Apple watch 4 as life alert

[corn18]

We are looking at life alert type systems for my MIL and she came up with the idea that maybe an Apple watch 4 would work. It has fall detection that will automatically call 911 and has siri if she wants to tell it to call 911. We would get the GPS + Cellular version for her.

Anyone use an Apple watch like this or have any experience / advice?

 

[braumeister]

No experience, but it seems to get good reviews. Here's one:

https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/22/apple-watch-series-4-fall-detection-test/

I would certainly consider one if needed -- both of us have the Apple Watch 2 and we love them.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

No personal experience. We discussed it for my Mom. She's not very technically sophisticated. We worried it would be confusing to her and that she'd have to keep it charged.

We went with a dedicated device. Doesn't cost much and the service is good. Only issue is that its way to sensitive. She winds up talking with the nice people at the service at least once per day.

 

[tulak]

Keep in mind that you need an iPhone for the Apple Watch. It doesn’t work as a stand-alone device.

 

[Ready]

If she would only be using the watch for fall detection and 911, I think it may be the wrong solution. It requires a fair amount of effort to keep it running properly - software updates for both the iPhone and the watch, nightly charging, reboots when something crashes...If she would use it for other things like mail, texts, music, or phone calls, maybe it's a good solution. But if she is not fairly smartphone savvy, I would look for something else.

 

[mpeirce]

Keep in mind that you need an iPhone for the Apple Watch. It doesn’t work as a stand-alone device.

Yes and no.

You need an iPhone to set things up. Once this is done the watch can operate on it's own. It doesn't need an iPhone around to make calls.

So if your Mom doesn't have an iPhone, you can use yours to set it up. Then she can wear the watch and it can call if she falls or needs assistance.

 

[Ready]

Yes and no.

You need an iPhone to set things up. Once this is done the watch can operate on it's own. It doesn't need an iPhone around to make calls.

So if your Mom doesn't have an iPhone, you can use yours to set it up. Then she can wear the watch and it can call if she falls or needs assistance.

But if you do that every time you get a call it will also ring on her watch. And she will receive all of your texts and emails. And whenever there is an update you will need to bring your phone to install it. That sounds very messy.

 

[Katsmeow]

I have an Apple Watch 4 myself. I haven't set up fall detection but I think it is a neat feature. However, it only works as fall detection if you are wearing the device. It won't help her if she falls in the bathroom, for example, if she doesn't have the watch on.

I personally charge mine late at night when I go to bed and read for awhile before going to sleep. That is a good time to charge it. Otherwise I wear it all the time although I take it off to shower (although I guess I might not have to do that).

As others mentioned, the Apple Watch is not an entirely simple device. I think you need to be someone who can, for example, at least operate a smart phone. It is not super hard to use but would work best for someone who uses and is familiar with an iPhone (which is necessary).

 

[Scuba]

I have an Apple Watch 4 Series and agree it is not the right solution for the OP’s situation. The main problems I see are having to have an iPhone to link it to, and the frequent (daily) retirement to recharge for several hours. I recharge mine overnight, unless I forget, and if I forget, it goes dead the next day. It takes several hours to fully recharge. I would think the most likely time for falls would be at night when it’s dark and she gets up during the night.

 

[audreyh1]

I have an Apple Watch 4 Series and agree it is not the right solution for the OP’s situation. The main problems I see are having to have an iPhone to link it to, and the frequent (daily) retirement to recharge for several hours. I recharge mine overnight, unless I forget, and if I forget, it goes dead the next day. It takes several hours to fully recharge. I would think the most likely time for falls would be at night when it’s dark and she gets up during the night.

Ours take an hour at most to fully recharge,

 

[mpeirce]

But if you do that every time you get a call it will also ring on her watch. And she will receive all of your texts and emails. And whenever there is an update you will need to bring your phone to install it. That sounds very messy.

I'm not saying this is the best solution, but you can turn off the distractions.

Picking up an old iPhone to pair with the watch is better, but of course costs more.

 

[Katsmeow]

It takes several hours to fully recharge. I would think the most likely time for falls would be at night when it’s dark and she gets up during the night.

Mind doesn't. Mine takes about an hour to recharge which I do while reading in bed. I do wear mine overnight. If yours is taking several hours to recharge you need to contact Apple because there may be something wrong with it.

 

[Scuba]

Mind doesn't. Mine takes about an hour to recharge which I do while reading in bed. I do wear mine overnight. If yours is taking several hours to recharge you need to contact Apple because there may be something wrong with it.

Ok good to know. I looked it up online when I first got it and 3-4 hour charge times seem to be common.

 

[braumeister]

My Apple Watch 2 is about 2 ½ years old and no matter what I do with it the battery has never been down more than about 50% at the end of the day. It takes at most an hour to charge it back to 100%.

 

[audreyh1]

My Apple Watch 2 is about 2 ½ years old and no matter what I do with it the battery has never been down more than about 50% at the end of the day. It takes at most an hour to charge it back to 100%.

same here.

The only version that might go low even to zero in one day and take a while to charge was the original series 0.

 

[TrvlBug]

DH and I have the Series 4 and it takes about an hour to charge. Had the Series 3 prior and also about an hour.

 

[Al in Ohio]

I too have the version 4 watch. It’s basically a smartphone on your wrist. It takes one hour to fully charge for the day. I like to do it during breakfast. The version of Siri on it seems better than the one on my iPhone. Tell her to call somewhere and it seems to work usually the first time.