Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 may have caused a stir by ditching Tizen for Google's revamped WearOS, but the change comes with a serious caveat for non-Samsung owners. This is especially true if you use an iPhone.

Samsung admitted to Ars Technica that the Galaxy Watch 4 cannot be paired with the iPhone 12 or other iOS devices. It also stated that some health tracking features are unique to Samsung and will not work with other Android devices.

The Galaxy Watch 4 is now running an improved version called One UI Watch 3, not a pure version of the software, even though it is running on Google's Wear OS 3. This may help explain Watch 4's incompatibility issues, especially since previous Tizen-powered Galaxy Watch models were able to connect to the iPhone.

Then again, this is a new version of Wear OS, so it is also possible that Wear OS 3 in general is incompatible with iOS. Until more watches are released with the revamped software, we will not know for sure. Fortunately, existing Galaxy Watches will maintain the ability to pair with iOS devices.

Samsung imposed similar restrictions on previous Galaxy Watches, so the loss of functionality on Android is not a very confusing move. This time, if you want to use ECG tracking, blood pressure monitoring, and a body composition monitor, you will need to pair the Galaxy Watch 4 with your Samsung phone.

Of course, all of this means that Wear OS 3 is off to a difficult start. Android smartwatches have struggled to gain popularity for years, and certainly none have been as successful as the Apple Watch. Wear OS is not as consistently updated as Apple's watchOS. It doesn't help that it hasn't been updated as consistently, and performance has suffered as a result.

However, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 is an improvement over previous Wear OS watches, so much so that an ongoing review declared it "the first Wear OS smartwatch worth paying for."

It does not work with iOS devices, and some Android The fact that it doesn't work well with smartphones may not be good news for those outside the Samsung ecosystem, but if you have a Galaxy S21 or other best Samsung phone, it's still worth checking out.