The list of features that do work under Family Setup is far longer than what doesn’t You can add AppleCare to the Watch just like any other Apple device to provide some insurance against breakage, but that’s even more to spend up front. As I learned when reviewing the Apple Watch SE, it doesn’t take much to break an Apple Watch, and fixing it isn’t cheap. That cost is two to three times as much as what you can get a basic GPS tracking watch for, and it’s undeniably a lot of money to spend on a gadget that you’re going to strap to a kid’s wrist. You can use Family Setup with something as old as a Series 4, but since the vast majority of people do not buy the cellular versions of the Apple Watch, it’s unlikely that you’ll have one to pass down to a kid or find a great deal on the secondhand market. The Apple Watch SE with LTE is the lowest-cost new model that Apple sells that’s compatible, and it starts at $329. To use Family Setup, you need to have a Watch with cellular connectivity and then sign up for a service plan through your carrier, which runs about $10 per month. It’s also just as expensive as any other Apple Watch. It has all of the same watchfaces, including their deep levels of customization comes with many of the same preinstalled apps can use Apple’s services like iMessage, Music, Siri, and more and can even install apps from the App Store that’s on the Watch itself.Īpple Watch Series 6 review: minute improvements Apple Watch SE review: pay a lot less to give up only a little You need an iPhone to configure it, but beyond that, the Watch isn’t paired to any specific device, unlike the standard system that requires you to link an Apple Watch with an iPhone.Ī Family Setup Apple Watch has a majority of the capabilities of the Apple Watch that you or I might purchase and use. Instead of being a dedicated device solely designed for kids, it is just a mode that you enable on a cellular-enabled Apple Watch. There may also be data privacy concerns, as sometimes the companies that make these watches aren’t as secure or have worse data policies than Apple.įamily Setup is slightly different. The parental management apps for smartphones are similarly basic and not especially pleasant to use. Their designs are often chunky and kid-friendly, and their user interfaces are simplified down with big buttons and colorful graphics. Beyond that, the basic watches might track some simple fitness metrics and tell the time, but they are far from full-fledged smartwatches. Parents like those devices for their ability to see where their child’s location is at any given time and check in with them via text message or calls. The easiest way to think of Family Setup is it’s Apple’s take on the GPS tracking smartwatches for kids that have been sold by carriers for the past few years. Giving your kid an Apple Watch with Family Setup is handing them a full-fledged smartwatch. Even if you’re not a parent, the new Family Setup service is interesting because it gives us an idea of what a truly standalone Apple Watch could be.įor the past few weeks, I’ve strapped an Apple Watch SE to my eight-year-old child to see what the new Family Setup service is like to use in the real world (or at least as real of an experience as I can get in the middle of pandemic lockdown). They can choose what apps and services their kids can access, who they can call or send messages to, and track their location through GPS. The most interesting thing is Apple’s new Family Setup service, which lets parents provision an Apple Watch for their kids to use. It wasn’t watchOS 7 with its handful of new watchfaces, the ability to track your sleep, or detect when you’re washing your hands to reprimand you if you don’t go the full 20 seconds either. The most interesting Apple Watch product Apple announced this year wasn’t the new flagship Series 6 or the new lower-cost Watch SE.
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