In January, Samsung announced plans to add iOS support to its Gear S2 Smart Watch, and it appears work on an iOS app is well underway. Screenshots of a beta Gear S2 app designed for iOS devices have been shared on the XDA forums, giving us a first look at the design of the app and the features that will be available.
XDA forum members have also been able to download the test app and have provided details on its functionality. The Gear S2 iOS app will be able to deliver notifications to the smart watch, and it will be able to install and manage apps from the Gear store on the device. According to testers, while the Gear S2 can receive notifications from the iPhone, replies are not currently possible, and the Samsung Gear S2 Lite app has to be running in the background for the connection between the watch and the app to be maintained.
The app appears to be in the developmental stages and Samsung has given no hints on when it plans to introduce a finished iOS app for the Gear S2. When the news was first announced, Samsung's only timeline was "later in the year."
Currently, the Gear S2, which runs the Samsung Tizen operating system, is only compatible with Samsung smartphones, but when the iOS app is released, the Gear S2 will be able to compete with the Apple Watch on Apple's own platform.
Introduced in August of 2015, the Gear S2 is Samsung's latest smart watch and the first to ship with a round display. While the first versions of the Gear S2 were originally only available in black or silver with matching rubber bands, Samsung introduced higher-end 18-karat rose gold and platinum plated versions to better compete with the more expensive Apple Watch models.
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code.
In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak.
As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas.
We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features.
Transfer to Android
Apple is making it simpler...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. iOS 26.2 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
I wonder if this is forewarning of the discontinuation of the Apple Watch.
It may be that Apple will now promote the Samsung Gear S2. It's certainly a much better-looking watch than the Apple Watch, sad to say.
You. Cannot. Be. Serious.
This makes about as much logic as saying that since the HTC 10 supports Apple AirPlay, that maybe it's a forewarning of the discontinuation of the iPhone.
I have the 3G version of this watch with AT&T. I gotta say, I love it way more than my Apple watch. I can run with it and not miss a call (and dont have to bring my phone). It has GPS so it maps my runs accurately etc. This watch + AT&T number sync is pretty awesome.
