FileManager

files on the watch · Wear OS + Android

FileManager is a file browser that lives on the watch rather than reaching back to the phone for everything. Files you have sent over open on the wrist — a PDF, a photo, a text file, a video — with the phone anywhere.

  • Runs without the phone
  • Phone ↔ watch transfer
  • No account, no server

The FileManager tile

On the wrist

Browse, search and open files on the watch — PDFs, text, images, video and audio.

On the phone

Send files over to the watch, and pull back what is on it.

How it works

Three steps, and none of them is a settings screen.

  1. Step 1

    On the phone, pick the files you want on your wrist and send them across.

  2. Step 2

    The watch receives them in the background and files them into its own storage.

  3. Step 3

    Open one on the watch. PDFs, text, images, video and audio all have a viewer built in.

What it does

Everything FileManager is, in full.

  • Viewers, not just a list

    A PDF, a text file, an image, a video and an audio track each open in a reader made for a round screen, instead of bouncing you to the phone.

  • Transfer both ways

    The phone sends files to the watch and takes them back again. Large transfers run over your local network, so they are not limited to Bluetooth speed.

  • The watch app stands alone

    It is declared standalone, so the file browser, the search and every viewer work with the phone switched off. The phone is only needed to move files.

Permissions

What it asks for, and why.

Files stay on your phone and your watch. A transfer goes straight from one device to the other over your own network — there is no server in the middle, no account, and no analytics. Read the privacy policy.

Photos, video and audio
Reads the files on the phone that you choose to send to the watch. It never scans anything you have not picked.
Local network
Carries a large transfer directly between your phone and your watch over your own wifi, instead of over Bluetooth.
Notifications
Shows the progress of a transfer while it runs in the background.

What you need

Two devices, no account.

Watch
Wear OS 4.0 or newer
Phone
Android 10 or newer
Pairing
Two of three run standalone
Data
Your files never leave your devices

More

The other apps.