Can I turn off Phone calls on a family member’s Apple Watch?

Hello edfromacton,

Thank you for that clarification. While there isn't a way to prevent phone calls while allowing messages to be received, you can set communication limits to limit phone call, FaceTime, and Messages communication. You can find the steps for enabling this feature listed below and outlined in more detail via the following article.

1. "If you haven’t already turned on Contacts in iCloud on your family member’s device, go to Settings  > [child’s name] > iCloud, then turn on Contacts.
2. Note: You can only manage your family member’s communication if they’re using Contacts in iCloud.
3. On your family member’s device, go to Settings  > Screen Time.
4. If you haven’t already turned on Screen Time, tap Turn On Screen Time, tap Continue, then tap This is My Child’s iPhone.
5. Tap Communication Limits, then do any of the following:

• Limit communication at any time: Tap During Screen Time, then select Contacts Only, Contacts & Groups with at Least One Contact, or Everyone.
• Limit communication during downtime: Tap During Downtime. The option you selected for During Screen Time is already set here. You can change this setting to Specific Contacts.
• If you select Specific Contacts, then tap either Choose From My Contacts or Add New Contact to select people you want to allow communication with during downtime.
• Manage a child’s contacts: If you’re using Family Sharing, you can view, edit, add, or delete your child’s contacts. Tap Manage [child’s name] Contacts. If your child already has contacts in iCloud, they receive a notification on their device asking them to approve the request to manage them. If they don’t have contacts, they don’t get a notification and you can immediately add contacts. When you manage your child’s contacts, a new row appears beneath Manage [child’s name] Contacts to show how many contacts your child has. Tap the row to view and edit the contacts."

Set up Screen Time for a family member on iPhone - Apple Support

If you would like to provide feedback to Apple about communication limits, you can do so via the Product Feedback website. This would ensure the right individuals is able to receive and review the feedback.

Have a great day!

Hello edfromacton,

Thanks for posting in the Apple Support Communities. We're happy to look into this with you. When you say you want to turn off phone calls, do you mean you want to disable cellular services on the watch? If that's not it, take a look at Set up Apple Watch for a family member - Apple Support, under the section: Manage a family member's Apple Watch after you set it up, you'll find the features you're able to adjust.

Best regards.