Making calls between Apple devices WITHOUT a Wi Fi connection

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Level 1

4 points

Making calls between Apple devices WITHOUT a Wi Fi connection

My family has three Apple devices- two iphones, one apple watch - and the devices don't want to exchange calls or texts without being signed into an online network. Obviously this isn't acceptable, since a) any one or two of two given devices could be out of range of a known network and b) we can't all spring for unlimited internet access anytime/anywhere.

The help chat has suggested making sure Wi Fi calling is turned off on all three devices, after which point we should be able to call/text without Wi Fi. So my two questions are:

a) How can I do this on my son's Apple watch, since the only feature is Wi Fi in general (no Wi Fi Calling)

b) Has anyone else had this kind of problem? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

iPhone 11, iOS 17

Posted on Dec 27, 2023 4:16 PM

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Answer 1

KaeBFly

Level 6

8,647 points

Dec 27, 2023 6:28 PM in response to BaritoneVox

Maybe I am misunderstanding you. So you have 2 iPhones and 1 Apple Watch. Are both iPhones on an active cellular plan and you are having issues making calls or receiving texts using the cellular service (it will only work when you are connected to a WiFi connection)? The Apple Watch…is it a GPS only device or the GPS + Cellular version? And if it is the latter does it have an active cellular connection? Is it paired to one of the iPhones or is it a Family Share connection where the user doesn’t have their own iPhone (and if it is a cellular version does it have an active standalone plan with a carrier)? Ultimately if you don’t have plans on all 3 devices I’m not sure how you want to still be able to make calls and texts when not connected to WiFi. Would love to know what non-Apple phone let you make calls and receive texts even when you weren’t connected to WiFi/hotspot. Something that can do that would be the beginning of the end of cellular service providers.

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