A friend was hit over the head with a brick, suffered a concussion, could have lost her eye. The Apple Watch can summon the police with a tap on a button. She has an Android phone. I want to get her the Apple Watch SE which I was just told by Apple does NOT require an iPhone. The man at Apple’s English wasn’t terrific so I am just trying to confirm this is true. Also any other relevant info would certainly be appreciated.
I hope your friend is OK. To use the watch without an iPhone, I think you need the watch that has a cellular connection.
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Thank you! She had a close call. I think that you are right.
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You’ll need an iPhone to set up the watch:
And the cellular watch will use the plan of that iPhone?
I don’t think using an Apple Watch with an Android phone will work out,
Hope your friend fully recovers soon!
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Thanks, Rob! The SE is a new model but quite frankly I cannot see how it can get around not using the iPhone. Maybe you just need access to an iPhone (eg living in the same home). I need to follow your link there. ;o)
The man I spoke to had limited English language skills. He was having difficulty understanding me and getting touchy about it. And I’m pretty patient when one is learning a language. That was my job!
I wish these companies would be more careful about putting someone like that on the phone. He was pretty insistent about the SE.
Spanish is my second language and that is the hardest skill to master. That is not to say that people still acquiring that skill cannot be useful in the interim. Just please not on the phone!
Apple is pretty good about not doing that but it is far more common than it use to be. Some of these companies do not realize how inefficient outsourcing like that actually is.
To use an Apple Watch SE standalone, you need to set it up with an iPhone which is in the same Family Sharing group. e.g. the person using it needs to be added to your “family”
This has other implications such as location sharing (which can be amended) downloading and payment for apps and the like.
I’d research it very carefully @Katie before going there.
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Thanks so much!!! I thought it sounded too good to be true. This is a friend who doesn’t even live close by. I certainly trust her but I imagine it could get complicated even through innocent misunderstandings.
Have you ever heard of any Android watch which would summons the Police like the Apple Watch can? I looked but couldn’t find anything like that.
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I have no knowledge at all about Android or other watches that would work with Android. You’d need to research it unfortunately.
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Not answering your original question, but one strategy in these support situations is to hang up and call back. I think most people feel a tie or obligation to the person they are speaking with, but sometimes it’s out of our hands.
I did, Geoff. I couldn’t find one at all. Thanks again!
The article below mentions calling 911 on an android watch. It also mentions a “hold until you’re safe” app button for those times when you suspect something might be up.
HTH
Thanks ever so much, John!
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