Apple has been sued for not playing nice with others, and its Watches are being presented as an example by the US government and a coalition of 16 states that have filed the antitrust lawsuit. While it’s true that Apple Watches only work with iPhones, it’s not like Apple never wondered about making them work with Android phones. It apparently spent years to make Apple Watches work with Android but ultimately scrapped the project, says Apple in reply to DoJ’s accusations.
In the lawsuit, the Department of Justice alleges that the iPhones maker has made it increasingly difficult for users to break free from its ecosystem, stating, “Apple’s smartwatch—Apple Watch—is only compatible with the iPhone. So, if Apple can steer a user towards buying an Apple Watch, it becomes more costly for that user to purchase a different kind of smartphone because doing so requires the user to abandon their costly Apple Watch and purchase a new, Android-compatible smartwatch.”
However, Apple, as one would expect, has to say otherwise. The iPhone maker, in a response to the government accusations, told the 9to5Mac that it had a team working on bringing the Apple Watch to Android phones. However, it couldn’t do so because it determined that an Apple Watch with Android “wasn’t doable” because of “technical limitations,” so Apple scrapped the project.
This revelation adds a new layer to a 2023 report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who first shed light on the existence of Project Fennel.
Gurman, in his report, suggested that Apple engineers, a part of a covert “Project Fennel,” worked “deeply” to make the Watch and Health app work with Android phones. This group toiled away for three years before ultimately canceling the project.
However, Gurman’s report hinted at “business considerations” rather than technical limitations as the reason behind the project’s cancellation. “Someone with knowledge of the decision,” stated to Bloomberg, “If you gave up the watch to Android, you would dilute the value of the watch to the iPhone.”
It is worth noting that Apple is not alone in limiting device compatibility within its ecosystem. Samsung, which also makes smartphones and smartwatches, also restricts its Galaxy Watch to Android phones, with some features exclusively available to Samsung phones.
Apple has denied the US DoJ‘s accusation, which also accuses the iPhone maker of blocking “super apps” and intentionally making messaging less functional between iPhones and Android, asserting that the lawsuit is “wrong on the facts and the law,” and maintains that its ‘walled garden’ approach, where devices work seamlessly within its ecosystem, is a key selling point for its products.
In the lawsuit, the Department of Justice alleges that the iPhones maker has made it increasingly difficult for users to break free from its ecosystem, stating, “Apple’s smartwatch—Apple Watch—is only compatible with the iPhone. So, if Apple can steer a user towards buying an Apple Watch, it becomes more costly for that user to purchase a different kind of smartphone because doing so requires the user to abandon their costly Apple Watch and purchase a new, Android-compatible smartwatch.”
However, Apple, as one would expect, has to say otherwise. The iPhone maker, in a response to the government accusations, told the 9to5Mac that it had a team working on bringing the Apple Watch to Android phones. However, it couldn’t do so because it determined that an Apple Watch with Android “wasn’t doable” because of “technical limitations,” so Apple scrapped the project.
This revelation adds a new layer to a 2023 report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who first shed light on the existence of Project Fennel.
Gurman, in his report, suggested that Apple engineers, a part of a covert “Project Fennel,” worked “deeply” to make the Watch and Health app work with Android phones. This group toiled away for three years before ultimately canceling the project.
However, Gurman’s report hinted at “business considerations” rather than technical limitations as the reason behind the project’s cancellation. “Someone with knowledge of the decision,” stated to Bloomberg, “If you gave up the watch to Android, you would dilute the value of the watch to the iPhone.”
It is worth noting that Apple is not alone in limiting device compatibility within its ecosystem. Samsung, which also makes smartphones and smartwatches, also restricts its Galaxy Watch to Android phones, with some features exclusively available to Samsung phones.
Apple has denied the US DoJ‘s accusation, which also accuses the iPhone maker of blocking “super apps” and intentionally making messaging less functional between iPhones and Android, asserting that the lawsuit is “wrong on the facts and the law,” and maintains that its ‘walled garden’ approach, where devices work seamlessly within its ecosystem, is a key selling point for its products.