Forum Discussion
Activating standalone apple watch on t-mobile, while paired to iPhone using different carrier?
Hi, looking for expert advice/help:
I got an Apple watch SE for my child, and purchased a standalone plan from T-mobile. She does not have a phone. The adults have Verizon phones. The watch was an outright purchase from apple, and no one at customer service at T-mobile indicated that this would be an issue when purchasing the plan over the phone. (Reason for choosing T-mobile was that the verizon standalone watch plan costs 3x more)
I initially paired the watch to my own phone under "set up for a family member", but T-mobile was unable activate the watch over the phone (2 different calls/attempts). When I select "set up cellular" on the watch, only a Verizon login page loads. I went to a physical T-mobile store, and the employee told me you can't set up a standalone plan on a watch using a phone that has a different carrier.
Google seems to yield conflicting results. I did find a Verizon page stating "The Apple Watch doesn't need to be connected to the same carrier as your Apple® iPhone when set up using Standalone mode (Set Up for a Family Member)" …. so I would assume the same would be true for other carriers (such as T-mobile) offering a standalone watch plan??
Has anyone successfully set up a T-mobile standalone apple watch under these circumstances and can offer help? Thanks very much ..
There does seem to be conflicting information out there. It seems more logical that the Watch needs to be associated with the same carrier as the parent's phone, but I am not an expert.
For your peace of mind as a parent, wouldn't you rather have your child's Watch associated with your Verizon plan? You could consider eventually moving everything over to T-Mobile - you would probably save a significant amount on your phone plan.
good luck!
Simple fix . If you haven’t already first remove watch from your account when watch is on pairing mode on your iPhone add watch for a family member then create an Apple ID for your kid after this the T-Mobile plan will appear as cellular plan and all you have to do is add it .
I copied the OP’s post to ChatGPT and the answer is:
- Create a separate Apple ID for the watch and connect it to the main Apple ID on the phone.
- Pair the watch as a family member and not as yourself.
- Connect the watch to Wi-Fi and set up the cellular plan with T-Mobile.
Has anyone who has tried this method as a family member had an issue with the watch wifi/bluetooth not connecting properly?
I tried this and switched back to GPS because when I did it as family the cellular plan was there but Bluetooth and Wireless were dropping. I would try to customize my watch and it would connect til I connected it at time. At times it would connect.
