To The London Fella... given you haven't posted since Oct, I assume you returned the watch?
I've been following apps/features related to separation alerts for years now. Tried all the apps, played with all the settings, even bought the Tile and other gadgets.
I confirm that the native separation feature is NOT reliable. But I see that you were so hopeful that this would work and that this was the only reason you bought the watch, so my question is: why not consider a non-native app if the Apple app doesn't work?
I'm testing the only 2 viable apps right now (it's been one month): Mobeleash and Phone Buddy. Phone Buddy has a lot more options and REALLY works (yes some false positives). And I still have the Apple feature enabled, so at all times, testing all three:
- Phone Buddy works 100% of the time + false positives
- Mobeleash works 70% of the time + false positives
- Find my Devices (separation feature) works ... hardly ever? It worked twice
Anyway, if this is such a crucial feature for you (and I agree, honestly, that's mainly what I rely on my watch for + now able to put my phone in my bag for less chance of losing and can just peek at email/other notifications on my watch instead)... and if the native app doesn't work, I would try Phone Buddy.