Tech

Apple Watch Family Setup comes to Australia: For kids (and others) who want the watch, but don’t have the phone

Announced just a couple of months ago along with the latest Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE was a feature called Family Setup, allowing you to give you child a watch without them needing an iPhone. That feature launches in Australia in December.

I know plenty of kids (my own included) who would love to have an Apple Watch, I even know some who saved up for one only to realise you also needed to have an Apple iPhone to set it up and link to.

From Friday, that dream comes true for Aussie kids with Family Setup becoming available on all Apple Watches from the Series 4 onward.

This feature allows kids to wear a watch, to have a mobile phone number they can be contacted on, but to not own or use an iPhone.

It’s all eSIM based, and today’s announcement from Apple of Australian availability notes that eSIM services will be provided in Australia by “TruPhone”.

An Apple Watch in Family setup mode allows kids and parents to communicate via text or call, as well as allowing parents to get notifications of location changes or alerts, and allows kids to use Maps for directions and more.

We’re yet to see just how complete the Family Setup feature availability will be for Aussie users where Apple Cash is not available – a feature which allows parents in other countries to add “pocket money” to kids watches for tap and go payments.

Aussie Teachers will need to keep an eye out for the YELLOW “School Time” watch face which restricts usage and notifications when kids are at school. If the kids aren’t using that feature, perhaps they’ll get in trouble in class:)

Kids with fitness trackers like Fitbit or Garmin will be looking closely at Apple Watch with the Activity Rings being a popular semi-competitive benchmark.

But it’s not just kids, your elderly parents or grandparents could benefit too, with SOS emergency features, fall detection and more, for someone who doesn’t have a Smartphone this is an all-new opportunity for peace of mind.

We’ll dig more deeply into the features of Apple Watch Family Setup in a full review soon.

Recent Posts

  • Tech

Corsair announce the Vanguard 96 mechanical gaming keyboards with integrated LCD screen and Elgate Stream Deck

Corsair has announced the new VANGUARD PRO 96 Hall Effect Gaming Keyboard and VANGUARD 96…

17 hours ago
  • Tech

Swann announces 2 new cameras in their EVO range

Swann has announced two additional cameras in their popular EVO range. The EVO Wireless 2K…

18 hours ago
  • Tech

Anker SOLIX has a new battery-powered portable electric cooler just in time for camping season — the Everfrost 2

Anker SOLIX has announced the Australian launch and availability of the portable electric cooler, the…

19 hours ago
  • Tech

Australian pricing announced and pre-orders open for ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X

After announcing the new ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds back…

20 hours ago
  • Product News

Samsung Launches Expanded Galaxy Line-Up in Australia covering wearables, phones and tablets

Samsung has announced a new suite of devices heading to Australia from today, expanding their…

24 hours ago
  • Tech

Samsung Galaxy S25 FE Review: A good phone at the right price

Samsung recently announced the new Galaxy S25 FE ahead of IFA, bringing a new more…

1 day ago