How to Use the Galaxy Gear on Other Android Devices (Video)

One of the biggest complaints about the Samsung Galaxy Gear is the fact that it only works with the select devices that Samsung has allowed it to work for (and there aren’t many of them). There is a way to fix this, and get a lot more functionality out of your Galaxy Gear in the meantime, though. If you root the Gear (aka gain administrative rights on the device to be allow to change whatever we want) and flash a custom ROM on it (aka flash a new version of the firmware on it), you can then use it like any other Bluetooth device and connect to any other Bluetooth device that supports Bluetooth 4.0. While this won’t make Gear Manager work (the app that Samsung uses to send the device notifications, etc.), it will allow it to still control music, make phone calls, and more.

If this sounds like something you’d like to try, here’s how to use the Galaxy Gear on other Android devices.

I. Before You Begin

1. The device you want to pair it with must support Bluetooth 4.0 LE and must be on Android 4.3 or above.

II. Root the Galaxy Gear

1. Head to our How to Root the Galaxy Gear (Video) procedure, finish it, and then return here to continue.

III. Flash a Custom ROM on the Galaxy Gear

1. Head to our How to Flash a Custom ROM on the Samsung Galaxy Gear (Video) procedure, finish it, then return here to continue.

IV. Connect Your Device to the Gear

1. On your phone, go to Settings > Bluetooth.

2. Turn on Bluetooth.

3. On the Galaxy Gear, open the App Drawer.

4. Go to Settings > Bluetooth.

5. Turn on Bluetooth.

6. On the phone, tap the Galaxy Gear as it appears under available devices.

7. Tap Pair on both devices.

V. Enable Internet Sharing from Your Device (Optional)

1. On the phone, go to Settings > More > Tethering and Portable Hotspot.

2. Turn on Bluetooth tethering.

3. On the Galaxy Gear, open the App Drawer.

4. Go to Settings > Bluetooth.

5. Tap on the settings icon to the right of your phone’s name under Paired Devices.

6. Under Profiles, turn on Internet Access. If it stays checked, it’s connected.

VI. Install Other Bluetooth Apps to Get More Functionality

1. Head to the Play Store and search for Bluetooth apps on the Galaxy Gear and your phone to add even more functionality.

21 thoughts on “How to Use the Galaxy Gear on Other Android Devices (Video)”

  1. Can you please do some follow up articles on hacking the gear? So the notifications aren’t on the phone but if I put a custom launcher on there won’t there be notifications straight on the gear? I got a note 3 to get the gear but I don’t like the phone and I’m thinking about getting a nexus 5 instead. But I want the gear

  2. “6. Under Profiles, turn on Internet Access. If it stays checked, it’s connected”

    I managed to get this menu on the screen of the Gear, with the little check box visible. However, I can’t check this little box. It stays greyed and seems inaccessible. Ech time I hit it, the Gear says “conecting…” but then nothing happens. The Android phone itself (Oinom V9 running Android 4.2.1 kernel version 3.4.5) is well in BT sharing internet connection mode and it runs BT version 4.2.1- eng.zhangguo.1383893057. Any idea where to turn to to resolve this very last issue please ?

    1. I found the answer to my own question ! there is an extra step and setting on the phone to make sure that you don’t block incoming request for internet connection from the notification messages. It just works !! Thanks guys, great tutorial.

  3. i follow all the step and finally ,i installed the rom and can paired with my LG phone, but the thing is non of the function working….. only paired.

    1. I explain this in the first paragraph of this article. This doesn’t get gear manager to work it just allows you to use it as a Bluetooth device or as its own internet connected device since it’ll be a full Android device after this.

  4. I did all the steps correctly but the watch didn’t into recovery and it just reset the whole watch and now the watch wont pair at all

    1. This is a very old video. Since then the newer gear devices will just work with a non-Samsung phone normally. Just download Galaxy Wearable from the App Store and follow the steps in it to connect to the watch.

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