upsie’s warranties cost up to 70 percent less than warranties from competitors. In addition, Upsie offers protection from accidental damage, manufacturing defects, internal failure, and more.

Customers with Upsie warranties can make unlimited claims up to the purchase price of the device. You can rest easy knowing that your devices are protected through Upsie.