A developer has spotted some “iOS related” code inside version 4.4 of Google’s Android Wear operating system which suggests the company is working on making the platform co-operate with iOS devices.
The dev, who goes by the name of MohammadAG, discovered the code while he was putting together a DIY workaround which Android Wear users could use to get their device to sync with iOS hardware. He Tweeted “#AndroidWear 4.4W (didn’t check 5.0) contains iOS related code(!), class name AncsHandler. I guess that confirms they’re working on it.”
The fact that Google is working on iOS compatibility doesn’t mean it will ever officially see the light of day, however.
Google has dropped hints about offering cross-platform compatibility before. Last year Android Wear’s Product Manager, Jeff Chang, stated that he’d like to see more people able to use the platform, but conceded that the ball wasn’t entirely in Google’s court, owing to API constraints and decisions made by other parties.
For full Android Wear compatibility on iOS, Apple would have to be on-board, and the chances of that happening, when the company’s own Apple Watch is on the verge of hitting the streets, are slim to none. Apple hasn’t been known to play nice and open in the past when it hasn’t had a major competing product on the horizon, but with a dog in the fight it would be almost inconceivable.
As Pebble has shown however, offering people options is something they appreciate, so we might yet get to see a world where an Android Wear watch shakes hands and plays nice with an iPhone, and vice-versa, but it’s a big ‘might’.
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