William Gallagher
Announced at Apple's September 15 event, cellular Apple Watch Series 4 and later can now be worn by children and managed by their parents.
The new Family Setup feature from Apple means that children can wear an Apple Watch giving what Apple calls "greater independence," while "you have the comfort of knowing they're just a call away." Children no longer need an iPhone in order to use an Apple Watch, as features including location tracking use the cellular connection of LTE models.
Apple says that children using an LTE Apple Watch and Family Setup will have their own phone number, and their own Apple ID. This will let them use the calendar, including sharing events with the family, plus talk over Walkie-Talkie.
"So whether it's grandma's house school or basketball practice, you will get the reassurance your child is exactly where you expect them to be," said Deidre Caldbeck, Director, Apple Watch. "To help them stay active kids can now track movements, and use all the other great features of activity and workout in a way that works best for them."
For parents, Family Setup means that they can have location notifications so that they know when their children arrive where they're supposed to be going. Parents will also be able to securely send money to their children's Apple Watches, so that they can then be spent via Apple Pay.
Families can also share Apple Music with Family Setup and Family Sharing. For the children, the Watch offers most of the functions of a regular Apple Watch including health tracking and fitness workouts.
There's also a special Do Not Disturb option called School Time mode, which restricts the use of the Watch in order to help kids concentrate on their work. As part of that, parents can set limits on who their child can use the Watch to communicate with at any time.
"You get the safety communication features that technology can deliver in a device that can be managed responsibly," continued Caldbeck. "For example, you can specify which contacts your kids can communicate with when using messages and more."
Beyond those limits, children will have full access to being able to customize the appearance of their Watch. "Kids can create an emoji with just their watch and charity stickers and messages or in the new emoji watch face," said Caldbeck.
The children don't have to have an iPhone, but the Family Setup option requires a cellular Apple Watch running watchOS 7.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
10 Comments
Nice idea, shame you can't use an Apple Watch 3 for that service. Wonder what in the world Apple Watch 4 has that supports it but the 3 doesn't?
At launch only available in:
Usually we Canadians aren't excluded from international launch events. Other countries will be added "later this year".
Sorry for the lack of bullets above, the AI website doesn't seem to be allowing me to enter bullets or numbered paragraphs. CORRECTION: it doesn't let me view the bullets in PREVIEW mode but it does insert them when I post the message.
I've thought of a way to exploit Family Sharing. Let's say you have 4 friends (they don't even have to be in the same city) who want a cellular Apple Watch but don't want an iPhone because a cellular Watch is all they need. Just sign up as a "family". The first person has to sign up with the phone company for a $50/month service charge, and each cellular Watch added to that plan should be roughly $10/month extra. Currently I think I'm paying about $50/month for my phone and $10/month for the extra feature that supports my Watch's cellular ability. I presume Family Sharing would roughly cost the same rates. Altogether you and your four friends would end up paying only $20/month on average. That's a deal !!
Now I'll be honest, using just a cellular Watch is nowhere near as fun and useful as carrying a phone with you, so this won't be for everyone. The phone's big screen can do things like web browsing that you just can't do on a Watch (so your friends shouldn't have to contribute to your $50/month minimum if you're the one with the iPhone.) But how would Apple or the Phone Company stop this kind of exploit?