If you’re someone who likes to stay connected to your smartphone all day but doesn’t necessarily want to make a special deal or pay an astronomical monthly fee for it, an Apple Watch data plan may be for you. The Apple Watch is a smartwatch that has access to your smartphone’s cellular network and can send and receive data at high speeds. These capabilities make it a useful gadget for anyone who needs to stay connected to other people or a company’s network but doesn’t necessarily want to tie up their smartphone all day. The Apple Watch is very similar to its smartphone counterpart, the iPhone. It has a large display, a good camera, and a processor that’s a step up from the sluggish Android Wear devices. In this article, you’ll learn how to set up and use an Apple Watch data plan.
Does an apple watch need a data plan?
An Apple Watch data plan is a great choice for people who like to stay connected to their phones all day. Apple Watch is a smartwatch that has access to your smartphone’s cellular network and can send and receive data at high speeds. These capabilities make it a useful gadget for anyone who needs to stay connected to other people or a company’s network but doesn’t necessarily want to tie up their smartphone all day.
What Is An Apple Watch Data Plan?
An Apple Watch data plan lets you access your smartphone’s cellular network at any time, and lets you do so at high speeds. This saves you the trouble of paying roaming fees when using your phone abroad or in areas with no cellular service. Instead of purchasing an expensive monthly plan for your Apple Watch, you can simply buy a plan that lets you access the cellular network for a set period of time and/or at a set cost. You can also go bare-bones, paying nothing for the privilege of using cell phone data on the Apple Watch.
How To Set Up An Apple Watch Data Plan?
Find a plan that works for you.
If you don’t need to be connected to the Internet all day, a data plan will save you money. Go to your carrier’s website and research plans; make sure it fits your needs. You should also consider the cost of cellular data on your phone plan versus that of an Apple Watch data plan.
Set up your Apple Watch.
Once you have found a suitable plan, activate it on your smartwatch by following the instructions on its company’s website or app. You may need to add a credit card or other form of verification in order for your carrier to activate the service for you. Once activated, open the Settings app on your phone and go into Mobile Data settings. On some carriers, this setting may be called Cellular Data.
Enable cellular data on your Apple Watch
You can enable cellular data by going into Settings > Mobile Data on your Apple Watch. Choose whether or not to allow it access to the cellular network at all times, as well as when it is connected over Bluetooth (if applicable). If so, choose how much time should elapse before cellular access is allowed again: three minutes, five minutes, or ten minutes (10 minutes is usually recommended). If you don’t have enough battery life left in your watch’s GPS battery to go without using GPS for even one minute, consider activating this option instead of making it available all day long.
Activate the Apple Watch data plan
Go back to the Mobile Data settings in your phone’s settings and activate the plan you just set up. You may need to contact your carrier for a code for this step, which can be found on the Apple Watch app or website.
Enjoy your Apple Watch data plan!
Now that your data plan is activated, you can use cellular data while connected to Bluetooth and when it is available. If you’re going to be connected to LTE all day, consider buying a plan that has that as one of its options. You might also want to purchase a micro SIM card so you don’t have to carry around an extra piece of hardware every time you want to use cellular data on your watch. The micro-SIM is usually cheaper than buying a full-sized SIM card and much easier to install on an iPhone or iPad if you don’t already have one.
Know your cellular data usage
You can check how much cellular data you have used by going into the Settings app on your Apple Watch and then going into the Cellular tab. The number of megabytes used per day will be shown here, as well as the amount of time left on your plan. You can also see how much money you’ve spent in total on cellular data by going to the same settings menu and tapping on the Cellular Usage section.
Avoid overage charges with a smartwatch
Most carriers charge an overage fee for using over your allotted amount of cellular data each month. This is usually around $10 or so for each additional 50MB (this varies from carrier to carrier). If you go over your allotted amount, you can pay for it either in monthly installments or by paying a per-use rate, so long as you have enough credit left on your plan to cover it.
When To Use An Apple Watch Data Plan?
If you’re going to be using cellular data all day long
if you’re going to be connected to LTE all day, consider buying a plan that has that as one of its options. This will allow you to use cellular data without worrying about how much battery life is left in your Apple Watch’s GPS battery.
If you’re traveling internationally
If you’re traveling internationally and want cellular data while abroad, make sure your carrier allows it. Most carriers do not allow international roaming on their networks, so if you want to use the same plan as at home, make sure your carrier allows it under the same conditions (i.e., buy an international plan and activate it when abroad).
If you have an iPhone 5S or 6 with iOS 8 or later installed
Your Apple Watch has cellular data built into it (for most models), but if you have an iPhone 5S or 6 with iOS 8 or later installed and don’t have a watch-specific SIM card or if your carrier doesn’t allow watch-specific SIM cards you can also activate a regular SIM card on your phone and let it act as a modem for the Apple Watch using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). This is only possible if both devices are running iOS 8 or later and are paired together with the Apple Watch app on both devices. To learn how to pair two devices with BLE, see this article. You can also learn more about this topic by reading Apple’s official support document.
Conclusion
If you’re someone who likes to stay connected to your smartphone all day but doesn’t necessarily want to make a special deal or pay an astronomical monthly fee for it, an Apple Watch data plan may be for you. The Apple Watch is a smartwatch that has access to your smartphone’s cellular network and can send and receive data at high speeds. These capabilities make it a useful gadget for anyone who needs to stay connected to other people or a company’s network but doesn’t necessarily want to tie up their smartphone all day.
FAQs:
Can I use my regular smartphone plan while traveling abroad?
If you have a regular mobile plan and travel abroad, you can activate a data plan in your phone’s settings. Then, when you connect to your carrier’s network with the Apple Watch, it will automatically switch over to the data plan on your phone. This is not true for international roaming on carriers’ networks. If you want to use the same data plan at home as you do abroad, make sure your carrier allows it under the same conditions (i.e., buy an international plan and activate it when abroad).
Can I put in a SIM card from another country?
Most carriers do not allow international roaming on their networks, so if you want to use cellular data while abroad make sure your carrier allows it under the same conditions (i.e., buy an international plan and activate it when abroad).
