Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How does the Apple Watch work without being linked to an iPhone for a couple of weeks?

C

Cybbe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 15, 2004
374
236
I will go a brief period of time without access to an iPhone (changing organisations which means I will hand in my iPhone and get a new one when I start my new role a week or two later). My "spare" is an Android phone. My Apple Watch is synced to my current iPhone and will be linked to my new iPhone in due course.

My question is what happens in the intervening period. Will my Apple Watch log and store all relevant activities (heart rate, activities, workouts etc) and seamlessly sync this to Apple Health once I have access to an iPhone again? That quite a few functions won't work without an iPhone is fine, what I care about is the data it gathers isn't lost.
 
The watch has a full week of HealthKit data history. So less than 8 days won’t be an issue.
I’m not sure what will happen to the oldest data after 8 days ...
 
I think you’re gonna lose any data during that period. It’s my understanding for that the watch backs up to the phone. And then you can restore from backup when you connect to the new phone. But there won’t be any backed up data during that time, so you’ll have a gap in your health data
 
Cybbe said:
I will go a brief period of time without access to an iPhone (changing organisations which means I will hand in my iPhone and get a new one when I start my new role a week or two later). My "spare" is an Android phone. My Apple Watch is synced to my current iPhone and will be linked to my new iPhone in due course.

My question is what happens in the intervening period. Will my Apple Watch log and store all relevant activities (heart rate, activities, workouts etc) and seamlessly sync this to Apple Health once I have access to an iPhone again? That quite a few functions won't work without an iPhone is fine, what I care about is the data it gathers isn't lost.
Click to expand...
When you unpair your watch with the existing iPhone (which you do need to do before you turn in the iPhone) the watch will not work at all until it's paired to a new phone. It's not a matter of not having access to a few functions.
If your watch and its data is important to you, you could buy an iPhone temporarily and return it. Apple has a 14 day no-questions-asked return policy.
 
chrfr said:
When you unpair your watch with the existing iPhone (which you do need to do before you turn in the iPhone) the watch will not work at all until it's paired to a new phone. It's not a matter of not having access to a few functions.
If your watch and its data is important to you, you could buy an iPhone temporarily and return it. Apple has a 14 day no-questions-asked return policy.
Click to expand...
Good idea. Shouldn't push the price of the next iPhone up by much for the rest of us! :rolleyes:
 
  • Like
Reactions: bluespark
chrfr said:
When you unpair your watch with the existing iPhone (which you do need to do before you turn in the iPhone) the watch will not work at all until it's paired to a new phone. It's not a matter of not having access to a few functions.
If your watch and its data is important to you, you could buy an iPhone temporarily and return it. Apple has a 14 day no-questions-asked return policy.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah looking into what you said that appears to be right. The watch would continue logging I assume but can’t pair with a new phone without wiping it. Slightly annoying but oh well.

This is a relocating move as well so I’m afraid the buy and return manoeuvre isn’t an option.
 
Cybbe said:
Thanks, yeah looking into what you said that appears to be right. The watch would continue logging I assume but can’t pair with a new phone without wiping it. Slightly annoying but oh well.

This is a relocating move as well so I’m afraid the buy and return manoeuvre isn’t an option.
Click to expand...
Good luck with the new job and move.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cybbe
TiggrToo said:
Personally I would never ever ever sync my watch to a corporate device.

Never.

Any data on the phone belongs to the business - not to you.
Click to expand...

I agree. But there are exceptions of course, or at least considerations. My employer are not using any deployment or apps on our phones. In fact I usually just buy a new phone when I need one with my corporate credit card.

Which means that there’s little to no chance for my employer to get hold of my data. Sure, they can collect the phone, but can’t access anything on it.

With a deployed or monitored phone I agree fully.
 
TiggrToo said:
Personally I would never ever ever sync my watch to a corporate device.

Never.

Any data on the phone belongs to the business - not to you.
Click to expand...
That assertion is incorrect. I’m not US-based and I’m very comfortable with using it for personal use. In fact, it’s explicitly allowed and a taxable benefit. My employer has no right to access the data on my phone and my employers data is kept under control using MDM. I can see from the installed profile what my employer can and cannot do. I’m okay with their limited rights.

The legal framework i operate in doesn’t even grant my employer any automatic right to access my work email (it’s only permitted for specific and regulated purposes) and they have absolutely no right to access private data regardless of where it is saved. These protections are written into law.

So no, I can use this phone as a personal device and the legal ownership of the device does not alter the right to my data. Nor does my employer have any means of accessing it.

Your legal framework might be different.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Howard2k
Cybbe said:
That assertion is incorrect. I’m not US-based and I’m very comfortable with using it for personal use. In fact, it’s explicitly allowed and a taxable benefit. My employer has no right to access the data on my phone and my employers data is kept under control using MDM. I can see from the installed profile what my employer can and cannot do. I’m okay with their limited rights.

The legal framework i operate in doesn’t even grant my employer any automatic right to access my work email (it’s only permitted for specific and regulated purposes) and they have absolutely no right to access private data regardless of where it is saved. These protections are written into law.

So no, I can use this phone as a personal device and the legal ownership of the device does not alter the right to my data. Nor does my employer have any means of accessing it.

Your legal framework might be different.
Click to expand...


Bingo.
 
I know it's an old thread but I'm in a very similar situation. I won't be with an iPhone for a couple of days and want to know if my watch would be able to keep the data until I pair it again with a new phone?
 
No.
As has been said, when you unpair it from the ‘first’ phone it will cease to function at all.
When you then pair it to the new phone you may set it up using the last backup but any data in the “couple of days” will be lost.
 
kamran9558 said:
I know it's an old thread but I'm in a very similar situation. I won't be with an iPhone for a couple of days and want to know if my watch would be able to keep the data until I pair it again with a new phone?
Click to expand...
if you're not switching phones, and are just away from your own phone and going back to it you'll be OK, it will all re-sync once you get back to your phone, or possibly when you connect to wifi.

If you're changing to a new phone, then you'll need to unpair before you get rid of the old phone, and the watch will be completely useless until paired with your new phone. In between the watch won't even show the time
 
waw74 said:
if you're not switching phones, and are just away from your own phone and going back to it you'll be OK, it will all re-sync once you get back to your phone, or possibly when you connect to wifi.

If you're changing to a new phone, then you'll need to unpair before you get rid of the old phone, and the watch will be completely useless until paired with your new phone. In between the watch won't even show the time
Click to expand...
Thanks, I won't have the same phone as I'm switching to a new phone. What if I don't unpair the watch and put it in flight mode or something and then wipe the old phone?
 
kamran9558 said:
Thanks, I won't have the same phone as I'm switching to a new phone. What if I don't unpair the watch and put it in flight mode or something and then wipe the old phone?
Click to expand...
watch can only be paired to 1 phone at a time, other than unpairing and then pairing to a new phone you have no other option
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back