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Apple Highlights Three Benefits of Apple Watch for Kids Without iPhones

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Since watchOS 7 in 2020, parents have been able to pair their iPhone to their child's Apple Watch. Formerly known as Apple Watch Family Setup, and now marketed as Apple Watch For Your Kids, this option allows kids to use an Apple Watch with a cellular plan for texting, calling, and location sharing, even if they do not own an iPhone.

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For children, a cellular Apple Watch can be a stepping stone towards an iPhone, and Apple has now marketed that idea in a series of new ads.

On its YouTube channel in Canada, Apple has shared three short videos advertising the benefits of the Apple Watch For Your Kids feature. In each video, a child uses their cellular Apple Watch to text their parents. And in one of the videos, a parent reminds their child who is secretly at a shopping mall that they can see their child's location.

Three key benefits of a cellular Apple Watch for kids: texting, calling, and location sharing.

"Apple Watch with cellular lets your kids text, call and location share, all without their own phone," says each video's description.


Apple Watch For Your Kids requires a child to have an Apple Watch Series 4 or newer with watchOS 7 and later, while the parent must have an iPhone XS or later. A cellular Apple Watch is recommended for full functionality, but a limited set of features are available on Apple Watch models with Wi-Fi only.

More details are available on the Apple Watch For Your Kids page, and in a support document.

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Top Rated Comments

C
CobaltJacket
12 months ago
I fully agree with the three use cases, and my youngest uses a watch instead of a phone. He also happens to be a heart transplant recipient, so we use it for heart rate monitoring, and it contains his emergency medical info.

Disclosure: I am co-author on a paper about using Apple Watches to monitor kids in heart failure.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
12 months ago
These are a great choice for kids, I agree

I wish they'd go even further with Apple Watch and make it truly standalone and never require an iPhone.

I've considered "Apple Watch only" as a possible long term solution to the lack of small phone options anymore.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
mcewen98
12 months ago
The implementation of the family setup for a child having only a watch without a phone is poor and sloppy. It just doesn't work well and feels like apple bolted on it on after the fact, similar to parental controls in general. An SE watch running only on a cellular gets quite poor battery life as well, and at many schools you can't get on wifi due to the captive portals and log in process that don't work on a watch without a browser.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
MacMikePro
12 months ago

It sounds like it's something else I want my kids distracted with.
You're missing the point. The point is an iPhone would be WAAYYY more distracting. An Apple Watch can't really do too much on it's own and therefore would not be distracting, so if you want the ability to call and text your child and see their location without them owning a distracting cell phone, this is absolutely the best solution.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TETENAL Avatar
TETENAL
12 months ago
Why is this for kids only? As an adult one might want to use an Apple Watch without an iPhone too. Maybe a Mac is enough for some people. The Watch should be independent.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
12 months ago

These states, California, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, are banning smartphones in school I wonder if they will expand to smartwatches.
My kids go to school in one of those states and smartwatches are banned as well, at least at their school.

They drop off both in the morning upon entering and pick them up when leaving for the day.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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