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Worth getting cellular for Apple Watch?
- Thread starter net777
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I’ve had the s3 SS w cellular connected for two years and it’s been worth every penny for my situation.
I have to be reachable 24/7 for work and my personal sports are masters swimming and paddleboarding. The watch has been perfect. I’ve received texts/calls while paddling or swimming (even UNDERwater) and I’m able to return texts/calls from my board or pool. I can even read email (though tiny) if something important comes in. I feel an extra layer of security when paddling in the Gulf of Mexico because I know I can call for help - even if I were to get separated from my board.
A few weeks ago, my neighbor fell down in a hotel room and couldn’t get to her phone. She used her s3 watch to alert the hotel staff and they broke into her room to get her the help she needed. Her grown sons now insist that she wear it at all times
She’s about to upgrade to the s5 for the Fall Detection feature: (from website)
Fall detection.
Apple Watch Series 5 can detect that you’ve fallen. When an incident like this occurs, a hard fall alert is delivered, and you can easily initiate a call to emergency services or dismiss the alert. If you’re unresponsive after 60 seconds, the emergency call will be placed automatically. Your emergency contacts will then be notified and sent your location.
I have to be reachable 24/7 for work and my personal sports are masters swimming and paddleboarding. The watch has been perfect. I’ve received texts/calls while paddling or swimming (even UNDERwater) and I’m able to return texts/calls from my board or pool. I can even read email (though tiny) if something important comes in. I feel an extra layer of security when paddling in the Gulf of Mexico because I know I can call for help - even if I were to get separated from my board.
A few weeks ago, my neighbor fell down in a hotel room and couldn’t get to her phone. She used her s3 watch to alert the hotel staff and they broke into her room to get her the help she needed. Her grown sons now insist that she wear it at all times
She’s about to upgrade to the s5 for the Fall Detection feature: (from website)Fall detection.
Apple Watch Series 5 can detect that you’ve fallen. When an incident like this occurs, a hard fall alert is delivered, and you can easily initiate a call to emergency services or dismiss the alert. If you’re unresponsive after 60 seconds, the emergency call will be placed automatically. Your emergency contacts will then be notified and sent your location.
Oh dam thanks for the info! I wouldn’t have thought you have to stay connected. I’m probably going to use cell service, but the series 5 still can’t use international data in general so I think I prob still can’t hang up by this logic yeah?
The Apple Watch 5 is capable of international emergency calling, this is new to Watch 5. Since no one has one yet, I don’t know if the feature will work internationally with an unactivated plan, but I’d kind of think it would if the country supports ES calling with an unactivated phone, but I’ve been wrong before. Please don’t tell anyone though, lol.
Haha I get my Hermès on Friday, get to Paris on Saturday, get robbed on Sunday, test Intl es....report back on Mac rumors on Monday
No. Roaming doesn’t work on LTE (unless that’s also coming to S5; that’s something that would definitely make me upgrade).
There goes my plan to leave my phone in my room and just take my watch and air pods next month on Hoilday then....
The new feature is that the new watch supports most bands used in Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and Oceanic countries.
I was so expecting them to announce roaming support but they didn't. The watch hardware can do it now so not sure what's stopping them. As someone who travels a lot, I would love to have roaming.
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There is no reason for it to not be capable of roaming. It supports most LTE bands (at least the main ones) used in all countries worldwide. It is now just a software lock (or the software completely lacking the feature).
My iPhone plan comes with 30 GB high speed worldwide roaming and Apple Watch plan shares everything in my iPhone plan so I just need Apple to add the feature. Even though the hardware is capable I feel like they will add it to maybe the next watch or the one after and make it exclusive and claim it requires different hardware.
It may come with a WatchOS update I hope, I’d like to see it too. I’m unsure how impending tariffs are affecting launch features, it’s rumored that they want to import/grandfather as many devices as possible beforehand, which makes a lot of sense. But WatchOS and iOS/iPadOS may ship without some features to get the hardware in under the wire. But admit that I don’t know for sure.
If you want stainless steel or titanium, you have no choice. But if you’re getting aluminum, I wouldn’t get the cellular. If you’re someone who has your phone with you all the time anyway, it’s unnecessary.
I wouldn’t necessarily buy a cellular if the stainless steel models did not have to be cellular models.
I have a feeling that this may be a carrier constraint. Presumably roaming required the mutual agreement of the customer’s primary carrier and the carrier on whose network the customer is roaming. Perhaps nobody has been able to agree to allow two devices for each phone number to roam.
Huh? You expecting multiple cellular devices to ring off of one number while subscribed to different carrier networks?
How exactly do you think that would work?
This might be the weirdest complaint about it.. Why would you want your watch and phone on separate carriers? How would you expect them to work together?
I've recently switched to EE in the UK (one of only 2 carriers that support watch cellular), and it's game changing, i've had the cellular watch over a year but without using the capability, it's honestly so nice when at the gym or running being able to leave the phone at home but still stream music and be reachabile. +1 recommendation from me
I am not OP but such thing is doable but will require Apple to implement it in the software, exclusively use data and the iPhone must be turned on 24/7 for the watch to function which is why it is never going to happen.
The only other option is for Apple to do something like Google Voice and start spoofing Caller IDs (or offer its own numbers) like Google does to match yours. One would wish this is an option/service but I doubt Apple is interested in offering something like this.
That was the how. Now the why. I guess OP might be using a MVNO (like Visible in the US for example) and wanted to have cellular functionality from another carrier.
I bought my first Apple Watch about 2 months ago, and believe it or not, the salesperson at the Apple store talked me OUT of cellular on the device. The extra expense ($100 for the device, and ~$15 per month to your cellular carrier for carrying the device) wasn't really the determining factor for me. The fact that there were very few if any places that I went where I wouldn't also have my phone with me anyway. If you do a lot of working out, traveling, or whatever where your phone won't be nearby for long periods of time, and you still need to be connected, you may find it worth it. My exercise regimen requires about an hour at a time, where all I really care about is listening to a podcast. Without cellular I can still put a podcast (or two) on my wrist, go offline from calls and texts during the workout, and still know what time it is. No cellular is almost a feature for me.
Do-Not-Disturb works on cellular watches just like it does on the non-cellular.
There's also a setting to automatically enable DND when starting a workout. It's in the Watch app on the phone under General->DoNotDisturb.
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