The Samsung Galaxy Gear is basically a tiny phone on your wrist. It already has its own apps like Snapchat and Pocket. And, if you really want, you can make it run real Android apps too.
Ron Amadeo showed off the trick over at Ars Technica and while it’s certainly impressive, it comes with a boatload of “OK by why?” The process is simple, well, for people who like to toy with Android. You just have to enable USB debugging and then side-load your apps from a computer. No Play Store downloads here, but as far as tinkering goes, this is basic stuff.
From there, you can use a Galaxy Gear basically like a tiny Android phone. Or perhaps more accurately, a tiny Android tablet with broken Wi-Fi; the Gear’s need to tether to your phone will leave online apps broken.
This just goes to show that even though the Gear isn’t running normal Android, it’s got the framework under there. But it also makes you wonder what that’s good for? Maybe with a stripped down feature-set, the Gear could have been smaller or boasted better battery life. But maybe that angle is for others to take. In the meantime, good luck getting your Candy Crush fix on that tiny tiny screen. [Ars Technica]