Merge Watch App Can Pair Apple Watch With Android, With Caveats

Setup begins by activating the Apple Watch with an iPhone. Users then install Merge Watch on the Apple Watch through the App Store and on the Android device through the Play Store. The app requests Bluetooth permissions, health data, notification access and battery optimization exceptions. Pairing is completed by tapping the phone's name on the Apple Watch and entering a six-digit code on the Android phone.

After pairing, notification forwarding works well, according to the review. Users can reply to messages from the Apple Watch and get playback controls for Spotify and other music apps. Notifications can be turned off on a per-app basis through the Merge Watch app on the phone. Health data syncs with Google Fit, although it takes a while to appear during initial setup. ECG recordings and detailed sleep tracking data also show up on the Android phone.

The experience has limits. Every notification the Apple Watch receives arrives through the Merge app rather than as a native watchOS notification, so checking or replying feels like opening an app within an app. The review describes the feature as more like notification mirroring because, unlike an iPhone, the Android phone still buzzes with notifications even when the Apple Watch is being used. Other apps installed on the Apple Watch continue to work independently, while Merge Watch handles forwarding and acts as the shared experience between the two devices. The review says this is likely the best a third-party developer can do under Apple's limitations.

Merge Watch's privacy policy claims that most data stays on users' devices, and when notifications are sent through an internet relay, they are end-to-end encrypted. The app uses a subscription model with two tiers; unlocking all features costs $6 a month.

In a daily-use test with the iPhone switched off, results were mixed. Merge Watch does not require the Apple Watch to be connected to the internet and delivers notifications primarily through Bluetooth. However, the app sometimes failed to nudge the reviewer's wrist, requiring a manual launch on the Apple Watch to work again. When the app eventually woke from sleep, the watch could ping a dozen times at once. The reviewer noticed slightly higher power consumption on the Apple Watch, which the review attributes to the app running continuously in the background to fetch notifications. The test used watchOS 27 on an Apple Watch Series 10 connected to a OnePlus 15 running Android 16. OxygenOS is known for aggressively pausing background activities to preserve battery life, and even with battery optimization disabled for Merge Watch, occasional notification delays could not be eliminated.

Previously, workarounds to use an Apple Watch with Android required the cellular version of the Apple Watch, leaving users with two devices that did not talk to each other. Merge Watch aims to bridge that gap for people who have moved to Android but want to keep using their Apple Watch.