HT204505: Set up your Apple Watch
Learn about Set up your Apple Watch
Q: How close does your Apple Watch need to be to your iPhone in order to work?
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May 17, 2016 6:33 AMby brenden dv,Hi Khola1,
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities! I'm sure we can help you out with your question. Many of the Apple Watch features can indeed work independently of the paired iPhone. For more information, you may find the following articles helpful:
Use Apple Watch without its paired iPhone - Apple Support
About Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on Apple Watch - Apple Support
If your Apple Watch isn't connected to your iPhone - Apple Support
Regards
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May 18, 2016 6:35 AMby Jonathan UK,HelpfulHi
Once you have paired your watch, in order to be able to use all of the features of Apple Watch, it needs to be connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth.
Normal Bluetooth range is around 33 feet / 10 meters. The actual range will vary in practice due to wireless interference, but you don't necessarily need to have your iPhone on or immediately around you (within arm's reach, for example) for the devices to maintain their Bluetooth connection.
Your watch can also perform certain functions when it is not connected to your iPhone, including some that are available when your watch is connected to a known Wi-Fi network.
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May 17, 2016 11:53 PMby Jonathan UK,Apple Watch still offers a number of features when the paired iPhone is either unavailable (eg turned off) or not within Bluetooth range:
- Play music from a playlist that has been synced to Apple Watch.
- Use the watch to tell the time, along with alarms, timers and the stopwatch.
- Keep track of your activity (Stand, Move, Exercise) with the Activity app.
- Track workouts with the Workout app.
- See your heart rate.
- Display photos from the synced photo album.
- Use Apple Pay to make purchases.
If your watch is within range of a (2.4GHz) Wi-Fi network that your iPhone has connected to before, but your iPhone and watch are not presently connected via Bluetooth, the watch can connect to that network and you can also still:
- Send and receive messages using iMessage.
- Send and receive Digital Touch messages.
- Use Siri.
- Make and receive phone calls and send and receive SMS messages - if you have Wi-Fi calling enabled (service availability also depends on your carrier).
- Check the weather.
- Track stocks.
More information:
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May 18, 2016 12:05 AMby Jonathan UK,You asked:
Khola1 wrote:
How close does your Apple Watch need to be to your iPhone in order to work?
Cpan you leave your phone at home if the watch is paired and how close does it have to be?
To clarify: Carolyn's reply is misleading as an answer to your question, which it does not address accurately.
Carolyn Samit wrote:
Yes, you can leave your watch at home. It should stay paired regardless. Your iPhone and Apple Watch don't have to be in range of one another 24/7.
I paired my Apple Watch with my iPhone this past December without any problems.
It is correct to say that your watch and iPhone will remain paired. This will remain the case until you unpair them (they remain paired, for example, even when one, the other or both devices are turned off).
However, as described in my previous replies, your watch will only work with a reduced range of features whenever it is not connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth (with available features varying depending on whether your watch can connect to Wi-Fi as a fallback). Note in particular that Apple Watch does not presently, for example, have built-in cellular or GPS capabilities.
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May 18, 2016 6:44 AMby Khola1,TThank you for ALL your responses. I was hoping that even though the iPhone was on , but at home, which is FAR greater than the 33 ft, that my granddaughter could still get messages, send a message or take a call/make a call. It sounds like she can still use most of the watch functions but not the calling , without the phone nearby, and perhaps not the messaging as well. I am trying to avoid the carrying of the phone at school, because she's already had it stolen once(and because she called me right away I had it completely shut down and whomever took it just had an expensive paperweigh- it was returned by an anonymous girl so we got it back). If the watch is on her wrist then at least she won't be laying it down.
i Appreciate your going to the trouble to answer.
AGain, thank you.
