Ever since you found your way to a wearable, there’s a good chance your kids have been pestering you for their own. Especially if it’s an Apple Watch or something just like it.
Maybe it’s the screen, the Snoopy or Mickey watch faces, or the fact that it’s like having a tiny phone strapped to your wrist because you can talk through it. Maybe it’s all of the above. It’s a thing.
Whatever the reason, even before Apple rolled out a “for kids” mode, the Apple Watch has grabbed the attention of the little ones, and since the addition last year, there’s been a reason to equip kids, provided you had one available or the money to spend.
In Australia, though, there has been a catch: while Apple Watch For Kids has been available, the mobile roaming service hasn’t been an option when the kids mode has been tied to a parent’s account.
That changes this week, as Telstra becomes the first telco to switch the feature on for a monthly cost.
It’s just like getting your kids a plan of their own, but for the watch, adding a phone number specifically for the wearable, with calls and texts included, plus 2GB of data, which should be plenty for the wearable.
There are catches, such as the cost of the plan, which will cost $20 monthly on top of a parent’s upfront mobile plan which start at $74 per month. That $20 per month is also per child, so if you have two kids, it’ll be $40 monthly for two Apple Watch models accessing remotely.
It also means the Apple Watch model needs the cellular connection, and WiFi/Bluetooth-only models won’t work. So the other catch is you need the slightly more expensive breed of Apple Watch, supporting an eSIM and mobile connection.
Without the mobile capability, the Telstra access isn’t needed, but it also means the Apple Watch is used without calls, texts, and data access.
But if you want to use Apple Watch for Kids with the mobile, you need that mobile support, and Telstra is currently the only telco to support it at present.
Normally, the Apple Watch connection for adult owners is a few bucks per month, extending the phone number of a SIM rather than issuing a totally new number. This approach, however, adds a whole new number for a chid’s Apple Watch, and includes access to maps, music, messages, Siri, calendar entries, and emergency SOS, not to mention all the health features and a clock face that stays in an analogue clock mode while school is in.
During school, that analogue watch face is a specific face with a yellow circle to tell teachers that the clock is running and that apps are restricted. Amidst class, an Apple Watch in kids mode is essentially has Do Not Disturb switched on.
Even the activity mode has been changed slightly for kids, with move minutes the main fitness view instead of calories burned, plus outdoor walk, run and cycle modes optimised for kids.
For parents, the addition could be handy, but the cost feels prohibitive. As it is, Telstra’s eSIM addition for adults is $8 per month and shares a plan’s access, while Telstra’s independent Apple Watch access for kids is $20 per month on top of the cost of something like an Apple Watch SE, or even a hand-me-down.
While the watch provides a way to stay connected at the wrist, it’s also likely to be more expensive than a phone with a SIM, prepaid or postpaid, and may not have as strong a battery life, either.
Each parent and family will no doubt judge each situation differently, though, and so if your kids have been nudging you for a watch and you want to send them with a connected wearable, that now at least works in Australia.
