LTE Apple watch not receiving notifications when away from phone.

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Benjip

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#3362264 9-Apr-2025 11:54

I'm in the same boat, on One NZ and the latest iOS and watchOS (Series 10 Apple Watch). It's been like that since I got the AW on launch day though.

If I'm away from my phone, usually I glance down at my Watch and it has the red X/cross at the top of the screen to show that it's not connected to anything, and then I have to go into the Control Center on the Watch to refresh the LTE connection.

Definitely won't be purchasing the LTE version of the Watch again as it's been completely useless unless my phone is right there (which defeats the entire purpose of LTE).

alasta

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#3362267 9-Apr-2025 12:02

Benjip:

If I'm away from my phone, usually I glance down at my Watch and it has the red X/cross at the top of the screen to show that it's not connected to anything, and then I have to go into the Control Center on the Watch to refresh the LTE connection.

This might be an unrelated problem. The cellular reception is naturally compromised by the fact that the antenna in a watch must necessarily be smaller than that in a phone, but my watch seems to reconnect fine when the signal becomes available again. I've never had to force it to reconnect like that.

Definitely won't be purchasing the LTE version of the Watch again as it's been completely useless unless my phone is right there (which defeats the entire purpose of LTE).

I don't actually use the cellular functionality on my watch, but the reason I have it is to be able to call for help if I have an accident when out running. Your experience makes me wonder if I should test my ability to make a call, because it would be terrible to suddenly discover it doesn't work in an actual emergency.

If it doesn't work then maybe I should just go back to Garmin.

Benjip

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#3362278 9-Apr-2025 12:27

Oh it definitely works once I force it to use LTE, but I thought the whole idea was that I could just walk away from the house or office (without my phone) and have everything come through to the Watch, without having to toggle LTE on after it leaves the iPhone's signal.

alasta

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#3362308 9-Apr-2025 14:59

Benjip:

Oh it definitely works once I force it to use LTE, but I thought the whole idea was that I could just walk away from the house or office (without my phone) and have everything come through to the Watch, without having to toggle LTE on after it leaves the iPhone's signal.

I'm pretty sure mine connects to the cellular network as soon as it disconnects from my iPhone. I'll test it next time I go for a run.

alasta

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#3362695 10-Apr-2025 13:19

Okay, I have just tested this again on my afternoon run with my series 9:

The cellular signal meter indicates that the device is connecting without any need to prompt it to connect manually.
I played around with the Maps and App Store app to confirm that the connectivity is working.
I discovered last night that I had mail notifications turned off in the Watch app on my iPhone. I turned it back on.
I received an email during my run, and was able to see it on the Apple Watch. So, this negates my earlier comment that I am not receiving notifications.

So, it would seem that the problems you guys are having are probably isolated rather than universal.

@benjip - What is the OneNZ signal strength around your home? If you walk from your home to a location where you know the signal strength is strong, does the watch still need to be manually prompted to connect? In my experience the watch tends to struggle with anything other than a good line of sight signal.

Aucklandjafa

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#3362697 10-Apr-2025 13:27

alasta:

Okay, I have just tested this again on my afternoon run with my series 9:

The cellular signal meter indicates that the device is connecting without any need to prompt it to connect manually.
I played around with the Maps and App Store app to confirm that the connectivity is working.
I discovered last night that I had mail notifications turned off in the Watch app on my iPhone. I turned it back on.
I received an email during my run, and was able to see it on the Apple Watch. So, this negates my earlier comment that I am not receiving notifications.
So, it would seem that the problems you guys are having are probably isolated rather than universal.

@benjip - What is the OneNZ signal strength around your home? If you walk from your home to a location where you know the signal strength is strong, does the watch still need to be manually prompted to connect? In my experience the watch tends to struggle with anything other than a good line of sight signal.

Yeah, I've now realised I can receive notification (email, social media) all fine - it's limited to not being able to send and receive both imessage and SMS when away from my phone. And because I can't send SMS (non-iMessages) when connected to my phone, it's looking to be a provisioning issue. The guys in the Spark store were helpful and said they can disconnect/re-connect the watch which should work, it just means the balance of my IFP will be rolled up (not ideal, but if it means it sorts my issue - great).

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boosacnoodle

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#3362704 10-Apr-2025 13:55

Aucklandjafa:

Yeah, I've now realised I can receive notification (email, social media) all fine - it's limited to not being able to send and receive both imessage and SMS when away from my phone. And because I can't send SMS (non-iMessages) when connected to my phone, it's looking to be a provisioning issue. The guys in the Spark store were helpful and said they can disconnect/re-connect the watch which should work, it just means the balance of my IFP will be rolled up (not ideal, but if it means it sorts my issue - great).

They don't have to roll up the IFP (especially when it's their fault) - it's a manual process done separately to any connection / disconnection.

Aucklandjafa

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#3362715 10-Apr-2025 14:31

Unless Siebel has changed since I last worked there, I've never heard IFP not being rolled up if it's attached to a line number - for accessories and mobile devices sitting by themselves that was possible to leave as is.

If it's possible, great! Not the end of the world if it can't happen, but I doubt Spark would ever admit fault, eh?

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