Cellular Apple Watch questions

[iPhoneUser#]

We bought a Cellular Apple Watch yesterday and set it up at our carrier today, as of 8hrs ago. We have a line for each device, unlimited everything. The Watch has it's own cellular number. Still can't make a phone call to or from the watch.

They are supposed to be able to do that right? I'm assuming something went wrong at the cellular store today and that's why it's not connecting? Usually doesn't take this long for a new number added to an account to be activated last I remember.


Any guesses? Plan to go back to the store and see what's going on, also.



Thanks for your help

 

[Lobwedgephil]

We bought a Cellular Apple Watch yesterday and set it up at our carrier today, as of 8hrs ago. We have a line for each device, unlimited everything. The Watch has it's own cellular number. Still can't make a phone call to or from the watch.

They are supposed to be able to do that right? I'm assuming something went wrong at the cellular store today and that's why it's not connecting? Usually doesn't take this long for a new number added to an account to be activated last I remember.


Any guesses? Plan to go back to the store and see what's going on, also.



Thanks for your help

Yes, you should be able to do that. It doesn't take that long. Do you see cellular on in the settings?

 

[iPhoneUser#]

Yes, you should be able to do that. It doesn't take that long. Do you see cellular on in the settings?

Yes, Apparently you can't accept or make calls while Wi-Fi is enabled? I disabled WiFi then was able to make calls and receive calls.

This is our first Apple Watch, btw.

Learning most things get configured in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone

 

[BigMcGuire]

Yes, Apparently you can't accept or make calls while Wi-Fi is enabled? I disabled WiFi then was able to make calls and receive calls.

This is our first Apple Watch, btw.

Learning most things get configured in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone

I have had cellular Apple Watches since they’ve come out. I’ve never had to turn off WiFi to make or receive a call. Hmmmm

What cellular service do you have ?

Verizon has a feature called Number Share where your Apple Watch is effectively the same as your cellphone.

 

[arc of the universe]

Yes, Apparently you can't accept or make calls while Wi-Fi is enabled? I disabled WiFi then was able to make calls and receive calls.

This is our first Apple Watch, btw.

Learning most things get configured in the Apple Watch app on the iPhone

your information and understanding of your apple Watch does not match my experience with my apple Watch.

1 i do not know of any carrier in the world that lets you call from a totally different number on/from/to your Watch.
its a bit more complicated than my simple statement above, but in practical terms, its correct.
meaning: all cellular capable Watches actually do have a different number from the iPhone. but this totally separate number is not even known by most people. in principle, your cellular Watch receives and makes calls on the same number as your iPhone. the only case where this is somewhat different is where the Watch is set up as a child's number paired with an adult's iPhone. in that case there are in fact two different numbers.

2 you can of couse make calls while you are connected to wi-fi.
there is something called wi-fi calling but its not really related to what you are talking about.

your questions and comments actually sounds like you do NOT have a cellular Watch to me.
it sounds like you have a "GPS+Wi-Fi" model. this means that you can make calls to phones, but your iPhone needs to be connected to the internet in order to do that.

apple makes it a little more complicated than i think it needs to be. yes, some settings are done on the Watch app on the iPhone and some settings are also done on the Watch itself. unfortunately its like this.

 

[iPhoneUser#]

We were under the impression that the Watch was essentially like a wearable Apple iPhone and did not need to be tied to an iPhone to do what we assume an iPhone does but on your wrist. For example. Leave the phone at home and take a half hour ride to the park and go for a bike ride or walk all while being able to do the same things as on an iPhone but with the Apple Watch.


All cellular devices have that IMEI number, right? The one we bought has that, unless the Wifi model has them too?

 

[jonh229]

I use VZ as my carrier with number share on 15PM & AWU3. As soon as I got U3 set up I went on a walk and then called my wife's 15PM. Caller ID showed my watch's phone number, not my 15PM shared number. I only tested once and now almost 2 weeks later maybe for kicks I should try it again. My point is with VZ the number assigned to my watch is what shows on caller ID, not the number supposedly shared from my iPhone. Thus correspondents who have my iPhone number in their Contacts list are not going to see my Contact info if I call from my watch.

 

[1rottenapple]

Yes and no. It needs an iPhone connection for sms from what I understand someone correct me if I’m wrong. But it can also be town out of the house and let you send messages and make calls, operate apps.

OP I’ve experienced issues with Apple Watch cellular activation and aside from turning the watch off and on, if that doesn’t fix it then a call or chat with support had worked. It happens a few times with my visible service after I swap phones and the cellular plan gets deactivated. Reactivating it can be tricky.

 

[1rottenapple]

I use VZ as my carrier with number share on 15PM & AWU3. As soon as I got U3 set up I went on a walk and then called my wife's 15PM. Caller ID showed my watch's phone number, not my 15PM shared number. I only tested once and now almost 2 weeks later maybe for kicks I should try it again. My point is with VZ the number assigned to my watch is what shows on caller ID, not the number supposedly shared from my iPhone. Thus correspondents who have my iPhone number in their Contacts list are not going to see my Contact info if I call from my watch.

Whoa really. I honestly never make calls with the watch lol. Go figure.

 

[jonh229]

All cellular devices have that IMEI number, right? The one we bought has that, unless the Wifi model has them too?

The crown (the dial) on the watch is orange or has an orange ring if it is cellular capable. Watches that are not cellular do not have this orange mark on the crown.

 

[arc of the universe]

We were under the impression that the Watch was essentially like a wearable Apple iPhone and did not need to be tied to an iPhone to do what we assume an iPhone does but on your wrist. For example. Leave the phone at home and take a half hour ride to the park and go for a bike ride or walk all while being able to do the same things as on an iPhone but with the Apple Watch.

the capability that you describe above can be done by the "GPS+wi-fi" model, as i have mentioned above.
with the GPS+wi-fi model, all that you need in order to make "cellular" calls is for your iPhone, even if its left at home, but switched on, and for it to be connected to the internet.

the actual "Cellular" model Watch can make calls even if your iPhone is battery dead and not connected to the internet.
that is the only difference between the "GPS+wi-fi" model and the "Cellular" model

(if you bought an older model (not a 2025 year model) its easy to tell if its cellular:
is there a red ring around the crown ?
yes = cellar.
no = GPS+wi-fi
if you bought a new model (a model launched this year) there is no outwardly apparent way to tell. look at the box and see what it says.

 

[4sallypat]

We were under the impression that the Watch was essentially like a wearable Apple iPhone and did not need to be tied to an iPhone to do what we assume an iPhone does but on your wrist. For example. Leave the phone at home and take a half hour ride to the park and go for a bike ride or walk all while being able to do the same things as on an iPhone but with the Apple Watch.


All cellular devices have that IMEI number, right? The one we bought has that, unless the Wifi model has them too?

If the AW is cellular and you have an active plan, then the best way to test it out is to walk away from the iPhone, away from Wifi and make a call.

Mine is thru an MVNO (Visible) and uses the same phone number as my iPhone which makes it easy for calls & texts in/out.

Sometimes, when I forget my iPhone, my AW works for making / receiving calls.

This time, for the first time, I got the Ultra 3 w/ cellular and love it even more as I fly planes and the satellite texting is important as well as 5G.

 

[Howard2k]

It varies by provider to an extent too. But you should certainly be able to walk away from your phone and make calls over the cellular network.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

1 i do not know of any carrier in the world that lets you call from a totally different number on/from/to your Watch.

At&t. I have my watch connected to my phone so it uses numbersync and same number as my phone. But I also have 2 Apple Watches connected to my phone for my kids, each Apple Watch has its own number that I can call or use to make calls. It's called standalone Watch plans, same plan, just each watch has its own number.

 

[arc of the universe]

At&t. I have my watch connected to my phone so it uses numbersync and same number as my phone. But I also have 2 Apple Watches connected to my phone for my kids, each Apple Watch has its own number that I can call or use to make calls. It's called standalone Watch plans, same plan, just each watch has its own number.

yes. as i stated in my post:
quote
the only case where this is somewhat different is where the Watch is set up as a child's number paired with an adult's iPhone. in that case there are in fact two different numbers.
end quote

 

[bruinsrme]

if you sign into your phone account, it should say what type of device is number sharing. Check to make sure it’s the right device

 

[iPhoneUser#]

It's definitely a Cellular AW. I think we had the wrong impressions. So what's happening is probably normal behavior, which is you can't call the number assigned to the AW, I would call that number a 'Relay number' but that's probably still inaccurate but basically you can't call the number assigned to it from any phone, you have to call the iPhone number it's linked (paired) with. That will ring on both devices. e.g. I left the iPhone at home and took the AW for a ride where it wasn't on WiFi anymore, called the iPhone number and the AW that I took with me started to ring and I answered it and talked to myself like a dummy, lol. Was also able to place a phone call in the same situation from the AW back to my iPhone. So is 'Relay number' accurate? The whole paying for another line threw us.

 

[Howard2k]

No, that sounds like they messed it up. It does vary by provider but in my experience a phone call to my cell can be answered by my watch or phone. I’m oblivious to a specific “watch phone number”.

 

[iPhoneUser#]

a phone call to my cell can be answered by my watch or phone

That's how our setup behaves. Which I'm now assuming is normal.

I still haven't tried going outside the WiFi range with both devices and calling the AW number our carrier assigned it. When we disabled WiFi on the AW and it went to 5G calls were able to be made to and from the AW

I thought we set up calls over WiFi when we got the AW but it seems like it needs to be verified, next. The odd thing is that both our iPhones have never been setup to make calls over WiFi and that's where the behavior differs because we can make and receive calls while on WiFi on our phones but not over WiFi Maybe the hardware can't handle being on WiFi and making cellular calls at the same time, or there really is something wrong with the one we bought, like a bad quality sample?