Apple blames technical limitations for Apple Watch Android support failure — internal company emails disagree

Apple recently got itself into trouble with the US Department of Justice over claims of monopoly practices, which we covered in greater depth here, and one of the issues raised in the federal lawsuit pertains to Apple's lack of support for third-party smartwatches. This lack of support pushes customers towards the Apple Watch, which, in turn, is not compatible at all with Android.

In a response to the lawsuit [PDF] (via 9to5Mac), Apple said that it had worked for three years to attempt to bring Android support to the Apple Watch but had failed due to technical limitations. While more information about this may be uncovered during the course of the lawsuit, it's difficult to know exactly what technical limitations Apple ran into. Other evidence presented in the lawsuit and in previous reports points to an intentional desire to skip Android support for the Apple Watch in order to protect Apple's legendary walled garden.

There were rumours floating around towards the end of last year that claimed Apple was working on compatibility with Android for the Apple Watch, but ultimately decided against it in order to protect its ecosystem and iPhone sales.

In fact, the DOJ lawsuit quotes a 2019 email in which Apple's Vice President of Product Marketing said the Apple Watch “may help prevent iPhone customers from switching.” It also claims, “Apple also recognizes that making Apple Watch compatible with Android would 'remove an iPhone differentiator.'”

Apple's lack of support for third-party smartwatches has even seemingly discouraged companies like Google and Samsung from supporting Apple iOS devices in recent smartwatches at all.

If you're in the market for a smartwatch, check out the Garmin Fenix 7X Pro Sapphire Solar on Amazon, or check out the budget-friendly Xiaomi Watch S1 Active on Amazon.