Setup ?'s; Cellular Series 9, Cellular iPad Mini

[drrich2]

Got a weird situation and online searching hasn't solved it. Here's the situation. My wife has an AT&T unlimited cell plan; on it are 3 devices currently:

1.) Her iPhone 15 Pro.
2.) My iPhone 12 Pro Max.
3.) Our 5th grader's iPad Mini (5th generation), cellular + wifi model.

For her birthday, we have her a recently purchased cellular Series 9 Apple Watch. None of us have ever owned or used any Apple Watch before.

I'd like her to be able to make phone calls, such as if she needs to contact us. I would prefer that her phone not be linked to either my or my wife's phone #, as I'd rather she didn't get texts aimed at either of us and for her watch not to ring/buzz/whatever when she's in class.

What I did get from online searching suggests she'll need to use FaceTime Audio for this, whereas a user with both an iPhone and Apple Watch would share the phone number between them. That said, by using her watch's cellular connection, she should be able to make and receive calls via FaceTime Audio with no iPhone connected with the watch, right?

Next question - do you think we'll need to go by an AT&T Store to get the watch put on my wife's plan? Right now, our cost is around $200 a month; the iPad Mini cellular only added about $10/month.

I take it her watch will be able to send and receive texts via her iMessage account?

Do you think we'll be using her iPad Mini to set the watch up? Is that even a 'thing,' doing it from an iPad?

Is her iPad account being her own account, as a minor, likely to create problems? We want it to get her watch, not mine (e.g.: the iPad Mini used to be under my Apple I.D.; set her up an account and put it on that so she'd have her own Apple ecosystem experience, not my e-mail, texts, etc...).

Anything else that'd be handy for me to know?

Thanks in advance for all your help. I haven't even gotten it out of the box yet.

 

[Haga]

It will not work. You need a IPhone IOT set up an Apple Watch.

 

[drrich2]

It will not work. You need a IPhone IOT set up an Apple Watch.

Any thoughts on whether that can be done in such a way that Watch doesn't establish the iPhone's # as its own?

It stands to reason not everybody with an Apple Watch has an iPhone.

 

[drrich2]

Just found a web page on the issue of setting one up without the user having their own iPhone: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109...ets family members,benefits of an Apple Watch.

It says:

"With Family Setup, your family member who doesn't have their own iPhone can use their Apple Watch to do things like make phone calls, send messages, and share their location with you.

After you set up a watch for a family member, you can use your iPhone to manage some of the watch's capabilities.

Note that some Apple Watch features depend on having a companion iPhone, and aren't available on an Apple Watch that you pair using Family Setup."

It goes through the process. Hopefully it'll work for us.

 

[HiItsMe]

Just found a web page on the issue of setting one up without the user having their own iPhone: https://support.apple.com/en-us/109036#:~:text=Family Setup lets family members,benefits of an Apple Watch.

It says:

"With Family Setup, your family member who doesn't have their own iPhone can use their Apple Watch to do things like make phone calls, send messages, and share their location with you.

After you set up a watch for a family member, you can use your iPhone to manage some of the watch's capabilities.

Note that some Apple Watch features depend on having a companion iPhone, and aren't available on an Apple Watch that you pair using Family Setup."

It goes through the process. Hopefully it'll work for us.

We did this for my son before getting him his own iPhone. On the Watch app on one of the adult's phones, it will prompt you for if you want to add the new watch to the iPhone's apple ID or for a family member. Just follow the prompts and it will be easy after that. Setting up cellular may be a bit more tricky as ATT will want to pair it with a current phone number (though the watch does get assigned its own unique phone number so I guess you can just un-mirror it after that, perhaps).

 

[arc of the universe]

We did this for my son before getting him his own iPhone. On the Watch app on one of the adult's phones, it will prompt you for if you want to add the new watch to the iPhone's apple ID or for a family member. Just follow the prompts and it will be easy after that. Setting up cellular may be a bit more tricky as ATT will want to pair it with a current phone number (though the watch does get assigned its own unique phone number so I guess you can just un-mirror it after that, perhaps).

thanks.
i have a question.
are you saying that if you buy an apple Watch (that is cellular, not just GPS), and set it up through the Family Member process (where the family member doesn't need to have his/her own Watch), that ATT does not partition that family member watch its own mobile number? (partition is the tech term meaning: that ATT does not give that Watch its own unique mobile number?)
im confused.

 

[HiItsMe]

thanks.
i have a question.
are you saying that if you buy an apple Watch (that is cellular, not just GPS), and set it up through the Family Member process (where the family member doesn't need to have his/her own Watch), that ATT does not partition that family member watch its own mobile number? (partition is the tech term meaning: that ATT does not give that Watch its own unique mobile number?)
im confused.

ATT always gives every watch its own unique number. Then it mirrors your iPhone cell number to the new watch phone number such that if you get a call to either number, both devices ring. (I assume most people promptly forget the watch phone number and just use the watch as a mini extension of their phone.) In the case where it’s a family member’s watch and you don’t want it mirrored to your cell phone number, I’m guessing ATT can just leave that blank? But you’d have to explicitly tell them to do so as they’ll ask which phone number on your plan to mirror it to.

 

[arc of the universe]

ATT always gives every watch its own unique number. Then it mirrors your iPhone cell number to the new watch phone number such that if you get a call to either number, both devices ring. (I assume most people promptly forget the watch phone number and just use the watch as a mini extension of their phone.) In the case where it’s a family member’s watch and you don’t want it mirrored to your cell phone number, I’m guessing ATT can just leave that blank? But you’d have to explicitly tell them to do so as they’ll ask which phone number on your plan to mirror it to.

thank you for confirming that a Watch set up as a device using the Family Member way does in fact allocate a mobile number to that Watch. that matches with my understanding.