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

Glene

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 13, 2014
448
171
Ft Lauderdale
Any new protocols ? I assume 40-50 feet? So if you were in a typical 3 br 1800 sq ft home, as long as phone is there, watch would work ok?
 
Any new protocols ? I assume 40-50 feet? So if you were in a typical 3 br 1800 sq ft home, as long as phone is there, watch would work ok?

There was talk about the connection falling back to wireless if out of Bluetooth range but I'm not sure where that stands as far as fact or myth goes.
 
...and in the spirit of this question, could you, for instance, go running with just the watch then "sync up" your run when you return to your phone...or are you essentially tethered to it?
 
I know the iwatch uses the phones gps. I'm not sure if the fit app requires gps or not. You might be able to track steps but not your map. It's not very clear tho.

...and in the spirit of this question, could you, for instance, go running with just the watch then "sync up" your run when you return to your phone...or are you essentially tethered to it?


----------

No it cannot connect to your home wifi with the apple watch. That's a 100% fact. I'm not going to link the article again you'll have to look it up.

If you are home, thought the watch can also connect with your wifi.
 
...and in the spirit of this question, could you, for instance, go running with just the watch then "sync up" your run when you return to your phone...or are you essentially tethered to it?

Yes, health data will sync when you reconnect to the phone.

If you are home, thought the watch can also connect with your wifi.

It will use a direct wifi connection to your phone, not through your home network.
 
First, I am very interested in this.

From my research, Bluetooth "can" reach up to 300 feet under the right condition, so I feel 100 feet could be pretty good.

Now, from my little understanding:D watching the event...

Kevin Lynch: Apple watch communicates with your iPhone over wifi as well as bluetooth. So when you’re home, you don’t have to be within bluetooth range of your phone, you can be anywhere in your house and still get all your messages and take your phone calls.

This to me means it will use your home wifi to communicate with watch.
 
No it cannot connect to your home wifi with the apple watch. That's a 100% fact. I'm not going to link the article again you'll have to look it up.

True and false. The Apple Watch will not connect to your home's wifi - but it WILL connect to your phone via your phone's wifi hot spot.

So, the phone <-> watch range is about 300 feet.
 
Any new protocols ? I assume 40-50 feet? So if you were in a typical 3 br 1800 sq ft home, as long as phone is there, watch would work ok?

Apple Watch uses BTLE and an AWDL/WiFi to communicate with the phone. If however both the watch and the phone are on the same network AND the network support Bonjour / ZeroConf, then the watch can be out of BT range and only use WiFi to communicate with the phone just fine.
 
Apple Watch uses BTLE and an AWDL/WiFi to communicate with the phone. If however both the watch and the phone are on the same network AND the network support Bonjour / ZeroConf, then the watch can be out of BT range and only use WiFi to communicate with the phone just fine.

Correct, and it doesn't have to be at your home only either. If your local gym or office has wifi, you can use also utilize this. You can keep your phone inside a locker or bag, and your watch essentially will connect to your phone WiFi instead of Bluetooth, which extends your distance by a lot, as long as you are still under the range of Wifi (what is the max range of wifi, anybody knows?)
 
Can you provide your source?


True and false. The Apple Watch will not connect to your home's wifi - but it WILL connect to your phone via your phone's wifi hot spot.

So, the phone <-> watch range is about 300 feet.
 
No - it uses AWDL.

Do you have a source for this? To my knowledge Apple has never mentioned AWDL nor anything related to peer to peer when discussing the Apple Watch. And it doesn't make sense since broadcasting such a powerful signal to reach the entire house with internal antennae would suck the watch battery dry, rather than just broadcasting the power needed to talk to a wifi hotspot with large external antennae.
 
My iPhone can connect to my car via BT when I'm upstairs at the opposite end of the house and my car gets started in the garage. I've lost phone contact with it switching automatically to car BT from iPhone.

My house is just under 5K sq ft. Use that distance estimate however you like. BT is quite powerful.
 
They spelled this out onstage at the March Keynote.

The Apple Watch and iPhone can talk to each other using the home Wifi network, giving you a greater connection range while at home.
 
They spelled this out onstage at the March Keynote.

The Apple Watch and iPhone can talk to each other using the home Wifi network, giving you a greater connection range while at home.

This was not spelled out during the event nor has Apple said anything about the Watch directly connecting to a WiFi. Lynch gave an example of being home and your iPhone ringing but did not state it would use your home WiFi to connect. Only that it would use WiFi if out of BT range.

Here is what Apple's press release says.

Apple said:
... Apple Watch also features Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 4.0 to pair seamlessly with your iPhone.
 
Correct, and it doesn't have to be at your home only either. If your local gym or office has wifi, you can use also utilize this. You can keep your phone inside a locker or bag, and your watch essentially will connect to your phone WiFi instead of Bluetooth, which extends your distance by a lot, as long as you are still under the range of Wifi (what is the max range of wifi, anybody knows?)

and if your gym doesn't have wi-fi it won't connect to the phone out of bluetooth range?
most gyms don't have free wi-fi
 
Do you have a source for this? To my knowledge Apple has never mentioned AWDL nor anything related to peer to peer when discussing the Apple Watch. And it doesn't make sense since broadcasting such a powerful signal to reach the entire house with internal antennae would suck the watch battery dry, rather than just broadcasting the power needed to talk to a wifi hotspot with large external antennae.

Re-read what I said - in the house, on a WiFi network with Bonjour / ZeroConf, that's what the watch will use. When outside, the watch will use AWDL with the phone to transfer large-ish assets like images, etc. Makes sense?
 
Re-read what I said - in the house, on a WiFi network with Bonjour / ZeroConf, that's what the watch will use. When outside, the watch will use AWDL with the phone to transfer large-ish assets like images, etc. Makes sense?
Maybe you should re-read his post as well; he asked you for your source for the above information.
 
and if your gym doesn't have wi-fi it won't connect to the phone out of bluetooth range?

most gyms don't have free wi-fi


My question is do you guys think they will both work on free wifi that requires you to accept or click before using the Internet. I often work in these environments and I kind of think the watch will have trouble connecting in these situations.
 
My question is do you guys think they will both work on free wifi that requires you to accept or click before using the Internet. I often work in these environments and I kind of think the watch will have trouble connecting in these situations.

Do you not have your phone within 30 feet of you at work?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.