- can't send/receive text without phone

Question

Level 1

8 points

- can't send/receive text without phone

For the first time, I forgot my phone at home today. Went 1.8 miles away with my Apple Watch 3 with cellular and GPS. I could not receive nor send text without phone nearby. I could place an outgoing call. Watch and iPhone 8 are both up to date. Once I returned home, both watch and iPhone were restarted. Drove 2 miles away without my phone and returned home. Same issue. Could not receive nor send text but could place and outgoing call. I have read the Apple support guides. No luck. What am I missing?

Watch Series 3 (GPS + CELL) Alum 38mm, watchOS 4.3.1

Posted on Jun 30, 2018 7:03 PM

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Answer 1

HatchfromFL Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2018 8:05 PM in response to Greg B32

Yes - we paired and repaired. Did not work. Verizon is the carrier. I spent approximately 50 minutes on the phone with Apple. I was escalated to a higher level of support. Still couldn’t figure it out.

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Answer 2

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,666 points

Jul 1, 2018 2:33 AM in response to HatchfromFL

You have confirmed cellular service works on your watch because it can do voice calls, so the problem is probably somewhere in the provisioning and permissions back at Verizon.

You say there’s a problem with “text” which suggests old style SMS to non-Apple devices, rather than iMessage. Both are handled by the Message app on your watch but they are handled differently by the software and cellular network, so try to see if both are not working or maybe iMessage works but SMS fails. Any clues you can find might help.

So far you have only mentioned text and voice. It would be useful for you to know if some of the other live data services work correctly on your watch (when stand-alone away from iPhone or WiFi) so you can give them best information and maximum detail when you call again. Can you send and receive email? Do maps work to show your location?

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Answer 3

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,666 points

Jul 1, 2018 5:34 AM in response to Branta_uk

Ok, pleased to see you flagged this as solved. It was an interesting problem, for future reference what was the fix?

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Answer 4

HatchfromFL Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 1, 2018 6:03 AM in response to Branta_uk

I have no idea how I flagged it as resolved. Lol

I’ll let you know what the solution was as soon as it’s resolved.

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Answer 5

Greg B32

Level 4

1,592 points

Jun 30, 2018 7:55 PM in response to HatchfromFL

well if the phone is on and connected to wifi and cell service.. and the watch is not able to communicate to the network over cell data, the carrier appears to be wrong.

Did they do a signal test or just tell you they are not having any outages?

Did they check your account to verify or give you generic answers and do the apple trouble shooting instead of the carrier trouble shooting?

did you un pair and re pair?

who is your cell carrier?

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Answer 6

HatchfromFL Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 30, 2018 8:07 PM in response to HatchfromFL

Verizon verified I do have cellular added. I attempted to call Verizon back to ask specific questions Apple requested but of course they are closed. I will be calling Apple back tomorrow after I speak with Verizon

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Answer 7

HatchfromFL Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 1, 2018 5:33 AM in response to Branta_uk

I should been more specific and said iMessaging nor SMS works.. Apple mentioned it probably was the provisioning on Verizon’s part. I will update this after I speak with Verizon today. I tried no other function on my watch other than placing a call and SMS/IMessaging. The watch is approximately 4 weeks old. I do not use it for any other feature than SMS/iMessaging. Just randomly tried the phone yesterday out of curiosity.

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