Who has used an Apple Watch 3 as a GPS device for kids?

Apple Watch Series 1 does not have built-in GPS, but Series 2 & 3 do.

There are also two different versions of Apple Watch Series 3. Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS) does not have a built-in cellular capability. Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) models support a built-in cellular feature, subject to having a compatible service plan from a supported carrier:

• Apple Watch - Compare - Apple
• Apple Watch Series 3 - Apple

An Apple Watch Series 2, Series 3 (GPS) or Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) could potentially be used to help locate your daughter, but keep in mind that various caveats apply to their use for that purpose. I have provided provided some introductory information below about related Apple services. You may find it most helpful to visit an Apple Store and discuss your requirements in more detail. If buying an Apple Watch from Apple, free personal setup is also available to help you configure and start using it. Location sharing Under Family, with relevant sharing permissions the Find My iPhone app on your iPhone (or via iCloud.com in a web browser) could be used to locate her devices, potentially including an Apple Watch:

• Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support
• Share your location with your family - Apple Support
• Find My iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch - Official Apple Support

With or without using Family Sharing, Find my Friends can be used to locate contacts who have agreed to share their location with you. If a contact is wearing an Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) and does not have their iPhone with them, then Apple advises that their location will be tracked using their Apple Watch.

I bought one so I could contact/locate my 10 year old. We have an iPhone 6s to go with. It works great. I can get a hold of him if he’s at a friend’s or he can text or call me if he needs to. We leave the phone on the charger pretty much constantly and let him take the watch. We’d prefer he not play games on the phone all day and we know that he’d lose it anyway. The watch, at least, stays on his body, so he won’t leave it somewhere.

We also bought a rubber bumper and a screen protector for it and Apple Care+ just in case. Had it since September. So far so good.

Depends on the age and responsibility of the kids, but I don’t think it is a practical option in most cases.

The GPS functionality is severely restricted if the phone doesn’t have communication. It can determine a position fix (lat/long) but that is more or less useless without internet to provide the map on which it is marked.

If you intend to use it as a real-time child tracker it needs to be able to communicate back to you. That means either the paired phone must be within range (Bluetooth, approx 30m reliable) or you have to go for the LTE cellular version.

I can see two other potential points to consider.

1. Even with the host iPhone out of range some communication functionality may be available through WiFi. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, but at least you could monitor on the iPhone.

2. Consider the potential risk of putting a seriously expensive gadget on a child’s arm. To a schoolyard bully or a street thief it could be pure temptation which leads to serious distress or even harm to your child.

Also... to add a bit more. We had the Gizmo Gadget before we got the Watch Series 3 for our son. The Gizmo sucked. Bad reception and the speaker was garbled. Plus I hate Verizon and that’s the only other network you can get it on. AT&T’s cellular watch had hideous reviews and I didn’t bother even though that’s our carrier.

Just beware... I had a screen crack issue with my own Series 3 watch... put it on the charger one night, woke up the next morning and the screen had cracked all around the edges like it had popped out... it was unpleasant trying to get Apple to cover it under warranty. But, there are several threads and quite a few people experiencing this issue. So far my son’s watch is fine. So is my husband’s... I hope the replacement they send me doesn’t do that again.

I am a kid and I have a apple watch series three. My apple watch does not connect to cellular.