Smartwatches were very different before Apple first introduced its Apple Watch, a phenomenon that has occurred with other products as well. The Apple Watch is today’s best-selling smartwatch, and it’s rare to see someone using an iPhone with a competitor on their wrist. There are plenty of Android users out there who, if they could, would get an Apple Watch without a second thought. However, Apple reserves that privilege only for loyal consumers of its brand. And then, the question may arise: Can I get to use an Apple Watch if I only have an iPad? Well, you are not alone, so let’s investigate together whether or not this is possible.
Why use an Apple Watch?
The Apple smart watch, whatever generation you have in your possession, is a device that provides us with many features and greatly facilitates our day-to-day tasks. It has become an essential accessory for playing sports, consulting its screen as a portable agenda or even making calls with it as if it were a small miniature telephone. You may have plenty of reasons to want to buy an Apple Watch, but the same question will surely put you off: can I use an Apple Watch without having an iPhone? And unfortunately, the short answer is no. We explain the reasons below.
Once we buy and remove this smart watch from its box, it asks us directly to link it with the ‘Watch’ application. If you already have a Mac or an iPad, you can search for the application in the two stores of these operating systems, but we already anticipate that you will not find it. Watch is only available on iPhones — any of the models currently on sale will work for you — and it comes pre-installed on the operating system. Thanks to this app you can initialize the clock, configure it and update it. Therefore, no, you will not be able to do this process from macOS or iPadOS. At least for now.
Once we have this device started, it is true that we can use it regardless of our phone depending on the model we have and the task we want to perform. We can play sports with it without carrying an iPhone with us, since, since Series 2, these devices have integrated GPS. We will have access to the tasks that we have already created in the calendar and any other task that has been synchronized prior to disconnecting from our iPhone.
However, since it is not a standalone device, you will not take advantage of the Apple Watch in these conditions. You could activate it on your partner’s iPhone, for example, or even buy an old iPhone and leave it at home so you can sync it, but it’s not going to give you the utility that the device actually has. That is why we would not recommend buying this product if you really do not use an iPhone on a daily basis.
A standalone Apple Watch
Although there are a couple of models of this smart watch that are, in part, more independent than the rest. When preparing to acquire one of the available models of the Apple smart watch, you should take into account that there is an LTE version, what does this mean? That this equipment will have its own internet connection regardless of the connectivity of an iPhone or the Wi-Fi signal. Therefore, to the actions that you could carry out with it without a phone, you have to add the ability to receive notifications or make and receive calls completely independently. Of course, you will still need an iPhone to perform the initial configuration of this equipment. The Apple Watch that have a version with LTE are:
Apple Watch Series 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Apple Watch Series 6
Apple Watch Series 7
Apple Watch SE (GPS + Cellular)