Cellular Apple Watch Is Misleadingly Incapable

[bbeagle]

Actually, the point of my post is actually wondering why, for those arguing that the watch is useless with the iPhone off, why their iPhone would be off in the first place.

I agree the watch is viable, at least for the important stuff, with the iPhone off, but I just can't see that ever happening for me.

It all depends on lifestyle and what you're doing.

A simple example would be: Say you're working at a job where they don't allow cellphones, so you wear your Apple Watch. But you forgot to charge your phone overnight. You don't realize it until you get to your job. Your phone is in your car, where you can't charge it. You still have access to everything at your job.

This is pretty much me. I have a day job where I use my cell phone at my desk. Sometimes I forget to charge it at work, so when I leave, my battery is like 20% sometimes. I have a night job where I can't use my phone (I'm a sports referee). If I'm needed in an emergency, I have the peace of mind knowing that my watch will let me know that emergency even if my phone has died in my car.

 

[tl01]

We are saying that if your phone is switched off then calls & texts that required cellular network, not via WiFi / FaceTime / iMessage, will not work!

E.g - your phone is switched off and left at home and you’re on cellular connection on your watch, you’ll not get calls from Android devices.

I just turned off my phone while I was not at home...so no WiFi etc. I then called my phone that is off from my other iPhone... (different carrier and account) and my watch rang just like normal. Is that not what we are talking about? Would I not get calls from android phones?

 

[DesertSilver]

It all depends on lifestyle and what you're doing.

A simple example would be: Say you're working at a job where they don't allow cellphones, so you wear your Apple Watch. But you forgot to charge your phone overnight. You don't realize it until you get to your job. Your phone is in your car, where you can't charge it. You still have access to everything at your job.

This is pretty much me. I have a day job where I use my cell phone at my desk. Sometimes I forget to charge it at work, so when I leave, my battery is like 20% sometimes. I have a night job where I can't use my phone (I'm a sports referee). If I'm needed in an emergency, I have the peace of mind knowing that my watch will let me know that emergency even if my phone has died in my car.

Understandable if you forget to charge your iPhone.

I guess it should be proven now that the thread title is, ironically, misleading. For the seemingly rare situation, the AW is a very usable with an offline iPhone, other than the the lack of SMS, which I'm guessing is a network limitation.

For those that still feel it's not capable, you can't say that you're better off with a dead iPhone and non-LTE AW, other than saving $10/mon.

 

[burgman]

This thread is misleadingly incapable of accurately showing what the watch is capable of. Mine works fine on cell everyday, except apps written by lazy developers that don’t have watch apps.

 

[akash.nu]

I just turned off my phone while I was not at home...so no WiFi etc. I then called my phone that is off from my other iPhone... (different carrier and account) and my watch rang just like normal. Is that not what we are talking about? Would I not get calls from android phones?

So the discussion has taken a turn now. It seems if your carrier supports WiFi calling and it’s turned on then you’re supposed to get the call even when the phone is turned off.

 

[0970373]

I think this thread needs to be locked as the OP with a 3 day old account has been suspended and I feel like this thread has really moved into misinformation territory that is bad for everyone. I think he was probably just trying to stir up trouble and seems to have succeeded.

 

[Deguello]

Actually, the point of my post is actually wondering why, for those arguing that the watch is useless with the iPhone off, why their iPhone would be off in the first place.

I agree the watch is viable, at least for the important stuff, with the iPhone off, but I just can't see that ever happening for me.

I misunderstood what you meant by “glorified doorstop” then. It came across as meaning not viable to nearly the point of uselessness.

Other than running out of power, I don’t think my phone would ever be off. I don’t know how everyone else uses theirs.

 

[Broken Hope]

So the discussion has taken a turn now. It seems if your carrier supports WiFi calling and it’s turned on then you’re supposed to get the call even when the phone is turned off.

Well yeah if your carrier supports WiFi Calling over iCloud, which EE does than you can turn your phone off and if your watch is connected to a WiFi network it can still make and receive calls over WiFi.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Well yeah if your carrier supports WiFi Calling over iCloud, which EE does than you can turn your phone off and if your watch is connected to a WiFi network it can still make and receive calls over WiFi.

...and if there is no wifi, or wifi is turned off, the calls go over cellular.

 

[akash.nu]

...and if there is no wifi, or wifi is turned off, the calls go over cellular.

This is the bit I’m really interested in.

 

[dsampley]

My wife left her phone out of town a short while back. I turned the phone off. She easily used her watch to make and receive calls, check voice mails and send and receive text message.

 

[lildexmom]

I have the AW4 - AT&T service has been activated. What I have found is that when I turn off my iPhone and turn off WI-FI on my watch the white cellular icon turns green and I am able to receive regular texts, and I can even make calls but I can not receive calls.

I thought that calls made to my iPhone number would be forwarded to my watch if the watch was turned off or not answered but that is not the case. My AW4 won't receive a call made to my iPhone unless it is connected to my watch by WI-FI or bluetooth. It doesn't matter if the iPhone is off or on - unanswered calls are not being pushed to my AW4.

So the problem I have with that is I don't like paying for cellular service for a AW that won't accept phone calls that are being missed by my iPhone. How am supposed to feel good about leaving my iPhone at home or in my car when I have a AW w/ cellular that will not ring unless its connected to WI-FI? How does it make sense that calls are going unanswered while i am paying for cellular service?

 

[tromboneaholic]

I have the AW4 - AT&T service has been activated. What I have found is that when I turn off my iPhone and turn off WI-FI on my watch the white cellular icon turns green and I am able to receive regular texts, and I can even make calls but I can not receive calls.

I thought that calls made to my iPhone number would be forwarded to my watch if the watch was turned off or not answered but that is not the case. My AW4 won't receive a call made to my iPhone unless it is connected to my watch by WI-FI or bluetooth. It doesn't matter if the iPhone is off or on - unanswered calls are not being pushed to my AW4.

So the problem I have with that is I don't like paying for cellular service for a AW that won't accept phone calls that are being missed by my iPhone. How am supposed to feel good about leaving my iPhone at home or in my car when I have a AW w/ cellular that will not ring unless its connected to WI-FI? How does it make sense that calls are going unanswered while i am paying for cellular service?

There seems to be a problem with your service. You need to call AT&T. The cellular watch does not require the iPhone to be on for you to receive calls.

 

[lildexmom]

There seems to be a problem with your service. You need to call AT&T. The cellular watch does not require the iPhone to be on for you to receive calls.

Ok - I hope that you are right and that there is some technical issue rather than some unexpected limitation of the AW4.
I think I'll try calling AT&T now ~ thanks

 

[tl01]

Ok - I hope that you are right and that there is some technical issue rather than some unexpected limitation of the AW4.
I think I'll try calling AT&T now ~ thanks

I have att for my watch and phone and it works as it should.

 

[deeddawg]

]I got the watch so I could feel confident that, even when my phone dies, everything from family emergencies to sms authentication codes would be able to make their way to my wrist. Apparently not so.

Guess you didn't do your research. This isn't a surprise. It's a hub (phone) spoke (watch) setup.

Good thing there's a 14 day return period for you.

 

[tl01]

Guess you didn't do your research. This isn't a surprise. It's a hub (phone) spoke (watch) setup.

Good thing there's a 14 day return period for you.

I’m confused! Then why does mine work without my phone on?

 

[deeddawg]

I’m confused! Then why does mine work without my phone on?

Depends on what you're doing and whether the individual app requires relaying from the phone (most common) or can function independently (rarer)

I didn't realize this was difficult for folks. Try it out and see if it works.

Though the instances of phone-dead-use-watch-solo are often a matter of poor planning. Powerbanks are cheap if you're often away from power long enough to drain your phone.

 

[2010lexus]

I do use the cellular function on my watch and I agree it's crap that the Sim card in the watch isn't a standalone Sim card so that you could just have a watch and not attached to a phone. I also think it's crap that, at least in the United States, you have to be on one of the four big companies and can't go to any of the smaller ones for your phone service and still be able to use the watch. But that is how it is right now

Well it would be crap if you had to pay the same price for the line on your watch as you do on your phone but no you don’t.

 

[iamasmith]

This is deja vu of this thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/sms-with-iphone-off.2108568/#post-25866633) and it turned out that one guy was arguing that the Watch behaved differently to how it was for others because his carrier had something wrong on his profile.

I'm with EE in the UK.

I can receive and make calls on my Apple Watch without my phone being on the cellular network - I often put it in Airplane mode or turn it off if I leave it in my car when running so it doesn't ring and attract attention.

I cannot receive SMS messages when the phone is off. This is understood.

I do NOT have Wifi calling enabled in the settings on my iPhone but can still receive the calls to the number assigned to the iPhone on the Watch with the iPhone off. (my Watch setting mirrors the iPhone setting)

 

[mrklaw]

How about Wi-Fi? I’m often at work connected to Wi-Fi but if I forget my phone (so my watch is using Wi-Fi) - then will calls work

- if my phone is on at home (maybe it communicates with the watch to tell it to turn the cellular on for the call)
- if my phone is off

I’m on Vodafone which doesn’t support Wi-Fi falling over iCloud.

This actually seems like a fairly notable limitation as if you’re in an area with known Wi-Fi (common if you’re in an urban area) then you may never be able to receive or make calls

 

[ipaddaro]

How about Wi-Fi? I’m often at work connected to Wi-Fi but if I forget my phone (so my watch is using Wi-Fi) - then will calls work

- if my phone is on at home (maybe it communicates with the watch to tell it to turn the cellular on for the call)
- if my phone is off

I’m on Vodafone which doesn’t support Wi-Fi falling over iCloud.

This actually seems like a fairly notable limitation as if you’re in an area with known Wi-Fi (common if you’re in an urban area) then you may never be able to receive or make calls

i have vodafone, i haven't wi fi phone calls option available.. and i can make/receive phone calls with my AW in both situations you have described.

i think that being connected to wi fi or not doesn't change anything for phone calls (provided that you have a contract for the LTE AW... different situation for sms and 3rd parties apps that won't work with iphone offline)

 

[tromboneaholic]

How about Wi-Fi? I’m often at work connected to Wi-Fi but if I forget my phone (so my watch is using Wi-Fi) - then will calls work

- if my phone is on at home (maybe it communicates with the watch to tell it to turn the cellular on for the call)
- if my phone is off

I’m on Vodafone which doesn’t support Wi-Fi falling over iCloud.

This actually seems like a fairly notable limitation as if you’re in an area with known Wi-Fi (common if you’re in an urban area) then you may never be able to receive or make calls

If your carrier supports wifi calling, and you have it turned on, your Watch will make and receive calls over wifi.

If you are not in wifi rage, your Watch will use cellular.

It's pretty straightforward, really.

 

[mrklaw]

If your carrier supports wifi calling, and you have it turned on, your Watch will make and receive calls over wifi.

If you are not in wifi rage, your Watch will use cellular.

It's pretty straightforward, really.

Thanks. I hope its that simple - where does 'wifi calling over icloud' come in? My operator doesn't support that specific feature but they do have wifi calling.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Thanks. I hope its that simple - where does 'wifi calling over icloud' come in? My operator doesn't support that specific feature but they do have wifi calling.

With T-Mobile, for example, I can answer a phone call from my iMac or iPad over wifi even if my phone is off because I'm logged in to the same Apple ID as my iPhone. Several other carriers offer this as well. I'm not sure if your carrier's lack of support for wifi calling on iCloud devices would affect a cellular watch. I do know if you turned wifi off, a cellular watch will make and receive calls, so it might be worth testing to see if it works on wifi with the phone off.