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Do you really use the cellular functionality on your Watch?
- Thread starter akash.nu
- Start date
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I work in a large office building where I leave my iPhone docked at my desk most of the time. It’s nice that when I roam around at work that my watch acts like my phone is in my pocket. It seemlessly transitions to cellular when it gets out of range of Bluetooth. There have also been times where I jumped in my car and left home without my phone and was glad I had my cellular watch.
Oh, and the whole “can’t get texts when the phone is off” only applies to your green bubble SMS friends. If your friends also have iPhones and are using iMessage, those go through all the time regardless.
Oh, and the whole “can’t get texts when the phone is off” only applies to your green bubble SMS friends. If your friends also have iPhones and are using iMessage, those go through all the time regardless.
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Not in the u.s from what I have read. I want to use mvnos or one verizon and one tmobile sim and be able to change them up as I wish. The esim, from what I have read, will not allow me to use it in the way I want.
Ah yes. I’m hoping to be able to use my personal number as the eSim and work number as the additional sim.
so, i am trying to completely understand the LTE connectivity between the watch and the iPhone.
specifically i am interested to understand what are the limitations of watch series 4 (GPS+Cellular) when the iPhone is switched off (or the battery is completely dead)
when the iPhone is not turned on or otherwise battery dead, the watch series 4 model with GPS+Cellular:
iCloud Services related:
1 can receive iMessages
2 can send iMessages
3 can receive FaceTime Audio calls
4 can send FaceTime Audio calls
5 can stream apple Music and play apple Music playlists
is the above correct?
Cellular related (more carrier based functions):
1 can not receive SMS
2 can not receive or send calls (sorry to beat a dead horse, but even in this current thread there is conflicting info about this...so i need to understand this point...)
thanks !
specifically i am interested to understand what are the limitations of watch series 4 (GPS+Cellular) when the iPhone is switched off (or the battery is completely dead)
when the iPhone is not turned on or otherwise battery dead, the watch series 4 model with GPS+Cellular:
iCloud Services related:
1 can receive iMessages
2 can send iMessages
3 can receive FaceTime Audio calls
4 can send FaceTime Audio calls
5 can stream apple Music and play apple Music playlists
is the above correct?
Cellular related (more carrier based functions):
1 can not receive SMS
2 can not receive or send calls (sorry to beat a dead horse, but even in this current thread there is conflicting info about this...so i need to understand this point...)
thanks !
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On my S3 with cellular even with the phone on Carrot weather wouldn't update. So when I go on cellular I would use a watch face with only Apple Watch apps. I think it has to do with Carrot not coding for LTE watch data?? I should ask Carrot. Maybe with S4 it'll work?
Your summary is agrees with my understanding. When the phone is off your AW can access LTE data to stream Apple Music and use iCloud services. But because the phone is off it can't forward calls or SMS to your watch. Your AW has its own phone number technically so people aren't really calling your AW to begin with. When your phone is on, calls and SMS goes to your phone, then it's sync'd to your AW.
I had the cellular version of series 3. Used cellular data once. Went with non-cellular for series 4. Glad I did.
That's interesting, so the cellular version is basically just for internet, which for carrier services it uses that internet to connect back to the phone to use carrier services.
Anyway it makes sense but I never realized that. I haven't really been interested in the cellular version anyway, but glad I know.
Anyway it makes sense but I never realized that. I haven't really been interested in the cellular version anyway, but glad I know.
i use it exclusively, i leave my iphone turned off at home. It works great!
My lifestyle is trying to be as much disconnected from alerts/ social media during the day, this works great. No distractions, can still call and receive calls perfectly. The rest i don`t need.
I honestly don`t care what other people think about my usage of the AW. It works perfect for me and i love it.
My lifestyle is trying to be as much disconnected from alerts/ social media during the day, this works great. No distractions, can still call and receive calls perfectly. The rest i don`t need.
I honestly don`t care what other people think about my usage of the AW. It works perfect for me and i love it.
Calls work when the phone is off. That’s really the point of the cellular watch!
This is where I’m getting conflicting info. As far as I understood, calls using cellular network doesn’t work but calls using data does work.
Calls and text messages work fine with the cellular watch even with the phone being turned off.
If the limitation is just sms then I’ll happily live with it. My phone is not off most of the times, but just in case it runs out of battery or something else happens.
Ps. Could you please play the video I posted on the OP? Is that providing incorrect info then?
One thing no one has mentioned that was my biggest issue with cellular is coverage. You should pay attention to your phone for a few days, or when you get the watch, use the Explorer face and keep an eye on it. For me, I live on the edge of a town of 750,000 people and LTE was simply not good enough for the watch to usable. Also, I work in a rural school that was built in the 50's and while there is LTE there, coverage inside the building was not great, and so again the watch was not really usable. I could leave my phone in the classroom and head up to the office and the watch might switch to LTE, it might not. If it does not work close to 100% of the time, I cannot rely on it enough to leave my phone. To me it seemed like the watch was not good with less than excellent LTE strength. Granted this was a S3.
TL;DR: Get a good handle on LTE in your area first. If it is at all spotty, the cellular watch is useless.
TL;DR: Get a good handle on LTE in your area first. If it is at all spotty, the cellular watch is useless.
Thanks for pointing that out. I’m in London, so coverage is not really that much of an issue.
I am thinking about buying a watch but only if I can use it for this purpose. The ability to carry less tech with me overall but still be available if necessary is the whole point of the watch IMHO.
Thanks for that guys. I think I’m gonna stop taking my phone to the gym once I have the watch as well.
and that is exactly the point right there, different things work for different people and its nice to have the option.
My Series 4 44mm SS came with cellular so I activated it since I get three months free. I haven't used it extensively but it's oddly freeing to go out without an iPhone. I find myself enjoying walks more because I don't get sucked into my device. It's nice for hiking and such because then I don't have a bulky phone in my pocket and I feel more immersed in nature. Still haven't decided yet if I'll start paying for it once my free service is up. It was also a bummer when I wanted to talk a photo of something while exercising and realizing that my iPhone was at home and the Watch can't take photos. At least not yet. I imagine it will be some time before the Apple Watch gets a proper camera because cameras take up a lot of space, are power hungry, and it's more likely it would get a front facing camera first which would be difficult to use to take photos other than selfies. I also can't use the Apple Watch to run quick price comparisons online when I'm buying something. Otherwise I'd leave my iPhone at home half the time. I think it would be great for the gym, pool, etc as well. Then you don't have to worry about leaving expensive stuff in your car or locker.
I would have the cellular active on mine if it wasn't an extra $10 a month that seems slightly excessive imo... I keep my phone on me for the most part except for working out and running... Its probably something I will activate in the future but honestly think it should be around $5 a month for what it is.
Not an owner, but the ability to call 911 from a cellular, even without service, is huge because I do things where someone would find me if something went wrong, just not right away, and I don’t like carrying the phone when I’m outdoors. Best feature I’ve found on the phone in my research.
Otherwise, having a hard time getting there on cell service and the pricing.
Otherwise, having a hard time getting there on cell service and the pricing.