We are an Apple family too. All our phones and laptops are Apple. For the past 2 years our kids have had Apple watches. Before that, they had Gizmos. We hated the Gismos. We are mostly on Verizon plans but they were totally unreliable for us. We then got our oldest 2 kids Apple watches and linked them to old iPhones we had. For quite a while we were successful in keeping the phones in a kitchen drawer so the kids wouldn’t play with them. Once their friends got phones and Snapchat accounts however, that was all over. But until the friends got phones, the Apple watches worked well.
In order for the watches to work independently of the iPhones, you need the generation starting with the red dot in the center of the crown. I think the next generation with that capability has a red ring around the watch crown. Those are the first Apple watches that phone calls and texts can be made from without having a phone nearby. (The Apple watches without the red dot and ring require the phone to be within range to text or place a call). The Apple watches are great for tracking the kids and Dh. I use that feature all the time. If I’m starting dinner and want to see how far from home they are, or if I want them to pick up something at the store for me, I go to use the Findmyiphone app to see where they are. It’s pretty accurate and it finds them quickly. The kids at first only used the preset texting features but they got comfortable pretty quickly voicing and even writing texts from their watch (still not sure how they can write their texts without the dictation feature). Once you give your son a phone, though, he wouldn’t really need the watch although my kids still use theirs, especially when doing sports where carrying a phone is a pain. Dd takes several dance classes each day and is allowed to wear a watch in class but rarely has easy access to her phone. All the dancers keep them in their lockers so they aren’t a distraction. The watch makes it much easier to contact her about rides. When the kids ski they say it’s easier to access their watch than to try to dig their phone out of their pockets to contact me. Essentially once your son gets a phone, the watch is a nice but kind of redundant convenience. Hth!
eta- totally forgot to mention, that if your son is very active, you may want to get some sort of protection for the face. I saw some watch face guards at Target (and sadly thought they weren’t necessary). DS2 is not really that reckless but he’s managed to smash 2 watches. The first time he fell off his bike and the second time was falling off his skateboard. Now that he has a phone we haven’t replaced his watch and he said he doesn’t miss it. 🤷*♀️
Last edited by gatorsmom; 01-18-2021 at 01:25 PM.
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"This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.