How to Set Up an Apple Watch for Your Kids

It lastly occurred. On a sunny weekend, I despatched my 7-year-old a block forward to the playground whereas I helped her little brother kind out his new pedal bike. We will need to have taken a very long time as a result of I began getting a bunch of calls from an unknown quantity. When we lastly caught up, my daughter was standing with a stranger and crying. He was holding his cellphone. “You weren’t here,” he stated accusingly.

“I was 500 feet away!” I protested. It was no use. It was time for an Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is without doubt one of the firm’s most versatile (and in style) merchandise. Some folks use it for texting or as a method accent. I primarily use mine as a health tracker. In 2020, Apple launched Family Setup with WatchOS 7, which explicitly marketed the extra inexpensive, and older, variations of the Apple Watch to youngsters and aged family members. I don’t need to give my child an costly cellphone that she’ll use to watch YouTube Kids after which instantly lose or break. I do need her to find a way to discover me, and vice versa, as she workout routines her rising independence.

If you’ve gotten an iPhone, you in all probability have an outdated Apple Watch that you could repurpose for your older or youthful members of the family. The Series 7 has been a game-changer for my child. Did you need to purchase a watch? Check out our guides to the Best Apple Watch or the Top Features in WatchOS 9 for extra.

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What Do You Need?

Apple launched Family Setup in 2020 with WatchOS 7. To use Family Setup, you want an Apple Watch Series 4 or later with mobile capabilities that you’ll add to your cellphone plan. You additionally want an iPhone with iOS 14 or later.

Both you and your little one additionally want an Apple ID. If each of you have already got one, you possibly can go to Settings in your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, and click on Family. Then click on Add Member. If your little one doesn’t have an Apple ID, you can be given the choice to Create Child Account. From there, observe the directions to add the kid’s title, beginning date, and e mail handle. If they don’t have already got an e mail handle, you should utilize the steered iCloud choice.

A Blank Slate

First, unpair and erase your outdated Apple Watch. Open the Apple Watch app in your cellphone and click on All Watches. Tap the data button subsequent to your outdated watch and click on Unpair Apple Watch. You can choose to preserve your mobile plan (you’ll want it for your child).

Unpairing is meant to erase all content material and settings in your watch, however in my case it didn’t. If it doesn’t work for you both, faucet Settings on the watch, then General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

Since my child is 7, I discovered it simpler to set the watch up by myself. But at this level, you possibly can have your child put it on (if it’s charged). The watch will say Bring iPhone Near Apple Watch. If you open the Watch app, it allows you to select to Set Up for a Family Member. Aim the cellphone’s viewfinder on the slowly transferring animation to pair, or choose Pair Manually.