Replacing iPhone with an LTE Apple Watch

[TSE]

Has anyone here done this? I know you can't completely go iPhone-less as it depends on the iPhone for a lot of the upkeep, but as a daily driver, has anyone used an Apple Watch and left their iPhone at home? What are your experiences? What features is the Apple Watch currently missing while you are out in the field with an iPhone in the drawer?

 

[mk313]

I haven't tried it as a daily driver, but I have used it pretty extensively. Here are my thoughts. Overall it works very well, with the following caveats.
1. If you're not near wifi, the battery won't make it through a full day (for me at least & that is all dependent upon how good of a cellular signal you get)
2. The second biggest drawback is with texting. It works ok in a pinch, but I find myself not enjoying long text conversations from the watch. I use Siri as it's way faster than typing out replies (maybe not an issue with the new text option, but I have a Series 5), and the frustrating thing is when it misunderstands a word & you have to cancel the reply & start over. Not terrible if it happens now & again, but using it all day, it adds up.
3. Mail is hit or miss. Usually it's very good at getting new mail, but every now & then it gets stuck on one mail view & won't update for a few days. If I were using it exclusively, that would be a real issue.
4. Viewing attachments. If someone sends me a picture or a PDF or whatever, I can't figure out a way to blow it up & view just a section of the photo. It makes it hard to understand what's going on in many cases.
5. You can't move around calendar events. I do this a lot, but that's probably going to be different for different people, but once you have an appt set for 10 am, it's staying there if you're watch only.
6. You can't set reminders for your new appts. I think if you set your appts to all have reminders set automatically on your phone/mac, then it will carry over, but I don't. I want to add reminders only to certain events & that won't work from the watch.

 

[anthonyd]

Excellent list of caveats. I can really stress #1 - without wifi an LTE Apple Watch only lasts 4-6hrs.

I appreciate the cellular capability, and do rely on it as backup - but it can't replace an iPhone not being around for majority of time.

 

[mk313]

I thought of one more. For me, Siri is the primary means of input and for some tasks the only way to add stuff (creating a new calendar entry). Siri is ok if you’re by yourself but can be awkward if you’re using it in front of others.

 

[mk313]

And one more. When you are on a call, you can’t multitask (check your calendar, etc).

 

[harriska2]

And one more. When you are on a call, you can’t multitask (check your calendar, etc).

Well aren‘t you the dream killer 😛

 

[3Rock]

I use my Apple Watch to use at the grocery or department store checkouts(Credit card) and for calls. I leave my phone at home most of the time unless absolutely necessary. That’s why I got the cellular Apple Watch. Don’t need both when I’m out and about.

 

[Jl006p]

Has anyone here done this? I know you can't completely go iPhone-less as it depends on the iPhone for a lot of the upkeep, but as a daily driver, has anyone used an Apple Watch and left their iPhone at home? What are your experiences? What features is the Apple Watch currently missing while you are out in the field with an iPhone in the drawer?

I bought a cellular Apple Watch so I could go to the gym without carrying around my bulky phone. I stream my music and track my workouts. I love it. I'll do the same if I go on a walk/hike. The battery will not last an entire day if you do that though, especially if you're streaming. The Series 7 does support fast charging now so it's not as painfully slow to charge up anymore and the series 7 makes it easier to text b/c of the full size keyboard.

You'll still need an iPhone but my advice if you want to ween off is to buy the crappiest one so you spend less time on it. iPhone SE comes to mind.

My work phone used to be iPhone 6s and my screen time went down b/c I hated how small the screen was lol.

 

[Spindel]

I sometimes leave my phone at home. But usually only for shorter excursions.

In my experience the battery isn't good enough for a full day of phone less. But i e going to the beach for a couple of hours with the kids in the summer or playing in the snow in the winter it's nice to not have the phone on you but still being able to make or receive calls or texts.

I have a AW 6.

 

[TSE]

So - it seems like the conclusions are that, aside from frustrations of working with a smaller screen, the battery life just isn't there to replace an iPhone. So not yet can an Apple Watch practically replace an iPhone, short from short trips.

That's a shame! Hope they do make the battery life better coming up - battery tech really needs to evolve. Hasn't changed since the 80's and is holding up so many industries from taking that next leap forward - auto industry and wearables being the main ones.

 

[Itinj24]

Another drawback is no camera.