Galaxy Gear can be used with Nexus 5, if you get a little dirty with sideloading

The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch has some awesome features, but unfortunately, Samsung decided to limit its compatibility to only Galaxy devices. And not even all Galaxy devices, just a few with Android 4.3. Not only does this limit the amount of money Samsung can make from the watch, but it also keeps people from using what could be a good product just because they like other devices.


However, the developer community has done it again. Some folks have figured out how to get the Galaxy Gear mostly working with the Nexus 5, an AOSP device with absolutely no previous support for the watch. It’s a bit of a long process involving taking APKs out of a file and installing them all manually. But once everything is installed, the Galaxy Gear will work! Everything but S-Voice and Weather will function as it should.


Strangely, this method doesn’t seem to work on many devices, but it’s been proven to work with the Nexus 5. But don’t expect it to work forever, as any changes Samsung may make to the Gear Manager app may break this compatibility, whether it was intentional or not. So don’t go buying a Galaxy Gear to use with your Nexus 5, but if you happen to have a Nexus 5 alongside a Samsung device, this will be an awesome modification for you! Hit the source link to find the full instructions and give it a shot yourself.





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