Apple Watch Family Setup Includes 'Apple Cash Family' to Let Kids Use Apple Pay

[MacRumors]

At today's media event, Apple announced Family Setup, a new feature coming tomorrow as part of watchOS 7 that will allow kids, elderly relatives, and others take advantage of many of the capabilities of the Apple Watch without the need for their own paired iPhone.

Compatible with Apple Watch Series 4 and later and the Apple Watch SE, Family Setup requires a cellular Apple Watch model and an active carrier plan for the watch. The primary user can then use the Watch app on their iPhone to set up an Apple Watch for another family member, managing access to various features and capabilities and receiving reports on activity.

One interesting feature of Family Setup is "Apple Cash Family," which lets a parent securely load money onto their child's Apple Watch and allows the child to then purchase items wherever Apple Pay is accepted.

With the new Apple Cash Family, parents can securely send their kids money to spend on their watch using Apple Pay. Parents can choose to receive notifications when their kids pay, and view their child’s purchases right in Wallet on their own iPhone.

Apple Cash Family helps parents give kids a limited amount of funds to spend at their discretion without needing to worry about cash that can be easily lost or stolen.

Apple Cash Family can be enabled for up to five family members, and oversight can be shared with another adult in your Family Sharing group. Parents can not only view activity and receive notifications of purchases and person-to-person payments, but also restrict access to Apple Cash balances if needed and limit who money can be sent to.

Family Setup offers other helpful tools for parents and kids, with Schooltime and Downtime features that offer controls over when and what kids can do with their Apple Watch, kid-focused Activity rings, and more. And for older adults, Family Setup helps deliver key tools like fall detection, automatic emergency calling, and health features without the need for them to have an iPhone.

Article Link: Apple Watch Family Setup Includes 'Apple Cash Family' to Let Kids Use Apple Pay

 

[GregJohn]

I have to say:

Thanks Mom!
Great doing business with you. 🙌

is an interesting response to chores LOL

not a feature I need (or even available in canada) but I’m sure helpful for many

 

[nutmac]

Previously, Apple Cash was limited to 18 years or older. NFC payment (Apple Pay) is a lot more prevalent these days, at least in the US. Thanks to COVD-19, many retailers do not accept cash these days. So Apple Cash Family is a welcome and timely addition.

This article and Apple do not confirm whether Apple Cash Family is limited to Apple Watch only. I presume it would work on kid's iPhone as well?

I hope Apple is also working on Apple Card Family.

 

[LeadingHeat]

Just FYI, this article is a bit wrong. Apple Watch Family also works if the child has an iPhone 6s or later. It doesn’t technically have to be a cellular watch as long as it’s paired with an iPhone.

edit to add sources:
- “Family Setup will be available on Wednesday, September 16, as a free software update and requires cellular models of Apple Watch Series 4 or later or Apple Watch SE running watchOS 7, paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 14.“

Apple extends the Apple Watch experience to the entire family

Family Setup in watchOS 7 brings the communication, health, fitness, and safety features of Apple Watch to kids and older family members.

www.apple.com

 

[X5-452]

$20?!!! Wow! I‘m a Millennial and I used to only get a dollar for doing my chores as my weekly allowance.

That’s way beyond the rate of inflation!!

 

[QCassidy352]

Just FYI, this article is a bit wrong. Apple Watch Family also works if the child has an iPhone 6s or later. It doesn’t technically have to be a cellular watch as long as it’s paired with an iPhone.

edit to add sources:
- “Family Setup will be available on Wednesday, September 16, as a free software update and requires cellular models of Apple Watch Series 4 or later or Apple Watch SE running watchOS 7, paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 14.“

Apple extends the Apple Watch experience to the entire family

Family Setup in watchOS 7 brings the communication, health, fitness, and safety features of Apple Watch to kids and older family members.

www.apple.com

That’s not how I read it, or how I understood the keynote today. When they refer to iPhone 6s or later, they are talking about the parent‘s phone. The kid has to have a watch. To be sure, there are parental controls a parent can use for their child’s iPhone, but what was announced today requires the kid to have a watch, as I understand it.

 

[LeadingHeat]

That’s not how I read it, or how I understood the keynote today. When they refer to iPhone 6s or later, they are talking about the parent‘s phone. The kid has to have a watch. To be sure, there are parental controls a parent can use for their child’s iPhone, but what was announced today requires the kid to have a watch, as I understand it.

Yes the kid obviously needs a watch to participate in this “Apple Watch Family”. I meant that the kid can have an iPhone and this program still will work. Not that it will only work if the child doesn’t have one.

 

[cknibbs]

Eventually our kids aren’t even going to know how to pay with cash or plastic lol

 

[19callum93]

Meanwhile we’re still waiting for Apple Cash in the UK 😩

 

[applicious84]

When I was a kid...

Lol, I would have loved to have my folks instantly give me cash on my watch to buy...a bag? The whole notification when a kid pays sounds a little controlling, but I guess that's what parents are doing these days.

 

[insomniac86]

Meanwhile we’re still waiting for Apple Cash in the UK 😩

Meanwhile we’re still waiting for Apple Cash in "every other country in the world" since it's a US feature only.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

What if you dont have any kids?

 

[matrix07]

What if you dont have any kids?

Just adopt some.

 

[David.Kennedy]

I’m fighting back tears as I type this because this is somethign of a dream come true. I have three kids myself, but for their entire lives, i've never been able to shake the feeling that something was missing, it's as if there was a giant hole in my, and their lives.

This annoucnement finally, at long last, provides some relief from this omnipresent torture. It was today that I realized that the giant hole in my heart, nay, my soul, was there because my kids; my children; my own flesh and blood; could not use Apple Pay. It was almost as if they weren't even human.

Well, that all ends today. A most glorious of days. The day my kids have been waiting for sknce they day they were born.

You know, i've been critical of Apple in the past, but I see that it was me who was wrong all of these years. I've been critical of those called "fanboys" by the less enlightened, but I was wrong, Perhaps evil. I would like to apologize, for it was my own deep-seated insecurity causing causing my scorn.

I can finally say that in September of 2020, I, too, feel the love. I finally see the light, and understand what you've been saying all along. Apple truly does know what's best for me. Not just me, but my entire family. All those years worrying about how much RAM my device had. And for what? It didn't matter. It never mattered. I didn't need to concern myself with things clearly above my level of understanding. I had to live with stress and anguish for years becwuse I stubbornly refused to let go and let Apple.

Well, no more. I've committed not just myself to Apple, but my entire family too. When Apple says "buy" the only thing we'll reply is "how many?".

Of cuorse, we'll use Apple Pay to make the purchases. Everyone will use Apple Pay. Even my six month old daughter will learn to use it.

The only thing I worry about now is our cat. When will he be able to use Apple Pay? And what of my Aloe Very plant? What is it to use? Google's offering? Cash???

I won't allow it.

I can't allow it.

I will not rest, I cannot rest, until every member of my household can use use Apple Pay.

if you see my wandering the earth, trying to make sense of the world ni which I live, take my hand, look me in the eye, and tell me what I need to hear .... that I must continue. For the good of my chidlren. For the good of mankind.

My quest continues.

 

[devincentis]

That’s not how I read it, or how I understood the keynote today. When they refer to iPhone 6s or later, they are talking about the parent‘s phone. The kid has to have a watch. To be sure, there are parental controls a parent can use for their child’s iPhone, but what was announced today requires the kid to have a watch, as I understand it.

I want to know more specifically about kid mode. I have a 12 year old child without an iPhone who wants to buy an Apple Watch. Neither of us are interested in the cellular version due to monthly service fees. The way I read it, is that if she buys an Apple Watch SE GPS and I have an iPhone X running iOS 14, we can run kid mode. I hope this is accurate and I’ll be curious to learn more.

 

[David.Kennedy]

What if you dont have any kids?

You were one of the smart ones. One of the good parents. You refused to bring a child into a world we’re they could not use Apple Pay.

Consider this announcement your all-clear. Just put your thing in the thing, go forth, and multiply.

 

[B4U]

"Thanks Mom! Great doing business with you."
Is that how we raise children now? 🤔

 

[matrix07]

The way I read it, is that if she buys an Apple Watch SE GPS and I have an iPhone X running iOS 14, we can run kid mode.

I presume your kid need Watch Cellular (for the ability to track your kid at all time I suppose).

 

[patent10021]

Getting paid to do chores is a joke. That's worse than not doing chores. Kids need to learn entrepreneurialism. They can sell drinks, search for golf balls in the rough and sell them in egg-cartons, deliver newspapers, shine shoes, wash cars, create apps and integrate in-app purchases, and hundreds of other ideas.

 

[devincentis]

I presume your kid need Watch Cellular (for the ability to track your kid at all time I suppose).

I hope that’s the case, in that the non-GPS kid features still work (rather than no kid mode at all, as she doesn’t need a phone yet). She’s only 12, so going places without a family member doesn’t happen.

 

[4jasontv]

Getting paid to do chores is a joke. That's worse than not doing chores. Kids need to learn entrepreneurialism. They can sell drinks, search for gold balls in the rough and sell them in egg-cartons, deliver newspapers, shine shoes, wash cars, create apps and integrate in-app purchases, and hundreds of other ideas.

While I agree with your enthusiasm I'm not sure I would back any of those options.
Sell drinks: that was gross before covid
Search for gold balls in the rough and sell them in egg-cartons: what's to going rate for use golf-balls? google... omg
Deliver newspapers: what now?
Shine shoes: I don't know if I even own shoes that can be shined
Wash cars: I won't even use car washes that aren't touch-less
Create apps and integrate in-app purchases: unorganized crime?

 

[unknown8bit]

Right on the iOS 14 page:

Apple Cash Family.

Now you can enable Apple Cash for family members under 18. You, your family, and your friends can send money to them for allowances, birthdays, or just because. They can spend the money anywhere Apple Pay is accepted with their Apple Watch, iPhone, or iPad. It's easy to manage with parental controls.

[emphasis added]

 

[4jasontv]

Now you can enable Apple Cash for family members under 18. You, your family, and your friends can send money to them for allowances, birthdays, or just because. They can spend the money anywhere Apple Pay is accepted with their Apple Watch, iPhone, or iPad. It's easy to manage with parental controls.

[emphasis altered]

 

[David.Kennedy]

Search for gold balls in the rough and sell them in egg-cartons: what's to going rate for use golf-balls? google... omg

Wait until you see what gold balls are going for.

 

[Art Mark]

Previously, Apple Cash was limited to 18 years or older. NFC payment (Apple Pay) is a lot more prevalent these days, at least in the US. Thanks to COVD-19, many retailers do not accept cash these days. So Apple Cash Family is a welcome and timely addition.

This article and Apple do not confirm whether Apple Cash Family is limited to Apple Watch only. I presume it would work on kid's iPhone as well?

I hope Apple is also working on Apple Card Family.

Exactly what I thought when I saw that. We'd wanted to put money on my daughters iPhone via apple pay but it's impossible to do.