How To Unlock Apple Watch Without Iphone
Riley Boylan
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The Apple Watch needs the iPhone to be powered on and able to access the internet, plus you need to be signed into iMessages on the iPhone. The Apple Watch will relay all SMS/MMS TEXTing to the iPhone.
The Apple Watch cellular radio is a data only radio and can only access the Internet side of the cellular company's business and does phone calls over VoIP. Not having a traditional cellular radio, it cannot access the cellular SMS/MMS TEXT messaging packets.
1. To receive SMS, MMS, or push notifications from third-party apps on your cellular Apple Watch, your paired iPhone must be powered on and connected to Wi-Fi or cellular, but it doesn't need to be nearby. You also need to be signed in to iMessage on your iPhone.
LOL very rude. My cellular Apple Watch does SMS/MMS TEXT just fine but I've not tested the other items you mention because I have my 6th iPhone connected. it's not implausible it could do the other things using it's own WiFi and cellular connection to accomplish the other actions you mention.
Thank you for your response. I ran into another family that bought their kid a cellular iPhone and said they set it up without an iPhone. I am just checking the collective to validate. I am afraid you might be right though.
I have just ordered an apple watch after visiting my local Apple Store and being advised by the sales person that I didn't't need an iPhone to use the basic functions of the watch. I've carried out a bit more research and everything that I have read seems to contadict this. Can anyone confirm what I have been told is correct.
You may want to report that person that told you that lie to the store manager so that he is able to correct the situation. Having a sales person giving out that kind of erroneous information is really bad situation.
The information you have been given is completely incorrect, as other posters have pointed out. You need at least a iPhone 5 or higher running the latest IOS software to use the Apple Watch. I would cancel that order and take it up with the Apple store that told you this before you waste your money on something you will be unable to use.
I recently bought an Apple Watch SE Series 2, but I like to use devices as a standalone product and not relying on other devices. Thus, I put my Apple Watch on Airplane mode and disconnected it from my iPhone. I really only care about the Activity and Workout apps to track my fitness, in terms of calories burned and steps taken. Will I be able to continuously use my Apple Watch without being connected to my iPhone or Wifi?
For the watch to function properly, it must be paired with an iPhone. I understand you want it to work as a standalone device, but that's not how Apple engineered Apple Watch, so it just isn't and won't function as a standalone device.
My watch is paired to my iPhone for the initial setup, but then I disabled bluetooth so it's disconnected from my iPhone. It is functioning in terms of using the fitness apps, so I don't understand what you mean by not being able to function properly. I just want to use it for the fitness features, so as long as they work while being disconnected from iPhone, then it's good for me
If it's doing what you need it to do not connected to Bluetooth and you are satisfied with it, then it seems you don't need to worry. Most users who own Apple Watch, want to make and receive phone calls, read and respond to text messages, email, listen to music and use apps on their watch. Evidently you don't have need for these things, which is fine.
I bought my kids apple watches for xmas. They are apple watch 3 GPS non cellular They both have ipads and their own apple ids but they do not have cell phones. My hope was for them to be apple to use imessage on their watches while using wifi so i can communicate with them. How can i set up their watches without them having their own iphones?
You cannot. The Apple Watch requires an iPhone for setup and usage. They are not independent devices. You cannot activate them without an iPhone, they cannot be activated with an iPad, and they will be paired to the iPhone used to activate them. You cannot activate them with your phone, as they would be receiving all of your messages. Have them use the iPads on wi-fi to communicate. You cannot use the watches. Unless you intend to get them iPhones too, I would return the Watches.
Apple sells the world's most popular smartwatch, but it's not a standalone product. If you don't have an iPhone, you might be wondering what you can do with an Apple Watch or if you can use one at all.
It's not possible to set up an Apple Watch without using an iPhone. The Watch must be paired with an iPhone to link an Apple ID. You cannot use an iPad to complete this procedure; it must be an iPhone 6s or later running at least iOS 15.
You can't use an Android device to set up an Apple Watch. The Watch is designed to be a companion device to an iPhone for much of its functionality. This is particularly true of the Wi-Fi model, though Apple also sells an Apple Watch with cellular connectivity that operates more like a standalone device.
Once you've set up your Apple Watch with cellular you can do many of the things you'd normally rely on an iPhone for, like receive text messages, take phone calls, and access functions that depend on the internet. Unfortunately, this isn't advisable due to the power drain placed on your Watch when using cellular data.
You're unlikely to receive all-day battery life if using your cellular Apple Watch away from your iPhone for prolonged periods. Wi-Fi models depend on your iPhone so you miss out on a lot of functionality when your paired iPhone is out of range. The exception here is when you're in the presence of a Wi-Fi network that you've connected to before (when your iPhone was present).
Some functions don't depend on an iPhone, particularly related to health and exercise. While wearing your Apple Watch, your steps, and active calories will be counted which means you can work on filling your Move, Exercise, and Stand rings with or without your iPhone.
Your Watch will continue to track and record your heartbeat, and you can take your heart rate with the Heart app or perform echocardiograms with the ECG app. You can use your Watch's alarm and timer, or play music that has been stored on your Watch (with paired headphones). If you sleep in your Watch your wearable will continue to monitor sleep quality.
You can also pay for items with Apple Pay or use cards stored in your Apple Wallet that are already available on your Watch. Apps like Voice Memos, Photos, Calendar, and Noise will continue to work as expected.
If you have a cellular model then the potentially life-saving fall detection feature will work (assuming you have cellular reception and battery life), but Wi-Fi models won't be able to contact emergency services without an iPhone nearby.
If you don't own an iPhone, the Apple Watch probably isn't for you. Even if you use another household member's iPhone to set the device up, this still isn't ideal since the Watch is designed to work with your own personal Apple ID and device. You'll want to save your own health data to your own account, for example.
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Hey @Bln745,
Thanks for your post. I took a look at your account and the error we are seeing on our end is 'the file has too few data points', meaning that there was insufficient data written to the activity file for our system to actually process it. This usually occurs when the watch can write neither GPS nor heart rate data to the file during the recording process.
Settings app > Health > Data Access & Devices > Strava
Heart Rate should have a green toggle to indicate that we are allowed to read this data. I have provided a screenshot of how this should look: