How To Activate Cellular on Apple Watch
You can activate cellular service on your Apple Watch by following the instructions during the initial setup. To activate service later Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
With Apple Watch with cellular and a cellular connection to the same carrier used by your iPhone, you can make calls, reply to messages, use Walkie-Talkie, stream music and podcasts, receive notifications, and more, even when you don’t have your iPhone or a Wi-Fi connection.
Add Apple Watch to your cellular plan
You can activate cellular service on your Apple Watch by following the instructions during the initial setup. To activate service later, follow these steps:
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Watch, then tap Cellular.
Transfer an existing cellular plan to a new Apple Watch
You can transfer your existing cellular plan from your Apple Watch with cellular to another Apple Watch with cellular by following these steps:
- While wearing your Apple Watch, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap My Watch, tap Cellular, then tap next to your cellular plan.
- Tap Remove [name of carrier] Plan, then confirm your choice.
You may need to contact your carrier to remove this Apple Watch from your cellular plan.
- Remove your old watch, put on your other Apple Watch with cellular, tap My Watch, then tap Cellular.
Follow the instructions to activate your watch for cellular.
Turn cellular off or on
Your Apple Watch with cellular uses the best network connection available to it—your iPhone when itʼs nearby, a Wi-Fi network that you’ve connected to previously on your iPhone, or a cellular connection. You can turn cellular off—to save battery power, for example. Just follow these steps:
- Press the side button to open Control Center.
- Tap
, then turn Cellular off or on.
, The Cellular button turns green when your Apple Watch has a cellular connection and your iPhone isn’t nearby.
Note: Turning on cellular for extended periods uses more battery power (see the Apple Watch General Battery Information website for more information). Also, some apps may not update without a connection to your iPhone.
Check cellular signal strength
Try one of the following when connected to a cellular network:
- Use the Explorer watch face, which uses green dots to show cellular signal strength. Four dots is a good connection. One dot is poor.
- Open Control Center. The green bars at the top show the cellular connection status.
- Add the Cellular complication to the watch face.
Check cellular data usage
- Open the Settings app
on your Apple Watch. - Tap Cellular, then scroll down to see the amount of data you’ve used during the current period.
on your Apple Watch.
