Does Apple Watch Work Without an iPhone?

Are you really stuck with your iPhone when you have an Apple Watch?

By
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Writer
  • University of Texas at Arlington
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator.
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Updated on September 11, 2020
Reviewed by
Ryan Perian
Ryan Perian headshot
Reviewed by Ryan Perian
  • Western Governors University
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

Apple Watch is designed to go hand-in-hand with iPhone. You use the Watch app on your iPhone to set up Apple Watch, and then customize your wearable by downloading apps, switching watch faces, and selecting from the best Apple Watch complications. The latest operating system for Apple Watch, watchOS 6, requires an iPhone 6s or later running iOS 13 or later to complete the setup process.

The Watch app is not available for iPadOS.

You can, however, do a lot with your Apple Watch even when you don't have your iPhone with you. Take a look!

Illustration of Apple Watch near an iPhone (yes) and an iPad (no)
Alex Dos Diaz / Lifewire

What Can Apple Watch Do Without an iPhone?

To use your Apple Watch without having to bring along your iPhone, you need a watch model with the GPS + Cellular connectivity option. Then, you can accept phone calls, receive text messages, and stream music on your watch without using your iPhone. Note, however, that doing so drains the watch's battery faster and isn't recommended for all-day use.

But Apple Watch can do a lot without being connected to your iPhone, even without a cellular connection:

  • Track your steps.
  • Measure your heartbeat.
  • Analyze your sleep.
  • Give you calorie burn estimates for some activities.
  • Monitor your heart with an electrical heart sensor and ECG app (Apple Watch Series 3 and later).
  • Play music. Apple Watch can store 2 gigabytes or more of music that you can stream to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Use Apple Pay and Passport.
  • Set an alarm or timer.
  • Use the watch as a stopwatch.
  • Connect to the internet without the iPhone as long as you have connected to the particular Wi-Fi network before when you had both your iPhone and Apple Watch with you.

Many third-party (that is, non-Apple) apps will work without the iPhone, but some still require an iPhone to do the heavy lifting.

Will Apple Watch Ever Work With iPadOS?

Apple Watch is designed as a companion technology to the iPhone. An iPad isn't quite as portable as an iPhone, but there's no technical reason why Apple Watch can't work with iPadOS as it does with iOS. The current limitations of Apple Watch simply make pairing it with an iPhone a better experience—always top of mind for Apple.

In the future, Apple Watch could work as well with the iPad as it does with the iPhone, but not until Apple Watch with GPS + Cellular connectivity can achieve all-day performance while using a 4G or cellular network. Only then will Apple Watch be independent of the iPhone while still handling phone calls, text messaging, and all the other functionality for which an iPhone is currently required.

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