The Samsung Gear Fit is a beautiful smartwatch and fitness tracker, but out of the box it’ll only work with Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets. Not to worry though – you can still get it to work with an HTC One M8, Nexus 5 or another Android 4.3+ non-Samsung device. Here’s how to do it.
1. Update your Samsung Gear Fit
First, you’ll need to get the latest firmware on your Gear Fit. You’ll need a supported Samsung phone or tablet for this, which includes 17 models like the Galaxy S3, S4, S5, Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Mega series. Simply pair the Gear Fit with your Samsung device, install the Gear Fit Manager and update the firmware.
If you don’t have a Samsung device yourself, borrow one from a friend or even your local phone shop. The process takes only ten minutes or so, so it shouldn’t be too much to ask.
2. Install two apps on your device
Next, you’ll need to install the two Gear Fit apps. Download the apps from the links below to your computer, then copy them to your device’s Downloads folder using USB.* Before you install the apps, you’ll need to enable the ‘unknown sources’ option in Settings -> Security. Then install the apps by finding them in the Downloads folder on your device.
3. Pair your Gear Fit
Once installed, run the Gear Fit Manager app and follow the on-screen instructions to pair with your Gear Fit. Then, check the Notifications section of the app and tap on the General Notifications option. A dialogue will appear to ask if you want to give the Gear Fit permissions; accept this. Then, choose which apps you’d like to receive notifications from.
4. You’re done!
And that’s it – your Gear Fit is now working on your non-Samsung phone or tablet.
Of course, there are a few limitations from this method – you’ll find that weather and location-based apps and watch faces don’t work. However, you can still get notifications, track your activity and most of the rest of the Gear Fit’s functionality.
Conclusion
Thanks for checking out the article, and enjoy your new Gear Fit experience! If you have any questions or comments, let us know on Twitter @mobilefun or in the comments below. Thanks and have a good one!
* Of course, you don’t necessarily need to copy the files over USB. You could download the APK files directly by visiting this blog page on your device, upload the files to Dropbox or Google Drive, too.