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Android Pay on Wear 2.0 Won’t Work If the Phone’s Bootloader Is Unlocked

The paired phone must have a locked bootloader

Feb 9, 2017 08:21 GMT  ·  By
Android Pay on Android Wear 2.0
   Android Pay on Android Wear 2.0

Google released Android Wear 2.0 yesterday and introduced the first new smartwatches to run on the new mobile OS right out of the box. The list of smartwatches to receive the new version was also released.

Google has just revealed for Android Police that smartphones with unlocked bootloader will restrict Android Pay on Android Wear 2.0. Android Pay was designed to function independently on a smartwatch, while the smartphone works as a simple data connector for Bluetooth. Android Wear 2.0 does allow users to install standalone apps, but in order to add cards to Android Pay, users would need to access the mobile payment app on their phones.

The smartphone is important in the whole setup process for Android Pay, which is why Google was able to restrict the mobile payment service if the phone’s bootloader is unlocked. This doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise, but many smartwatch users will find this inconvenient.

Cards can’t be added, setup will fail

Many owners of Android-running smartphones choose to unlock the bootloader in order to gain permanent root access to a device. A locked bootloader prevents users from installing other ROMs or tampering with the smartphone in any way.

Unlocking the bootloader on your phone could lead to void of warranty, but that depends on smartphone manufacturer and carrier. Smartphone makers like OnePlus are more flexible when it comes to users performing such a procedure on phones.

Android Pay on smartphones with unlocked bootloader won’t allow users to add a card and will display a notification saying that the device isn’t secure. Even if the connected Wear device has a locked bootloader, the phone’s status is enough to cause an issue.

Google hasn't said if the limitation will be permanent, but added that payment networks are very strict when it comes to data security and an unlocked bootloader could represent a vulnerability for the user. To fix the limitation, users simply need to re-lock the bootloader, but that would result in a complete wipe out of data on the device.