7/8/25, 9:44 AM Connect a watch to a phone | Wear OS | Android Developers
Connect a watch to a phone
Wear OS apps should work independently of a phone. However, if your Wear OS app
depends on a mobile app, see the following information about connecting either an
emulated watch or a physical watch to a phone.
Pair devices with a watch emulator
You can pair devices to your watch Android Virtual Device (AVD), or emulator, manually or
by using the Wear OS emulator pairing assistant.
Use the Wear OS emulator pairing assistant
Note: Your phone must run Android 11 (API level 30) or higher and have the Google Play Store installed
to use the Wear OS emulator pairing assistant. Also, make sure your Wear emulators run API level 28 or
higher to use the latest assistant features. To upgrade system images for your emulated devices, use
the SDK Manager (/studio/intro/update#sdk-manager).
The Wear OS emulator pairing assistant makes it easier to manage and connect Wear
emulators. You can pair multiple Wear devices with a single virtual or physical phone.
Android Studio also remembers and re-pairs previously paired devices when they're
launched.
To pair two devices, follow these steps:
1. If you haven't already, create a Wear emulator
(/training/wearables/get-started/creating#emulator).
2. In the Device Manager, click the overflow menu icon next to a device you want to
pair and select Pair Wearable.
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Figure 1. Overflow menu of a device that can be paired with a Wear emulator.
3. This launches the Wear OS emulator pairing assistant. If you selected Pair
Wearable on the entry for a phone, you see a list of available Wear devices. If you
started with a Wear device, you see a list of available phones. Select the device you
want to pair and click Next.
4. It might take a few minutes for Android Studio to launch and prepare the devices. If
your phone doesn't have the Wear OS companion app installed, follow the prompts
to log in to the Play Store, install it, and set it up.
5. To pair your devices in the Wear OS app on your phone, click the overflow menu and
select Pair with emulator.
After your devices are successfully paired, the Device Manager shows small icons next
to the paired devices. You can also click the overflow drop-down menu and select View
Details to see a list of paired devices.
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Figure 2. The Paired Devices tool window shows devices paired with the selected device.
Pair a phone with the watch AVD
If you want a Google account on the watch AVD for development, you can pair a phone
with the watch AVD and sync a Google account by doing the following:
1. Follow the steps to set up a phone (#setting-up-a-phone).
2. On the phone, enable Developer Options and USB Debugging.
3. Connect the phone to your computer through USB.
4. Forward the AVD's communication port to the connected phone each time the
phone is connected using this command:
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adb -d forward tcp:5601 tcp:5601
5. In the Wear OS companion app on the phone, begin the standard pairing process.
For example, on the Welcome screen, tap the Set It Up button. Alternatively, if an
existing watch already is paired, tap Add a New Watch in the upper-left menu.
6. In the Wear OS companion app on the phone, tap the overflow menu, and then tap
Pair with Emulator.
7. Tap the Settings icon.
8. Under Device Settings, tap Emulator.
9. Tap Accounts and select a Google account. Follow the steps in the wizard to sync
the account with the emulator. If necessary, type the screen-lock device password
and Google account password to start the account sync.
Connect a phone to multiple Wear devices
To connect a second Wear device to a virtual or physical phone, follow the same steps
you would for an initial pairing: locate the phone or Wear device you want to pair in the
Device Manager, click the overflow menu icon, and click Pair Wearable.
Set up a phone
This section contains information about setting up a mobile phone with a Wear OS
companion app.
Use the Android version of the companion app
On an Android phone, go to the Wear OS by Google Smartwatch
(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.wearable.app) app listing. Tap
Update to download and install the app. After installation, confirm that Auto-update is
selected for the app. See the "How to update individual Android apps automatically"
section of Update downloaded apps (https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/113412). Tap
Open to start the app.
Pair an Android phone to a watch
After you install the companion app on a phone, unpair any obsolete watch pairings, if
necessary. Then pair the phone to a newly imaged watch. To do this, complete the
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following steps:
1. On the phone, select your watch device name from the list of devices. A pairing
code displays on the phone and on the watch. Check that the codes match.
2. Tap Pair to continue the pairing process. When the watch connects to the phone, a
confirmation message displays. On the phone, a screen displays that lists the
accounts on the phone.
3. Choose a Google account to add and sync to your watch.
4. Confirm the screen lock and enter the password to start copying the account from
the phone to the watch.
5. Follow the instructions in the wizard to finish the pairing process.
Companion app for iPhones
An iOS companion app is available for phones running iOS 8.2 or higher. To install it, do
the following:
1. On your iPhone, visit the App Store and download and install the Wear OS by
Google (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/android-wear/id986496028) companion app.
2. Follow the instructions on the watch and on the phone to begin the pairing process.
For additional information, see the page about fixing setup issues with your watch
(https://support.google.com/androidwear/answer/6057772?co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS&oco=0).
Reuse code for a mobile app in a Wear OS module
You can add a module (/studio/projects/add-app-module) for a Wear OS device to your
existing project in Android Studio to let you reuse code from your mobile app.
Create a Wear OS module in your existing project
To create a Wear OS module, open your existing Android Studio project and do the
following:
1. Click File > New > New Module.
2. In the New Module window, select Wear OS Module and click Next.
3. Under Configure the new module, enter the following:
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Application/Library Name: the title of your app launcher icon for the new
module
Module Name: the name of the folder for your source code and resource files
Package Name: the namespace for the code in your module. The string is
added as the package (/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-element#package) attribute
in the module's Android manifest file (/guide/topics/manifest/manifest-intro).
Minimum SDK: the lowest version of the platform that the app module
supports. For example, select API 26: Android 8.0. This value sets the
minSdkVersion attribute in the build.gradle file, which you can edit later.
4. Click Next. You see multiple code template options. Select Blank Wear OS Activity
and then click Next.
5. In the Configure Activity window, enter or accept the default values for the
Activity Name, Layout Name, and Source Language. Click Finish.
Android Studio creates and syncs the files for the new module. Android Studio also adds
any required dependencies for Wear OS to the new module's build file. The new module
appears in the Project window on the left side of the screen. If you don't see the new
module's folder, make sure the window is displaying the Android view
(/studio/projects#ProjectFiles).
Include the following in the build.gradle file for the new Wear OS module:
In the android section, set the values for compileSdkVersion to 33 and
targetSdkVersion to 30.
Add the dependencies you need. For more information, see Declaring dependencies
(/jetpack/androidx/releases/wear#declaring_dependencies).
Sync (/studio/build#sync-files) your Android Studio project. To run the code in the new
module, see Launch the emulator and run your Wear OS app
(/training/wearables/get-started/creating#run-emulator).
Content and code samples on this page are subject to the licenses described in the Content License
(/license). Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2024-11-12 UTC.
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