Having the Android XR glasses support iOS might be its best feature

Thanks to partnerships with Samsung and eyewear brands Warby Parker and Gentle Monster, Android XR smart glasses It will be available this fall, it was announced Tuesday Google I/O Developers conference. Acoustic glasses provide in-ear assistance, while in-glass displays show you the information you’re looking for directly on your lenses. But despite these notable partnerships and high-tech features, what caught my attention most was the compatibility of these glasses.

“The world’s leading electronics company, Samsung, is building innovative new devices and experiences that set the standard for the entire industry, and we’re working to bring the best of what Google has to offer to these glasses as well,” Shahram Izadi, vice president of XR at Google, said during the Google I/O keynote. “And yes, it will pair with both Android and iOS devices.”

In other words, no Android phone will be needed to operate these Android XR glasses, expanding the intended user base of these glasses to iPhone Owners.

Although the smart glasses were compatible with iOS devices, some did not fully enable all of their features in their associated iPhone apps. Furthermore, Google and Samsung devices don’t always mesh well with Apple devices; For example, smart watches like the last one Galaxy watches and Pixel watches It will not pair with iPhones at all.

Since Android XR relies heavily on twinGoogle Assistant for artificial intelligence, which can reduce the capabilities of glasses when paired with the iOS interface, as Apple relies on its own artificial intelligence called Apple intelligence.

“Empirically, layering Gemini fully through Android can tell it to do a lot,” said Scott Stein, a smart glasses expert at CNET. “On iPhones, Apple locks that down, and Gemini can’t control iOS outside of the Gemini app. So I expect it to be more like how the Meta glasses work. However, the XR Android glasses will connect to multiple Google apps using Gemini as a bridge, even on iOS, it seems.”

Meta glasses Use Meta AI and you can only access features allowed through the Meta AI iOS app. This means that when you wear the Meta glasses, you can’t use Siri or a native iOS app like iMessages, you’re limited to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

Only time will tell if this experience will be mirrored when pairing the Android XR smartglasses with iOS on the Gemini app. That time will come when the glasses are released this fall.