AW Noob Question Part 3

[darkus]

Hey everyone, have a very quick and maybe easy question.

Im trying to get an AW8 but dont want to have all my text messages and other notifications on it. I just wanted my music and health data and time, thats it.

It seems that while I can turn off the notifications from coming in, all my texts and other data will forcibly sync onto the watch and be available (not good if I want to let someone borrow my watch for example).

BUT I had an idea. I have my old iphone thats is still on my AppleID. I've wiped all my text messages and other data from it. The iPhone is not on a cellular plan, its just wifi only at this point since its my old device.

Could I pair the AW with that old phone and have it successfully run on my AppleID, sync my health data BUT it wouldn't get my iMessages since iMessage is actually turned completely off on that phone? And it should not get my phone calls, because while its on my apple ID, it doesn't have a cellular plan.

Is this all correct thinking? Maybe someone has experience doing something like this?

 

[Howard2k]

If you lend it to someone else then you'll mix your health data and their health data together, making it all useless for both (all) of you. It's really a personal device, not a communal device.

Best bet is to go with a regular watch perhaps?

Or you each un-pair and then re-pair the watch each time you pick it up. That's pretty cumbersome but will protect all of your data etc.

 

[darkus]

If you lend it to someone else then you'll mix your health data and their health data together, making it all useless for both (all) of you. It's really a personal device, not a communal device.

Best bet is to go with a regular watch perhaps?

Or you each un-pair and then re-pair the watch each time you pick it up. That's pretty cumbersome but will protect all of your data etc.

TBH Im not to worried about the accuracy of the health data, more so I just dont want them snooping into my messages or getting my phone calls if my phone is nearby

 

[bluespark]

Don't share the Watch. Even apart from the health data, the entire point is to give you handy access to snippets of information tied to your Apple ID. The premise of the Watch is based around it being purely a personal device.

Also, you mentioned health data as something you wanted the Watch for in your original post. The data is extremely user-specific, so mixing it with another user's data would utterly destroy it -- your trends and vitals would make no sense.

 

[bricktop_at]

I have to say - in my opinion - that the way you are planning to use it, defeats its purpose. Why all that effort?

As others said before, the Apple Watch is a very personal device and sharing it is absolutely not what I would recommend.

 

[darkus]

I have to say - in my opinion - that the way you are planning to use it, defeats its purpose. Why all that effort?

As others said before, the Apple Watch is a very personal device and sharing it is absolutely not what I would recommend.

I get that and appreciate what you are saying. But different strokes for different folks and all that. I'm just wondering if that idea up above is technically feasible or if it will not actually work and messages or phone calls will somehow sneak through via my Apple ID

 

[Howard2k]

With IP Calling it will come through. I can answer a phone call from my iPad (non-cell) or from my watch (non-cell).

Un-pair and re-pair for each person, that's the best way.

 

[iStorm]

If it were me, I'd just pair it with my regular phone and use all the features it has to offer. If I want to share or let someone else use the watch, then I'd unpair from my iPhone (this creates a backup and resets the watch) and let the other person pair it to theirs so they can get the most out of it as well.

Then when they're done, unpair from their phone and restore your backup. Your music should be included in the backup.

Back up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Learn how your Apple Watch data is backed up and what the backup includes.

support.apple.com

Also worth mentioning... WatchOS requires specific versions of iOS. For AW8, it'll be running watchOS 9...so your old phone (or current one) will need to be running iOS 16 or newer.

 

[darkus]

I guess the question goes beyond just sharing of the watch. I simply dont want my messages or call history sitting on my watch, say in the event of a loss. I know its probably all secured behind encryption and a passcode, but I also like the peace of mind knowing that If I lost the AW, I just loss a 400$ device rather than potentially alot more personal data

 

[Howard2k]

I guess the question goes beyond just sharing of the watch. I simply dont want my messages or call history sitting on my watch, say in the event of a loss. I know its probably all secured behind encryption and a passcode, but I also like the peace of mind knowing that If I lost the AW, I just loss a 400$ device rather than potentially alot more personal data

You should 100% have a passcode on the watch. It would be madness not to. That's a totally trivial issue.

 

[iStorm]

I guess the question goes beyond just sharing of the watch. I simply dont want my messages or call history sitting on my watch, say in the event of a loss. I know its probably all secured behind encryption and a passcode, but I also like the peace of mind knowing that If I lost the AW, I just loss a 400$ device rather than potentially alot more personal data

You can set the watch to erase its data itself after 10 unsuccessful unlock attempts.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I don’t understand, if you just want your music and it to tell the time, why on earth do you need an Apple Watch Series 8?
That’s like $330 at the cheapest, why not get a used Series 5 or SE or something.
Either way, if you just want simple security, SMS messages and phone calls are already not secure.
Also, who on earth is going to be picking up your Apple Watch? It’s on your wrist, if someone’s grabbing your Apple Watch, you should be able to stop them.
And if this person somehow successfully takes the Apple Watch off your wrist… It automatically locks itself with a passcode.
And if that’s not good enough, you can wipe it via your iPhone.

 

[darkus]

This is all great, but I’m more wondering if anyone knows the answer to the original question?

 

[bricktop_at]

This is all great, but I’m more wondering if anyone knows the answer to the original question?

Probably not… but you could simply buy one, try it and return it if it doesn’t do what you want.

In any case: If you’re that worried about losing your personal data, you also shouldn’t carry a phone with you. The Watch can (and SHOULD) be set up with a passcode, so it‘s at least as safe/unsafe as your iPhone.

Worried that the wife could read the messages from your girlfriend when she borrows your watch? 😜

 

[TechnoMonk]

This is all great, but I’m more wondering if anyone knows the answer to the original question?

It’s like buying a sophisticated CNC machine to hammer the nails by stripping all the functionality.
AW8 is an overkill and waste of money. Experiment with a cheaper watch.

 

[BenGoren]

What you’re asking for is very, very, very far off the beaten path, in territory that’s antithetical to the watch’s design goals and the way that basically everybody uses it.

Which is another way of saying that maybe you can do what you want, but nobody knows for certain. At absolute best you’ll have to confirm for yourself.

I would close by suggesting that your security concerns are unrealistic. If a ten-digit passcode on the watch plus the auto-wipe after so many failed unlock attempts isn’t sufficient security for you, then no consumer electronics device is secure enough. Either your security requirements are unrealistic (my guess), or whatever you’re currently doing to protect yourself is grossly insufficient.

b&

 

[bluespark]

I think we've all answered your question, but to be clear, the Watch is tied to your iCloud account. If you pair it with a different phone, it's still tied to your iCloud account. If you turn off notifications for texts, texts within the Messages app on your watch will still be tied to your iCloud account, and therefore visible to the user. Any workaround approach would be extremely cumbersome and probably would involve pairing it to a different phone on a different iCloud account -- in essence, a different user.

 

[darkus]

I think we've all answered your question, but to be clear, the Watch is tied to your iCloud account. If you pair it with a different phone, it's still tied to your iCloud account. If you turn off notifications for texts, texts within the Messages app on your watch will still be tied to your iCloud account, and therefore visible to the user. Any workaround approach would be extremely cumbersome and probably would involve pairing it to a different phone on a different iCloud account -- in essence, a different user.

Well to be fair, nobody has actually answered the questions. They answered other questions, but not the ones I've asked

But if the answer is that I just have to try and see. Then I guess thats fair enough, I'm more surprised that others haven't tried this yet. Looks like Apple still has room to grow its marketshare.... ALOT

I was just thinking that if the base phone that the AW is paired to doesnt have any messages on it, how could the AW have the messages

 

[TechnoMonk]

Well to be fair, nobody has actually answered the questions. They answered other questions, but not the ones I've asked

But if the answer is that I just have to try and see. Then I guess thats fair enough, I'm more surprised that others haven't tried this yet. Looks like Apple still has room to grow its marketshare.... ALOT

They answered your question, just not the answer you wanted from the forum. Buy a cheap 100-150 watch from Garmin or other vendors. They do basic health data and music with out linking to your cloud account.

 

[darkus]

They answered your question, just not the answer you wanted from the forum. Buy a cheap 100-150 watch from Garmin or other vendors. They do basic health data and music with out linking to your cloud account.

Show me where the answer was (not being facetious here). The majority of answers I got were "you are stupid to even think of doing that". Which isn't a reasonable answer to a question, something more along the lines of what a zealot would say.

BUT TBH, nobody knowing is fair enough, like I said, Im just surprised nobody has tried this yet. I don't mind guinea pigging it. Will report back

 

[jorikc]

I think your idea might actually work. Now, I also wouldn't recommend it, but I think Messages on Watch sync with the iPhone. So if the iPhone you pair it with doesn't have iCloud Messages enabled and if it doesn't have a cellular plan, then Messages on the Watch will probably remain empty indeed.

I do think that if you're not bringing the secondary "empty" iPhone, usage of the Watch will really become more limited, since limited internet connectivity, unless you've configured Wifi and if so that probably also impacts battery life negatively then.

 

[darkus]

I think your idea might actually work. Now, I also wouldn't recommend it, but I think Messages on Watch sync with the iPhone. So if the iPhone you pair it with doesn't have iCloud Messages enabled and if it doesn't have a cellular plan, then Messages on the Watch will probably remain empty indeed.

I do think that if you're not bringing the secondary "empty" iPhone, usage of the Watch will really become more limited, since limited internet connectivity, unless you've configured Wifi and if so that probably also impacts battery life negatively then.

Yep I was thinking the same. So in my crazy idea I would use the watch primarily for workouts and then turn on the secondary iPhone say once a week just to let it sync the health data back to iCloud and maybe sync some new songs if I needed to.

Im going to try this and will report back incase there are any other crazies out there thinking of something similar 👍

 

[BadMacRumours]

Don't share the Watch. Even apart from the health data, the entire point is to give you handy access to snippets of information tied to your Apple ID. The premise of the Watch is based around it being purely a personal device.

Also, you mentioned health data as something you wanted the Watch for in your original post. The data is extremely user-specific, so mixing it with another user's data would utterly destroy it -- your trends and vitals would make no sense.

This. Don’t do it.

 

[mossimossimossi]

Could I pair the AW with that old phone and have it successfully run on my AppleID, sync my health data BUT it wouldn't get my iMessages since iMessage is actually turned completely off on that phone? And it should not get my phone calls, because while its on my apple ID, it doesn't have a cellular plan.

I'm very curious if your suggestion works. By the way, your phone calls may come through. I have old iPhones still logged into my Apple ID account with no mobile plan and it still rings through, so you may have to turn off call notifications on the Watch app. I believe Apple converts the calls into VoIP to allow you to answer on any device (this would be how you can answer calls on laptops too)

Also, I did a search and ran into this old suggestion on another site:

"The only way to not receive messages is to not sign in with your Apple ID. To do this, you would need to unpair the watch, set it up again, and tap "Skip this Step" when asked to enter your Apple ID. Note that Apple Pay and Digital Touch will not work if you don't enter your Apple ID, but if you don't use those, there should not be any problem."

 

[mossimossimossi]

I think I found the solution for calls. On your current iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular > Calls on Other Devices. Be sure to unselect your old iPhone on this list. This will prevent your old iPhone from "receiving" calls and hopefully prevent your watch from picking it up.