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Just got a new Apple Watch with cellular connection. I can’t send or receive TEXT messages. I can send and receive calls and emails just fine. I have Verizon. The green bar above the messages hangs and returns a failed to send. When I turn my phone back on, the text goes through if I resend it.
Apple Watch Edition
Hello Tatebiz,
Congratulations on your new Apple Watch! We’d like to help and get those messages sending and receiving on your watch as expected.
Take a look at If you can’t send or receive messages on your Apple Watch. It has some steps for you to try.
If none of those steps work, try testing the cellular connection on your watch. To do this, put your iPhone in Airplane mode, or disable Bluetooth from Settings > Bluetooth (toggling Bluetooth in Control Center will not work), then disable Wi-Fi from the Apple Watch Control Center (or leaving a Wi-Fi network's coverage). It may take up to 60 seconds for the Watch to establish a cellular connection.
If your Watch successfully shows a green cellular icon in the Watch Control Center, along with signal 'dots', cellular connectivity is working as intended. You may want to contact Apple Support.
Take care!
Jeremy_v
I've done all of the above, including 2 hours on the phone with Verizon. No one seems to know why I can’t send or receive texts to an android device. I can do everything else on cellular alone. It is not a signal strength issue either. I’ve seen others with same problem on the forums. So, please advise.
Hi Tatebiz,
From what you are saying, it sounds like you've done a lot of troubleshooting on your own so far. And since you've worked with your carrier too, we would suggest reaching to contact Apple Support to have them start looking into this with you.
Have a good evening!
deggie - My phone IS turned on. But, unlike as advertised, the watch will not send or receive text messages from an android device... ie. I can only communicate via text with other Apple devices. Can you leave your iPhone home, go out of its range and send or receive a text message to or get one from an android friend?
And yes I can but I am on AT&T
Lol. I called Apple first! After an hour of troubleshooting (all settings were correct) they told me it must be a connectivity issue and to contact my carrier. So, here I am - back full circle.
You are wasting your time, your watch is working as designed, to send/receive SMS texts your iPhone must be turned on. Since I rarely turn my iPhone off it hasn’t been a problem for me.
So why the title of your question?
Can’t send text messages when phone is off
