At today's media event, Apple announced Family Setup, a new feature coming tomorrow as part of watchOS 7 that will allow kids, elderly relatives, and others take advantage of many of the capabilities of the Apple Watch without the need for their own paired iPhone.
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Compatible with Apple Watch Series 4 and later and the Apple Watch SE, Family Setup requires a cellular Apple Watch model and an active carrier plan for the watch. The primary user can then use the Watch app on their iPhone to set up an Apple Watch for another family member, managing access to various features and capabilities and receiving reports on activity.
One interesting feature of Family Setup is "Apple Cash Family," which lets a parent securely load money onto their child's Apple Watch and allows the child to then purchase items wherever Apple Pay is accepted.
With the new Apple Cash Family, parents can securely send their kids money to spend on their watch using Apple Pay. Parents can choose to receive notifications when their kids pay, and view their child’s purchases right in Wallet on their own iPhone.
Apple Cash Family helps parents give kids a limited amount of funds to spend at their discretion without needing to worry about cash that can be easily lost or stolen.
Apple Cash Family can be enabled for up to five family members, and oversight can be shared with another adult in your Family Sharing group. Parents can not only view activity and receive notifications of purchases and person-to-person payments, but also restrict access to Apple Cash balances if needed and limit who money can be sent to.
Family Setup offers other helpful tools for parents and kids, with Schooltime and Downtime features that offer controls over when and what kids can do with their Apple Watch, kid-focused Activity rings, and more. And for older adults, Family Setup helps deliver key tools like fall detection, automatic emergency calling, and health features without the need for them to have an iPhone.
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You were one of the smart ones. One of the good parents. You refused to bring a child into a world we’re they could not use Apple Pay.What if you dont have any kids?
Consider this announcement your all-clear. Just put your thing in the thing, go forth, and multiply.
Just adopt some.What if you dont have any kids?
This annoucnement finally, at long last, provides some relief from this omnipresent torture. It was today that I realized that the giant hole in my heart, nay, my soul, was there because my kids; my children; my own flesh and blood; could not use Apple Pay. It was almost as if they weren't even human.
Well, that all ends today. A most glorious of days. The day my kids have been waiting for sknce they day they were born.
You know, i've been critical of Apple in the past, but I see that it was me who was wrong all of these years. I've been critical of those called "fanboys" by the less enlightened, but I was wrong, Perhaps evil. I would like to apologize, for it was my own deep-seated insecurity causing causing my scorn.
I can finally say that in September of 2020, I, too, feel the love. I finally see the light, and understand what you've been saying all along. Apple truly does know what's best for me. Not just me, but my entire family. All those years worrying about how much RAM my device had. And for what? It didn't matter. It never mattered. I didn't need to concern myself with things clearly above my level of understanding. I had to live with stress and anguish for years becwuse I stubbornly refused to let go and let Apple.
Well, no more. I've committed not just myself to Apple, but my entire family too. When Apple says "buy" the only thing we'll reply is "how many?".
Of cuorse, we'll use Apple Pay to make the purchases. Everyone will use Apple Pay. Even my six month old daughter will learn to use it.
The only thing I worry about now is our cat. When will he be able to use Apple Pay? And what of my Aloe Very plant? What is it to use? Google's offering? Cash???
I won't allow it.
I can't allow it.
I will not rest, I cannot rest, until every member of my household can use use Apple Pay.
if you see my wandering the earth, trying to make sense of the world ni which I live, take my hand, look me in the eye, and tell me what I need to hear .... that I must continue. For the good of my chidlren. For the good of mankind.
My quest continues.
That’s not how I read it, or how I understood the keynote today. When they refer to iPhone 6s or later, they are talking about the parent‘s phone. The kid has to have a watch. To be sure, there are parental controls a parent can use for their child’s iPhone, but what was announced today requires the kid to have a watch, as I understand it.Just FYI, this article is a bit wrong. Apple Watch Family also works if the child has an iPhone 6s or later. It doesn’t technically have to be a cellular watch as long as it’s paired with an iPhone.
edit to add sources:
- “Family Setup will be available on Wednesday, September 16, as a free software update and requires cellular models of Apple Watch Series 4 or later or Apple Watch SE running watchOS 7, paired with iPhone 6s or later running iOS 14.“
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/09/apple-extends-the-apple-watch-experience-to-the-entire-family/
Thanks Mom!
Great doing business with you. ?
is an interesting response to chores LOL
not a feature I need (or even available in canada) but I’m sure helpful for many
Besides: watches and kids are a combo that make little sense. I have a 10 year and a 12 year old kid, and both have had smaller watches that have been long forgotten. In general, I see barely any kids wearing wristwatches, for obvious reasons of higher damage and loosing potential, but even more since kids plainly prefer not to have bulky stuf around their tiny wrists. The Apple watch gadget may well be more diverse in functionality, but it’s iPhones that serve their needs plenty well.