Google has announced that Android Wear smartwatches will now work with iPhones.

The company says Apple phones from the iPhone 5 upwards, and with iOS 8.2 or higher installed, will now work with its dedicated smartwatch operating system.

Support is rolling out from today.

iPhone users will now be able to receive call, message and app notifications to their watch, as well as use Google Now. 

There will be some limitations for iPhone users, however, and third-party apps and watch faces will not be as easily accessible as they are through the Google Play store. Developers are also likely to be limited when it comes to developing more advanced apps due to Apple's technical limitations.

Google says Android Wear for iOS currently works with the LG Watch Urbane. However it says all future Android Wear watches - from companies such as Asus, Huawei, and Motorola - will support iOS.

The Android Wear format has struggled to take off in the same way as the Apple Watch - it was estimated only 720,000 devices were sold during their first six months on the market, compared to estimates of more than 4 million sales of Apple Watches since their release in April. However it is believed sales of Apple's devices have gone into a steady decline since their strong launch.

Given the broader range of models and manufacturers of Android Wear watches - and the significantly lower price of many models - Google will surely be hoping expanding the userbase to iOS could give them the market boost they need in what is proving to be a tricky market.