Apple Watch users

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 11, 2015
Messages
7,723
Location
New England
My dad is pretty old and has issues of occasionally falling (yard/bedroom) and does not like carrying his smartphone with him.

My mum and dad are talking about an Apple Watch for fall detection and also an ability to talk to each other in house(sprawling 1783 colonial) and large yard all covered by Wifi. I watch think it has ability to hook to an iPhone on his desk over Wifi for calling.

Anyone with experience is it easy to use and call one another ?
 
Last edited:
My wife and I use the walkie talkie feature all the time on our Apple Watches when wrangling children or household chores that keep our hands occupied. It works great - the integration with iPhone is seamless so as long as both devices are in WiFi range the Watch can be used as a natural extension to the phone for calls, texts, SOS alerts, etc. I have the cellular model, so all that stuff still works even if I forget my phone at home.
 
+1 on the pendant! Simple, easy to use, no issues with complexity on the part of the user. Fall....push the button.
 
Get the pendant. My wife is somewhat tech savvy and has an apple watch. It can be a little frustrating at times even for her.
 
Unless those pendants also have fall detection, I would vote for the Apple.

I had a stroke 2 years ago, fell, tried to get up, fell again, and was out. Woke up 5 hours later after successful surgery.

Those pendants are good but I wouldn't have been able to push the button. Fortunately, I was with someone.

In my case if I was alone, fall detection would be better.

I never fell before or since. Tomorrow I will do atf and coolant change on 2 cars. Getting down under.

If your Dad is that subject to falling, you should take further precautions. I can't tell how many seniors I know, fall, break a knee or hip, and never recover.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Donald
I would think one of the emergency pendents would be best for an older person to summon help in an emergency.


Likely a good item however my dad is stubborn and old. He is out at 5 am with head lamp collecting sticks for wood stove while mother sleeps. He refuses to accept his issues as a barrier to daily tasks. He just wants to summon my mum and ensure she is not over worried(mental issues).

Sorry venting nothing is easy with them.
 
I have the Apple Watch however it is not that great to use as a phone. It's so small and fairly difficult to use especially in an emergency. You are better off with a regular cell phone in your pocket. IMO the Apple Watch is more of a toy than anything. I do like to read my quick text messages over the watch instead of checking them on a cell phone.
 
I have the Apple Watch 4 and find it to be a very handy device. It's ease of use is probably it's best feature-- push button, tell Siri what you want it to do, saves you the hassle of navigating menus. As long as the phone is nearby it's pretty flawless. Granted, I have the non-celluar version, so it connects to my Iphone via Bluetooth (if in range) or Wi-fi. The range is pretty good, it will maintain a wi-fi connection pretty much anywhere in my house, but is rather spotty outside. But then again none of my Wi-fi devices do well outside. The phone feature is invaluable-- I use it quite often for short calls where I don't want to track down my phone. It works well except in very noisy environments.

I can't speak for the fall detection feature, hopefully it will be many more years before I have to use it!
 
I and wifey have 2nd series to this day and we like it a lot; it is way more than just a watch... We use it mainly for showing time, in the gym, making payments etc; we don't use it as a speaker or a mic, it is not suitable for that

it is just like any other technology out there; when you don't have it, you don't miss it; however, once you put it on your wrist, you almost cannot live without it
 
I bought an Apple Watch. Didn't see the value in the cellular version adding $10/mo to my bill, so I went with the regular one - primarily for the novelty of the activity tracking (I'm a polar hr monitor holdout), and a few other novelties.

I have used the phone function which is kind of fun. I actually like the wristwatch phone function, just not that sure how practical it is to initiate calls from it if I was in an injured state.

But here's the deal. Just sat down on my steps to try this out...

Don't know if there's a way to streamline, but there's lots of steps. I need to get to the main screen (I keep mine in theater mode so the screen generally stays off), then to the screen with all the app icons (tiny), then find the right one, then dial 911 or whatever.

I'm sure there's an easier way. Perhaps even you can add an icon or a way to quickly get to an emergency button... dunno...

But it seems like a lot of steps.

And then the battery is rated for 18 hours. I usually get two days staying in theater mode without most notifications and just doing fitness, hr tracking etc.

Maybe there's a way to put a direct access emergency cal button on the other settings screen in my last pic?

6973AD17-3F73-465D-A6B9-53DFBF4E87C5.jpeg


10255A6D-7D18-4510-B4A6-086D9547D5DB.jpeg


0BAE4834-ACC0-4A8C-B4DA-E99975FAD666.jpeg


113DF42B-8196-4F56-BEDD-8552EC18D6CA.jpeg


F29E1CF1-8D0C-4187-8C24-79B447351354.jpeg


DEB0EB68-D8D4-4CE0-B05F-6245E6359897.jpeg
 
Originally Posted by user52165
Stating WHICH Apple watch would be useful. Later versions are easier to navigate.


Mine is a 5 - the latest one. Not exactly easy for an old, injured person to navigate, imo...

Still enjoy the thing.
 
Doesn't anybody use Siri? Hold button, say "call 911". There is a 5 second time-out for you to change your mind, then it just does it. How hard can it be?

Same with calling, texting, any other function. Hold button, "call Bob." Watch calls Bob, it's that easy. I can't remember the last time I did anything through the menu.
 
A Watch 5 with cellular is the way to go for your Dad. Besides the fall monitor, with auto 911 calling, he could use it just to make phone calls by voice. Set up reminders for his meds too. Very **** Tracy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top