Check out this sure shot way to find out if your Apple Watch has internet connectivity or not.
You need internet on your Apple Watch to stream Apple Music, use Siri, make FaceTime calls, download items from the App Store, translate text & voice, and so forth.
If you’re unsure whether your Apple Watch has Wi-Fi, cellular, or internet connectivity, we’ll show you the different ways your Apple Watch can access the web and what its tiny network connectivity icons mean.
Quick Check
To quickly check whether your Apple Watch has internet connectivity or not, press the Digital Crown to invoke Siri. Now, make a request that’s dependent on the internet, like knowing the weather in a far-off city. If Siri works successfully, your Apple Watch is connected to the internet.
Being a watch owner, if you want to learn more about this topic, please continue reading.
Internet Connectivity on Apple Watch
Apple Watch can connect to the internet in three ways:
- Using your iPhone’s internet
- Wi-Fi
- Cellular data (on cellular models)
To check, bring up watchOS Control Center, and if your Apple Watch is connected to the internet, you will see one of the three icons mentioned below.
1. Green iPhone icon
This means your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth, and it can use your iPhone’s internet. You see this icon most often as this is better for the battery, and your Apple Watch prefers depending on your phone for its internet needs compared to direct Wi-Fi or battery-hogging cellular data.
Even if you turn off Wi-Fi on your Apple Watch, the wearable will use your iPhone’s cellular (5G, 4G, 3G) or iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection to access the internet. But if mobile data and Wi-Fi are off on your iPhone as well, the watch also obviously loses internet access.
Use case: Your iPhone is charging on the table nearby, and you make a FaceTime audio call from your Apple Watch or use Siri on it.
2. Wi-Fi icon
When your Apple Watch isn’t connected to the iPhone but only to a known Wi-Fi network, you will see a tiny blue Wi-Fi icon instead of the green iPhone icon. This means your Apple Watch can connect to the internet even without the iPhone being around.
To check, go to iPhone Settings (not Control Center) and turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Wait for a few seconds, and now your Apple Watch will disconnect from your iPhone. In a few seconds, the tiny green iPhone icon in your Apple Watch Control Center will be replaced by a Wi-Fi icon, provided you are in an area with a known Wi-Fi network, and Wi-Fi is enabled on your watch.
Use case: You’re home or in the office, and your iPhone is switched off. Your Apple Watch is connected independently to the previously joined known Wi-Fi and can make FaceTime audio calls, use Siri, download apps, etc., right from your wrist.
3. Green cellular bars icon
If you have a cellular model of the Apple Watch and you’re out of range from your iPhone or known Wi-Fi, your watch will use mobile data to use Siri, make FaceTime calls, and everything else that requires the internet.
The cellular data icon can be white, dark, green with a tower icon, or green with the LTE badge. All four of these have different meanings, and we have explained them with screenshots in our tutorial on setting up cellular on Apple Watch for calls, text, and data. You should check that out.
Use case: You go for a morning run, leaving your iPhone behind. Your cellular Apple Watch can use mobile data to make FaceTime calls, use maps, etc. Note that you can also make regular cellular phone calls from your Apple Watch without turning on cellular data.
What does the red slashed iPhone icon on Apple Watch mean?
The tiny red phone icon means your Apple Watch is disconnected from the iPhone. Once you enable Bluetooth on your iPhone and Apple Watch, the devices reconnect. As a result, the red iPhone icon is replaced by the usual green iPhone icon.
If your iPhone isn’t nearby, but your watch is connected to Wi-Fi or cellular (on cellular models), this red iPhone icon doesn’t show in Control Center.
How to access Wi-Fi settings on Apple Watch
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch and tap Wi-Fi.
- Tap the Wi-Fi toggle to enable or disable it.
- The Wi-Fi network your Apple Watch is connected to appears under the Wi-Fi tile. Tap it to change Auto-Join settings or Forget This Network. The other networks are listed below the Choose Network heading, and you can tap one from here to connect your Apple Watch to it.
The Wi-Fi icon is also present in the watchOS Control Center.
How to access Bluetooth settings on Apple Watch
- Open Settings, scroll down, and tap Bluetooth.
- Go past the connected or your iCloud Bluetooth devices (like AirPods) to see the Bluetooth toggle. You can enable and disable Bluetooth from here. Tap the info button ⓘ next to a Bluetooth device name to forget/remove it.
Note that since your Apple Watch and iPhone connect to one another via Bluetooth, watchOS Control Center doesn’t have a Bluetooth icon to prevent users from accidentally or quickly turning it off.
Your Apple Watch and iPhone use a combination of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for AirPlay, Find My, location services, quickly transferring screenshots from Apple Watch to iPhone, and more.
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