Samsung moved Galaxy Watch to Wear OS in 2021 - co-developed with Google - and in doing so ended native iPhone support. The Watch 4's standout hardware arrived at the same time: the BioActive Sensor, a single chip combining optical heart rate and body composition sensors in one package. Merge brings back the iPhone connection that the platform switch removed: pair Watch 4 to your iPhone for notifications, call management, and Apple Health sync.
What Merge connects to your iPhone
Once paired through Merge, the Galaxy Watch 4 becomes a real wrist extension for your iPhone. Every iPhone notification - Messages, WhatsApp, Mail, Instagram, and any app you choose - arrives on the watch in real time and can be dismissed from the watch. You control exactly which apps forward alerts, tuning the stream per app so your wrist only buzzes for what matters.
Phone calls ring on the watch. When a call comes in, pick it up and talk directly from your wrist - no need to reach for your phone. iPhone contacts sync to the watch so you can see who's calling and make quick-dial decisions. Music playing on your iPhone is controllable from the watch too: skip tracks, adjust volume, pause - all without touching your phone. And when your iPhone's camera app is open, the watch acts as a remote shutter trigger.
Health data from the BioActive Sensor syncs directly to Apple Health: heart rate, steps, distance, floors climbed, calories, and workouts with GPS routes and pace all land in the Health app automatically.
First-time setup
Watch 4 was Samsung's first Wear OS Galaxy Watch, and getting the platform set up correctly matters. Samsung's recommended path uses the Galaxy Wearable app on an Android phone - it walks through Google account sign-in, Play Store configuration, and initial watch software in one connected flow. If you have an Android device available, start there to make sure the new platform is fully initialized.
Coming straight from iPhone with no Android device? The Merge iPhone app includes a built-in wireless installer that handles standalone Watch 4 activation from scratch. No borrowed phone needed - follow the in-app setup flow in Merge on your iPhone to get the watch ready.
Pairing Merge with Galaxy Watch 4
Keep your iPhone and watch within a few feet of each other throughout this process.
- On your iPhone, search the App Store for Merge Watch and install it.
- On the watch, open Play Store, search for Merge Watch, and install it.
- Open Merge on your iPhone and leave it running in the foreground.
- Open Merge on the watch and allow Bluetooth when asked.
- Your iPhone will appear in the list - tap it.
- Confirm the Bluetooth pairing prompt on both devices.
- If prompted, set up your Merge subscription via the iPhone app.
- Grant notification and health permissions on both devices when asked.
Samsung's Sleeping Apps feature is a battery optimizer that identifies apps not in active use and terminates their background processes to conserve power - silently, with no notification to the user. Because Merge runs in the background to maintain the connection, it's a target. Go to Settings - Battery - More battery settings - Sleeping apps on the watch and remove Merge from the list if it appears there.
Day-to-day with iPhone
With Merge running, the Watch 4 covers the daily routine well. Every notification reaches your wrist on time, calls come through without a phone in hand, and the full health picture - heart rate, steps, workouts with routes, and more - builds automatically in Apple Health throughout the day. The Exynos W920 chip keeps navigation smooth and the 16GB of storage means you can keep a local music library on the watch for phone-free runs.
