Do you need to have a phone to have a watch. Would it not be enough to download the watch app to a mac book or desk top?
You can set up an Apple Watch for a Family member, that does not have an iPhone, but in general you will need an iPhone to be paired to your Appel Watch.
You can set up an Apple Watch for a Family member, that does not have an iPhone, but in general you will need an iPhone to be paired to your Appel Watch.
If a Family member sets up the Apple Watch for the use without an iPhone, the options for using the Apple Watch are limited:
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With Family Setup, your family member who doesn't have their own iPhone can use their Apple Watch to do things like make phone calls, send messages, and share their location with you.
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copied from: Set up Apple Watch for a family member - Apple Support
watchOS updates are also mainly being installed via the iPhone. In case you will have to set your watch back to factory settings or restore from a backup, you will just need to have your iPhone at hand, and not your Mac or laptop.
And there are a number of apps that are not available in macOS, for example the Health App, Fitness App, and all other apps that can exchange data between the apps on the Apple Watch and their counterparts on the iPhone.
Thank you, this is helpful. If a family member can be linked to someone else's phone, why can't it just be paired via a mac book or desktop? A family member would not necessarily be near your phone but their watch would still work?
Watches, Phones and Mac Books
