Can I call my iPhone from my Apple Watch?

The iPhone and the Apple Watch are sharing the same phone number. When you attempt to dial your iPhone from your Apple Watch, the cellular provider sees that the number is busy, because you have the line open on your Apple Watch.

Can you call you home phone number, from your home phone (assuming you have a land line), and expect one of the extension phones to ring in the house?

This is the same thing to the cellular carrier.

If you want to degrade your Apple Watch, you can setup an Apple Watch Family Plan, then your Apple Watch will have it own number.

Apple Watch Family Plan

Set up Apple Watch for a family member - Apple Support

Set up a family member’s Apple Watch - Apple Support

Some limitations: Cannot receive SMS/MMS messages, as that depends on a fully paired iPhone. Messaging is pretty much limited to Apple’s Messages, unless the messaging service provides an Apple Watch app. Alarms, alerts, notifications on the iPhone are not sent to the Apple Watch. Apple Pay via a credit card is not available. Also not available: Medications, respiratory rate, irregular heart rhythm notifications, ECG, AFib History, Cycle Tracking, Sleep, Wrist Temperature, Blood Oxygen, Walking Steadiness, Audiobooks, Camera Remote, News, Shortcuts, and the double tap gesture.

PS. They do communicate with each other all the time. They just do not do what you want them to do, not because of Apple, but because of the cellular carrier and the way they manage phone numbers.

You could conceivably call the second number on the iPhone if so configured, but both iPhone and Watch use the same phone number, so, no.

OK, that is what I thought. "It's strange that you can spend $1100 on a phone and $800 on a watch, yet they can't communicate with each other. Even when you pay a separate line fee for the watch so it can be used to call other numbers if you don't have your phone. I was dropping off a friend at the doctor's and gave her my watch to call me when she was done. That was a big mistake. But she did use the "find my phone" feature and it pinged me so I knew to go and get her. However, it was nice that she could call every other person that she knows, just not me.

Vernon Alexander wrote:

Can you communicate from your apple watch to your apple phone? This is an annoying question and I feel like I am the only one who has ever asked it based on my search results for this question. But If I lend someone my watch can they call my iphone? Or, how can my watch communicate with my phone if say, they are at the doctors with just my watch and they want to call me to come and pick them up?

No, as MrHoffman explained above, you can't call the phone that's connected to your watch from the watch.

Theoretically, if you message yourself, it would show up on the iPhone as a sent Message but I don't think there would be any notification.

Vernon Alexander wrote:

OK, that is what I thought. "It's strange that you can spend $1100 on a phone and $800 on a watch, yet they can't communicate with each other. Even when you pay a separate line fee for the watch so it can be used to call other numbers if you don't have your phone. I was dropping off a friend at the doctor's and gave her my watch to call me when she was done. That was a big mistake. But she did use the "find my phone" feature and it pinged me so I knew to go and get her. However, it was nice that she could call every other person that she knows, just not me.

This is effectively the same discussion as those folks who are sharing an Apple ID, but that do not wish the results of sharing an Apple ID; of shared data.

This all works entirely correctly for one person using both devices both together and individually. Set the mute on the iPhone, and the mute also happens on Watch, for instance. The Watch is closer to being a peripheral of the iPhone that can also work independently.

Having had enough folks get their settings clobbered and get their data clobbered and get their most precious photos permanently clobbered by loaning out their devices, I don’t recommend loaning.

Vernon Alexander wrote:

I am already paying two service fees, one for the watch and one for the phone, so I should get a third? I guess I am not that desperate to use them as two devices to call myself. :).

Around here, that’s one plan with an add-on device and an incremental charge all sharing the same telephone number. Not two plans. This all works akin to a party line from many years ago.

If you want separate telephone numbers and separate devices, please contact your carrier and set up a two-separate-lines cellular plan, or add a second line, and set up the Watch with Family Sharing. This gets two separate numbers. Two private lines. Not a shared or party line.

Or get a burner iPhone or a “free with plan” or other random cellphone phone. A second line would also work, but not the way you envision this.

And again, send your feedback to Apple.

So, if it’s free you want it, but if there’s a cost to the convenience, then no go. I think you discovered the free methods, email and Find My. If you need voice communication, your cellular carrier will charge you.

If your iPhone has an eSIM, get a second line and they can call that number from the Watch.

Can you communicate from your apple watch to your apple phone? This is an annoying question and I feel like I am the only one who has ever asked it based on my search results for this question. But If I lend someone my watch can they call my iphone? Or, how can my watch communicate with my phone if say, they are at the doctors with just my watch and they want to call me to come and pick them up?

iPhone and Apple Watch are both intended to be single user devices, and in this case the same user.

If you want a separate Watch not tied to your iPhone, set up Watch with Family Sharing.

As for a doctor’s office visit, the receptionist will undoubtedly be willing to make a call for a pickup.

It’s probably easier to keep an older iPhone around as a burner if this happens at all often, though.

Send your feedback to Apple, too: Product Feedback - Apple

PS: I wouldn’t expect a text to trigger a notification on other devices because it is you sending the message to an other, and not you sending a message to loaned not-ready-yourself yourself.

MrHoffman wrote:

PS: I wouldn’t expect a text to trigger a notification on other devices because it is you sending the message to an other, and not you sending a message to loaned not-ready-yourself yourself.

That was my thought. Your workarounds are better than mine.

What? Who would share an Apple ID? And, is that just as bad as letting someone use your watch? I understand your concern about someone using my watch to delete data, but can they actually do that from the watch? It would be nice to have some communication from watch to phone using the walkie-talkie app. I let her use my watch because she doesn't own a cell phone. However I do have a an older Apple Watch, so setting that up for her might be an option, although I would have to pay my service provider for the extra line.

Here you pay a fee for each line you want to use. For us, one line for iPhone one for Apple Watch.

I am paying for two lines that usually work as one, but if I wanted to cannot call one to the other.

However, they were able to send me an e-mail.

If you are paying a more than about $10/month U.S. (plus or minus) for the Apple Watch cellular service, you should be looking for a different iPhone/Apple Watch cellular carrier

Apple Watch - Carriers - Apple

Setting up your older Apple Watch on the Family Plan might be a better solution long term. See my previous post with pointers to the Family Plan setup web pages. The old Apple Watch does need to be a Series 4 cellular or newer.

However, if you have an older iPhone, that might be a better solution for your friend. Have it use one of the less expensive pay-as-you-go plans. There are a lot of MNVO carriers that offer inexpensive cellular plans. I suggest an older iPhone, as chances are the battery would last longer than an older Apple Watch battery attempting to maintain a cellular signal all day (unless the older Apple Watch battery is in really good shape).

I am already paying two service fees, one for the watch and one for the phone, so I should get a third? I guess I am not that desperate to use them as two devices to call myself. :).