Hands on Tech 216 Transcript
Please be advised this transcript is AI-generated and may not be word for word. Time codes refer to the approximate times in the ad-supported version of the show.
00:00 - Mikah Sargent (Host)
Coming up on Hands-On Tech, let's take a look at what's required in order to use your Apple Watch when you're away from your iPhone. Stay tuned this is Twit.
00:19
Hello and welcome to Hands-On Tech. I am Micah Sargent and this is the show where I take your tech questions and answer them. Yeah, it's very simple. You write in with your delicious and delightful tech questions and I take the time to do the research and figure out what you need to know for hopefully getting that question answered hopefully getting that question answered. Today's question comes in from Sabahateen, who has written in to ask about push notifications on an Apple Watch. So Sabahateen says the Apple Watch cellular models have this neat feature where, if you are out of reach of your iPhone but you're still online via cellular, you can receive push notifications from your iPhone, even apps for which there is no companion Apple Watch app. Sometimes, if you can reply in the notification, that means you can handle your notifications entirely from the watch, remotely Neat. Now the question is this can I do this just using Wi-Fi, where my phone and my watch are on different Wi-Fi networks? To clarify, that means I have left my phone at home online and gone somewhere where there is Wi-Fi available, like a local cafe, and my watch has already connected to that network before and so it connects now, and so my phone and watch are now on different networks but are both online. Why does it matter the cost of cellular service? I want to avoid paying because I don't see any value in it. Really, my phone and watch are almost always close and I never receive calls that can't wait and people can text or send an email instead anyway, and honestly, I appreciate the peace, quiet and freedom of being away from my phone just for a little while, with nothing but my watch and AirPods and a cappuccino, and when the next Apple Watch comes out, I can go back to the Wi-Fi only model. So very good question. By the way, sabahateen has said that if I had trouble pronouncing the name, I could also just call Sabahattin Sebi. So very good question, sebi. I wanted to dig into this because it is a little complicated. It's sort of a yes, no.
02:34
When it comes to the Apple Watch and the iPhone, the devices communicate with each other in a few different ways. When you connect the two, they have a Bluetooth connection that exists between the two and some data is transferred over that Bluetooth connection. When you and the device are connected to a Wi-Fi network and the devices are paired, they also have a Wi-Fi connection to one another. Now, depending on what you're doing, what you're streaming from one device to the other or if it's directly on the device that is going to play into how the devices are talking to each other. But there's a difference between the two devices.
03:21
Making a local area network connection to one another, like being on the same Wi-Fi network in the same place, versus making a connection to one another when you are not on that same local area network. That it's a wide area network. In that case, they aren't talking to each other that much same way. So just because your phone is at home and is connected to Wi-Fi and your Apple Watch is out and about and connected to Wi-Fi, there's not anything in the system that's going to let those two somehow meet in the middle of the internet itself and communicate with one another, pushing those notifications or whatever it happens to be, over to the other.
04:08
You could almost think, though, of a cellular network as being a sort of local area network, in the sense that both of them are connected over cellular and can do that kind of communication with one another, because it isn't that they're in their own separate buckets, they're all riding on that network that is Verizon or AT&T or whatever it happens to be. So that's why the cellular works the way that it does Now. That means that, no, you can't leave your phone at home connected to your home Wi-Fi network. You can't leave your phone at home connected to your home Wi-Fi network. Take your cellular watch with you to a network out and about and be able to count on those two devices communicating with each other and doing the same sort of push notification system that you have been used to with the cellular watch that you have right now. You can, however, in and this is the thing in looking into this, it is an, in some cases, sort of situation Some Apple Watch apps. So that means an app that you've downloaded on your phone right, that has an Apple Watch companion app, or just a straight up Apple Watch app, has its own push notification services set up to allow for those notifications to come through. So that is different from an app that exists only on the iPhone that is sending you that information and sending it over to your Apple Watch and sending it over to your Apple Watch. So it really is something that is locked to the cellular watch experience and, in looking into this, I do wonder if there's some sort of underlying dynamic at play here, where it is an encouragement to go for the cellular watch model, right, that one of the things that it can do is give you that connectivity between the two devices.
06:17
Now you do talk. You say in this um, honestly, I appreciate the peace, the quiet and the freedom of being away from my phone just for a little while, with nothing but my watch and AirPods and a cappuccino. Hey, if that's the case, then go for the Wi-Fi model of the Apple Watch and be happy knowing that you aren't having to deal with the notifications coming in. That's not a necessary component. I, like you, I comma, like you, comma.
06:52
Have also kind of wondered if the cellular watch is a necessity for me, because I almost always have my iPhone on me. But there have been a couple of times where I have left my phone in the car or something like that, and I've run into a store and I'm able to get the little notification that I needed, that was necessary in the moment. And those little times are the things that really kind of go oh, this is why I have it, this is why I want to have it. Now, what's interesting is there's also a sort of psychological components to all of this, because there are also those advertisements of people. Recently I saw an advertisement of a person who was a surfer and they had called and said, hey, I've been swept out to sea and I have no idea where I am. And because they had it wasn't just, it was emergency SOS on their Apple Watch, because they had that the emergency person was able to figure out where they were and be able to find them and bring them back to, you know, to the beach. And so sometimes I wonder if the reason that we keep the cellular around is for that aspect of it of just in case. It's a sort of it's a bit of insurance, more so than the convenience of being able to have this extra feature. That said, you know, depending on your carrier, it can be more or less expensive, and I know that plays into it as well, and you know I respect that. But yeah, from what you say, it sounds like maybe what you're after is the ability to get away from the incessant connectivity of your phone and Apple Watch. So it might be time for you to make the change, sabahateen, to the to the Wi-Fi model of the Apple Watch.
09:08
Folks, this is the time where I remind you about Club Twit at twittv slash club twit Such a great time. It is an opportunity for you to gain access to some awesome benefits for $7 a month, $84 a year. In joining the club at twittv slash club twit, you will get all of our shows ad free. You'll get access to the TwitPlus bonus feed that has extra content you won't find anywhere else. Before the show, after the show special club twit events get published there.
09:38
I do Micah's Crafting Corner. That's one of the shows that you gain access to. We have a great time. Right now I'm working on some Lego Lego succulents, to be precise. Now I'm working on some Lego succulents. To be precise, we have this little number here and, for people who are listening, it's a red plant that has yellow buds and there's also a little ladybug in the flower pot, but we're currently building those out. People come together. It's a really cozy time. I try to keep it sort of Bob Ross style, where it's very easy, chill. We have some music going on in the background.
10:19
I just saw somebody in the chat mention they'd love to see calligraphy in Micah's Crafting Corner. What's interesting is I did just get a new book to help teach me how to do left-handed calligraphy, because I'm left-handed and it is harder for us to do calligraphy because of the way that calligraphy pens are made and the way that we write. So it's quite possible that soon I will be learning calligraphy on Micah's Crafting Corner as well. So if that seems of interest to you, be sure to check that out too. So, oh, and, it looks like John Ashley's going to be joining me for Micah's Crafting Corner, because he's got a lot of Lego plants to be working on as well. So if that sounds awesome to you, join the club.
11:08
Twittv, slash club twit. On top of that, you also have access to the TwitPlus bonus feed, if I didn't mention that, and the members-only Discord server. Leo Laporte and I will be hosting our coverage of WWDC next month. We're looking forward to that. We're going to be doing a lot of press events in the club, so those are going to be the only places for you to see that. Be sure to check it out, and I thank you all for that, for your support. All right, I think it is time for us to say goodbye for this week's episode of Hands-On Tech. Thank you so much for tuning in. You can always get in touch with me, h-o-t at twittv. When you do, we will take your questions and we will hopefully be able to answer them. I'll see you next week for another episode of Hands-On Tech.
