Samsung made a big mistake with the Galaxy Ring

By Christine Romero-Chan Published July 27, 2024

One of Samsung’s biggest new releases this year is the Galaxy Ring. Not only is the Galaxy Ring a brand new product for the company, but it also makes Samsung the first smartphone brand to enter the smart ring market, which has so far been dominated by smaller companies like Oura.

The Galaxy Ring is a super compact wearable that goes on your finger. As you wear it, it tracks your health metrics like heart rate and sleep, and it also uses AI algorithms to give you things like an Energy Score and a Sleep Score.

You don’t necessarily need a Samsung Galaxy smartphone to use the Galaxy Ring, as it works with any Android phone with Samsung Health installed. But if you use an iPhone? Well, you’re out of luck entirely, as the Galaxy Ring simply is not iOS-compatible. And if you ask me, it’s the Galaxy Ring’s biggest mistake.

I primarily use an iPhone 15 Pro, and for the past several years, I’ve been using an Oura Ring as well (I also spent some time with the Evie Ring). Beyond those two options, the smart ring world also includes the Circular Ring Slim, Ultrahuman Ring Air, RingConn Smart Ring, and more.

With the exception of the Evie Ring, all of the rings I’ve mentioned work on both iOS and Android. And even in the case of the Evie Ring, it’s confirmed that it will get an Android app later on down the road.

However, the thing about the Galaxy Ring is that it seems Samsung has no plans to make it compatible with iOS, and I just have to wonder why?

A smart ring is a wearable that has no screen. So unlike a smartwatch, it isn’t running software like a Galaxy Watch 7 with Wear OS. It makes sense why Samsung and Apple make their smartwatches only compatible with their respective platforms, but smart rings? They just use a Bluetooth connection to pair with your phone — there’s no proprietary software involved on the ring itself.

By arbitrarily excluding iPhone users, Samsung is also excluding half of the potential customer base for the Galaxy Ring. Again, I’ve been using the Oura Ring for several years now, and I would love to check out the Galaxy Ring. But its lack of iOS compatibility makes it a lot less appealing, so I have no choice but to stick with Oura.

Although it’s probably much easier said than done, it makes me wonder what’s really stopping Samsung from making a Samsung Health app for iOS? After all, Google’s Fitbit app is still on the App Store, which means wearables like the Fitbit Charge 6 work with iOS and Android without issue. It makes sense why a Galaxy Watch Ultra doesn’t work with an iPhone, but the Galaxy Ring? I’m not buying it. Furthermore, if an iPhone user likes the Galaxy Ring enough, then they could eventually check out other Samsung products down the line and maybe even switch to a Samsung phone, smartwatch, etc.

Not giving iPhone users the option to try the Galaxy Ring without an Android phone just misses the mark for me. This could have been an opportunity to convince iPhone users that the grass could be greener, but alas, that’s not the case.

Of course, if Apple were to ever make an Apple Ring, I doubt that Apple would make it available for Android users to try. After all, both Apple and Samsung have their own loyal users within their respective walled gardens and ecosystems at this point.

When we have such closed ecosystems, where even accessories like a smart ring can only work on a specific platform, consumers lose.