Can you Use an Apple Watch Series 2 or 3 standalone with an Android Device?

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@bees wrote:

YES...You Can use an Apple Watch Series 2 or 3 standalone with an Android Device!

 

Here are the steps that I used (it is NOT necessary to initially have a SIM in your iPhone when setting up. I am using a Series 3 GPS Only AW with an older iPhone 6+ on iOS 11):

You MUST Own an iPhone [for Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) or earlier models of Apple Watch, you need an iPhone 5s or later with the latest iOS] in addition to your Android device and have Hotspot functionality on your cellular plan.
1) Turn on the Hotspot on your Android device (I'm using a Note 8).
2) Connect your iPhone’s wifi to the Android phone's Hotspot.
3) Your Apple Watch will access the internet using the wifi hotspot connection on your iPhone.
4) Now that you have “established” an authorized/known (can’t think of the word Apple uses) wifi connection you can leave the iPhone at home and either leave the hotspot running or turn it on when you need updates to certain apps on your watch!
5) Go into messages on your iPhone (especially when the SIM is NOT in it) and be sure you have an email address that is checked off to use with iMessage. I used iMessage seamlessly - with voice text entry…too small to type (of course there is no trail of the SMSs on your Android phone).

My weather updates, mail comes in and I can respond. Haven’t tried anything else except Siri who told me the time but couldn’t answer a couple of questions about Apple Watch (just referred me to open the web on the iPhone).

Surprisingly, I didn't get much of a hit on the battery either in my Note 8 or on the Apple Watch when I left the Hotspot on. Not sure how much data was used but I get a 10GB/month hotspot on my AT&T plan so doubt I'll eat that up before the next bill comes out.

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LOL yeah thats not a work around thats just a hot mess.  You have always been able to use the apple watch with wifi once its setup in standalone its just never been worth it since android wear 2.0 works better with android.  This is coming from a guy who said he never would use a iPhone and is using a iphone 8+ and iw 3 for a 2 month test for a company I cant name.

C'mon, it's not a hot mess. You do the process once and it works. It's not for everyone but someone looking for a solution like this might find it useful. Of course Android Wear devices work 100% better with an Android device and can work with Apple (I have no experience trying with an iphone).
Some people live in Both the Android and Apple world and cannot afford to buy both types of watches. In my case the Android devices are so large. Because I'm geeky I do have a Gear S2 but the Apple Watch 38mm is a much better fit on my wrist.
I didn't know the process had worked on all prior AWs...gee thanks for that information.