What Merge makes possible
Apple Watch was designed for iPhone. Merge is the app that opens it up to Android. Install Merge on your Apple Watch and your Android phone, complete a one-time pairing, and the watch connects permanently to your Android phone. From that point on, it works like a proper smartwatch for Android - not a workaround, not a limited mode.
Notifications from every app on your Android phone arrive on the watch in real time. You control which apps push alerts and which notification types come through per app. Message replies and quick actions are available from the watch. Music playing on your Android phone is controllable from your wrist. Find My works in both directions - ring the phone from the watch, or the watch from the phone.
Health sync to Google Fit
Health data syncs from Apple Watch to Google Fit and Health Connect: workouts, heart rate, sleep, steps, and calories all transfer automatically. ECG readings sync to the Merge app on your Android phone, so that history lives on the platform you're actually using.
The Apple Watch sensors - heart rate, accelerometer, gyroscope, altimeter - keep working exactly as they do on iPhone. The data just goes to Android instead.
The one-time iPhone step
Apple Watch requires an iPhone for its initial activation. This is an Apple requirement, not a Merge one — every Apple Watch needs an iPhone to get started. You only need the iPhone once. Borrow one if you don't own one, run through the setup in the Watch app, and return it. The watch doesn't need the iPhone again.
- Install Merge on your Apple Watch from the App Store.
- Install Merge on your Android phone from Google Play.
Pair through the Merge apps and the Apple Watch stays permanently connected to your Android phone. Full setup: How to connect Apple Watch to Android.
Which Apple Watch models work
Every Apple Watch from Series 4 onward is supported - Series 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, SE (both generations), Ultra, and Ultra 2. If you already own an Apple Watch and an Android phone, you almost certainly have a supported combination.
The features available through Merge are the same across all supported models, with one exception: ECG sync requires a watch model that has ECG hardware, which starts with Series 4.
The Merge connection
The connection between Apple Watch and your Android phone through Merge is end-to-end encrypted. It works over Bluetooth when the devices are nearby and continues over the internet when they're apart — so leaving your phone in another room doesn't break the link.
Smart Hotspot manages the phone's hotspot automatically when the watch moves away from Wi-Fi, keeping the watch online without any manual steps. Merge is the only app that connects Apple Watch to Android.
