How to set up an Apple Watch for a child without an iPhone

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Apple calls this Apple Watch For Your Kids. A child or an older relative gets a watch with its own phone number, and you manage it from your iPhone. The person wearing the watch does not need a phone of their own.

You need a cellular model: Apple Watch Series 4 or later or Apple Watch SE with mobile service, and an iPhone to do the set-up.

These steps are for recent versions of watchOS. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the watch screen, not screenshots.

Step by step

1. Prepare Family Sharing

   You must be the organiser or a parent or guardian in a Family Sharing group that includes the child, and your own Apple Account needs two-factor authentication. The child needs an Apple Account of their own, which you can create during set-up.

   Done

2. Switch on the watch and bring it close

   Press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. Hold the watch near your iPhone and wait for the pairing message.

   Done

3. Tap Set Up for a Family Member

   Then hold the iPhone over the watch so that the pattern on the watch face is in the middle of the camera view.

   Done

4. Set a passcode for the watch

   Choose a code the child can remember.

   Done

5. Choose the family member

   Select the child from your family group, or add them. Switch on Ask to Buy if you want to approve purchases and downloads.

   Done

6. Set up mobile service and Wi-Fi

   Follow your network's steps to add a plan for the watch. The watch can use a different network from your iPhone if that network supports it.

   Done

7. Choose the features

   Decide on Location Services, Siri, Medical ID, emergency contacts, health data and which contacts the child may talk to. Set up Schooltime, which limits the watch to the time display during school hours.

   Done

Good to know

Some features are missing on a managed watch: ECG, blood oxygen, sleep tracking, cycle tracking, Apple Pay with a bank card, international roaming and the hand gestures. Fall Detection is restricted for under-18s.

You manage the watch later in the Watch app on your iPhone: tap All Watches and choose the watch under Family Watches.

A watch that is already paired with an iPhone has to be unpaired and erased first: how to unpair an Apple Watch.

For an adult's own watch, the normal set-up is in how to pair an Apple Watch with an iPhone.

In short: Cellular watch, Family Sharing, hold near your iPhone, Set Up for a Family Member, passcode, choose the child, mobile plan, Schooltime.