Roger Fingas
Samsung will allegedly port a number of apps to iOS later this year as it tries to increase the cross-platform appeal of its devices, including speakers, tablets, and fitness trackers.
A version of Gear Fit Manager, for instance, will let people pair a Gear Fit with an iPhone, sources explained to SamMobile. Accordingly, Samsung is also said to be working on an iPhone version of S Health, which logs things like activity, food, and sleep. The app normally comes preinstalled on Samsung phones.
Going a step further, the company may also release an app for its Level audio accessories, and two apps — Remote Control and Family Square — for the Galaxy View. The View is a deliberately oversized tablet that behaves like a streaming-based portable TV.
Samsung already has a Smart Camera app for iOS that connects with some of its compact cameras, but the company is reportedly planning an update that might bring a new interface. In its current form the app can copy images and videos, as well as handle some remote control functions, including serving as a viewfinder.
Samsung recently announced that it would add iOS support to its Gear S2 smartwatch. By comparison, Apple has virtually no presence on Samsung devices — the Apple Watch is only compatible with iPhones for example, and there are only two Apple-made Android apps — Apple Music and Move to iOS.
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22 Comments
Wouldn't touch Samsung or its apps with a 10 foot pole.
Well there are a bunch of rip-off apps in the App Store, what's a few more?
There's ZERO chance that I'll ever own anything with a Samsung logo on it... corporate thievery should not be tolerated.
Google is the true corporate thief. Samsung never had a corporate executive sit in on the iPhone/iOS development process like Eric Schmidt of Google did.
When Google released Android, if my recollection is correct, it was first released on Motorola's Droid. And that phone was essentially a clone of the iPhone.
Samsung was an opportunist, but can they really be blamed? Sony, HTC, LG, Motorola, Xiaomi and Huawei also produce Android based clones.
Samsung makes nice products. Their DRAM and flash memory products are top notch. They as a company would actually like to abandon Android all together with Tizen now being used in all of their wearables. Tying those wearables into iOS is a good thing. Samsung is following a proprietary vertically integrated model like Apple as opposed to the commodity model of Intel and Google.
Samsung and LG are going to produce components for Apple. While TSMC is able to build CPUs, they don't build displays and they don't build memory.
At least Samsung is moving away from Android unlike the rest of the handset makers. I actually like many of Samsung's products including the chip and memory inside of my iPhone 6S. Google on the other hand is a totally different story.
Hell will freeze over before I load any apps from Samsung onto my iOS devices. BTW, I will also never purchase any product from Samsung.