Word that Samsung’s Gear S2 smartwatch will be fully compatible with Apple’s iPhones began spreading last December. Since then, it has been a wait and see game. Now, the company has begun a beta program that will see users of the Gear S2 and the Gear Fit 2 able to pair the wearable with their iOS devices.
This will all be possible after users install a beta version of Samsung’s Gear Manager application meant for iOS devices. The beta program is said to run from yesterday (August 24th) through to September 19th. A beta sign up page is live for those interested. Just make sure your device is running iOS 8.4 and up. For those with jailbroken iOS devices, the leaked Gear Manager for iOS app has been floating around the interwebs for a while now (good luck finding it since Samsung’s R&D team has been very active in ensuring it is pulled down in the various file sharing sites it was popping up).
The choice of September 19th is rather curious, though. With the Gear S3, the Gear S2’s successor, already confirmed for launch next week at IFA 2016 in Berlin, that is around the time it is likely going on sale in various markets. That hints at one thing: the Gear S3 will be compatible with iPhones running recent versions of iOS straight out of the box.
Samsung is expected to avail the app after September 19th to all iOS users in the iTunes store.
