Why can’t I call my kids watch from phone?

My partner has a new Apple Watch, but when I call her, I cannot get through to the watch from my phone. She, however, can reach me by using just her watch. Siri says that her watch is unavailable. Why and what needs to be done?

I have the same issue and this response is not at all helpful. With family sharing using Verizon, my kids apple watch can call and text without a problem. Any phone but mine can call or text him. However, my iphone (the one used as the Family Organizer phone) cannot call his Apple Watch. It can call all other devices. My childs watch has a separate phone line set up thru Verizon under my plan. Everything worked initially, but now I cannot call him. I have tried restarting both devices. Thanks.

I figured this out finally, after trying everything including updating my phone, updating the watch, and finally a reset of the watch. Nothing worked, but as I was scrolling thru the contacts after the reset I noticed they had doubled up, and went to delete the 2nd one and found that for unknown reasons, my number only (the parent phone) was BLOCKED. So, check that your number is not blocked. That fixed the problem.

I m so happy to see your comment! I had exactly the same issue! No idea how come only my phone number is blocked. Did Apple just automatically block the paired phone number ? Weird ! Thank you!

I have the same issue. Because of your previous comments about blocked numbers and contact lists, I paid more attention to that. My phone number was not blocked or duplicated. Note that my watch phone is set to receive phone calls only from the contact list (of course, we need it). When I changed this setting to receive phone calls from anyone, I was able to call my kids. Therefore, somehow, the issue is that my number was considered not in my kid's contact list.

I checked my kid's contact list. For whatever reason, my number doesn't have the "Call" button while other contacts have it. I guess the watch might think my number is not in the list or is blocked or something. Who knows.

Because of that, I added my phone number to her watch again. So in her watch, there are 2 contacts have the same number: the original one that was not considered in her contact list somehow (weird), and one is under a new name. Of course, I changed back the setting to receive phone calls only from the contact list. Problem solved. When I call my kids, the screen shows both numbers. It is not neat, but at least it works.

If anyone figures out anything better, please share. Thanks a lot.

I have had this problem. If I call my son with FaceTime then it works and it’s just FaceTime audio. If it’s not FaceTime it does not work. Still trying to figure out why.

Hello Mboeckers,

Thanks for choosing the Apple Support Communities. We see you want to make and receive calls on an Apple Watch.

To start, you will want to determine if the Apple Watch is GPS ( Wi-Fi only ) Or has a cellular plan. If it is Wi-Fi only, your daughter will want to have her phone handy. Once that is determined, follow these steps to set up the watch to make and receive phone calls.

Make phone calls on Apple Watch - Apple Support

"Make a call

1. Open the Phone app  on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap Contacts, then turn the Digital Crown to scroll.
3. Tap the contact you want to call, then tap the phone button.
4. Tap FaceTime Audio to start a FaceTime audio call, or tap a phone number.
5. Turn the Digital Crown to adjust volume during the call.

Tip: To call someone you’ve recently spoken with, tap Recents, then tap a contact. To call a person you’ve designated as a favorite in the Phone app on your iPhone, tap Favorites, then tap a contact.

Enter a phone number on Apple Watch

1. Open the Phone app  on your Apple Watch.
2. Tap Keypad, enter the number, then tap .

You can also use the keypad to enter additional digits during a call. Just tap , then tap the Keypad button.

Make calls over Wi-Fi

If your cellular carrier offers Wi-Fi calling, you can use your Apple Watch to make and receive calls over Wi-Fi instead of the cellular network—even when your paired iPhone isn’t with you or is turned off. Your Apple Watch just has to be within range of a Wi-Fi network that your iPhone has connected to in the past.

To see if your carrier offers Wi-Fi calling, see the Apple Support article Make a call with Wi-Fi calling, and enable Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone.

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone, tap Wi-Fi Calling, then turn on both Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone and Add Wi-Fi Calling For Other Devices.
2. Open the Phone app  on your Apple Watch.
3. Choose a contact, then tap .
4. Select the phone number or FaceTime address you want to call.

Note: You can make emergency calls over Wi-Fi, but when possible, use your iPhone over a cellular connection instead—your location information is more accurate. You can do this on your Apple Watch by temporarily disconnecting from Wi-Fi."

We hope this helps.

Cheers!

Thank you so much! I’ve been unable to use my son’s Apple Watch for the last two months!!! Thank you!

There could be low power mode turned on that limits cellular activity. You should also check with your provider to see if you sim is setup properly.

Children’s unpaired iWatch one I can call and the other I can only do FaceTime call otherwise it goes to a VM that has not been set up. She also can not make a regular phone call out, only FaceTime calls. I have tried the other suggestions and has not worked to solve the problem

How do you unblock?

Yes, I have the exact same problem. My daughter cannot receive or make any other calls other than FaceTime . We have T-Mobile. We’ve been on the phone for hours, still no solution.

I have the same problem. I’ve unpaired/reset/checked contacts/etc and still my kid can’t make or receive calls. Anyone find a solution?

This was my reason as well and deleting the duplicate contact worked for me too.