Merge Watch app pairs an Apple Watch with an Android phone

The Apple Watch does not officially work with Android. Engadget's Adnan Ahmed moved to a OnePlus phone and found he was carrying his iPhone just to keep his watch useful, until he came across Merge Watch, an app that promises to pair the watch with an Android handset.

Earlier workarounds existed, but they required the cellular version of the Apple Watch.

How pairing works

The watch still has to be activated with an iPhone first. Merge Watch is then installed on both devices: on the Apple Watch through the App Store and on the phone through the Play Store. It asks for Bluetooth, health data, notification access and a battery-optimization exception, and pairing is confirmed with a six-digit code typed on the phone. Health data syncs to Google Fit, though it takes a while to appear.

What works

Notification forwarding works surprisingly well, and messages can be answered from the wrist. Playback controls for Spotify and other players appear on the watch, notifications can be muted per app, and ECG recordings and detailed sleep tracking show up on the Android phone.

Where it falls short

Every alert arrives through the Merge app rather than as a native watchOS notification, so checking one feels like opening an app inside an app. The connection is closer to notification mirroring than real synchronization: an iPhone decides whether an alert goes to the phone or the watch, while the Android phone still buzzes while the watch is in use. Other apps on the watch keep working on their own.

Price, privacy and the verdict

Merge Watch is a paid service with two tiers, and unlocking every feature costs $6 a month; the reviewer would have preferred a one-time payment. Its privacy policy states that most data stays on the devices and that notifications relayed over the internet are end-to-end encrypted.

Testing with the iPhone switched off covered watchOS 27 on an Apple Watch Series 10 and Android 16 on a OnePlus 15. The results were mixed. The watch needs no internet connection and receives notifications mainly over Bluetooth, but sometimes it fails to nudge the wrist until the app is opened manually, which can trigger a dozen alerts at once. Power consumption rose slightly because the app runs in the background all day. Still, with barely any other working solutions, the reviewer calls Merge Watch a decently reliable option.