What Can You Do On Apple Watch Without iPhone?
The Apple Watch is, first and foremost, an iPhone accessory. It might be even more than that eventually, a truly independent gadget, but a vast majority of its current core functions — making calls, sending messages, getting information, even playing any third-party games — require your iPhone to be on, have Internet service, and be paired with the Watch via Bluetooth or a shared Wi-Fi network. If you’re thinking about getting one, make sure you know that. It requires an iPhone 5 or later, and it can’t even be set up without one.
Still, the Apple Watch can do a few things without your iPhone around — more than I even realized. I left my iPhone behind and went for a stroll with just the Apple Watch to try it out.
The question of “When will the Apple Watch not need the iPhone?” has been the topic of much debate recently. As Stein points out, there are a few things including Fitness, Music Playback, Apple Pay and a few other tasks that can be done without an iPhone nearby. With that being said, I think we need to ask ourselves “When do we not want our phones? When is carrying the phone a burden?” That’s where I think Apple will look to detach itself from the phone. Working out? Yes. Going on a trip? Not so much.
We also have to realize that phones will continue to get lighter and thinner with time. As this happens, the burden of carrying a phone will continue to become less and less of a concern.
Personally, right now, I never see the Apple Watch as a replacement for the iPhone. Instead, I see it getting to a point where we can choose (depending on what we’re doing) whether or not we need the phone nearby or not.