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Apple watch family plan

RDLM
Explorer

Paying for a family plan on apple watch so my son can have a mobile plan on his watch to travel to school but without wanting him to have a mobile phone yet.

Setting the family plan has been impossible. Various error messages regarding the family plan or downloading sim depending on the various resets and reinstalls.... Have spent many hours on with the technical support team, they say the issue is a "known problem" with "back office".  There is apparently no timescale to fix this problem which affects multiple users.

I asked if my payments for the family plan would be refunded because of the lack of an effective service.  I was advised I can only cancel the plan which would be a big setback in terms of getting my son a device he can use to travel to school alone. 

EE is the only provider that offers the family sharing plan on Apple watch. I don't want to be backed into getting him phone because I think he's not ready for it (aged 10). 

EE family plan felt like the perfect solution, but it seems a plan is being sold which is at best hit and miss as to whether it works for customers.  Have spent hours and hours on this and it is incredibly frustrating.

22 REPLIES 22
Katie_B
EE Community Support Team

Hello @Diem171818

Welcome to the community. 

Did you purchase your Apple Watch from Vodafone?

Katie

Yes I did,the watch has cellular but is not connecting on a family mode. Heard that is something EE can support

Katie_B
EE Community Support Team

Hi @Diem171818

I would recommend speaking with your network provider regarding connecting your Apple Watch to a number on your account. 

To have a family account with EE, you will need to be an EE customer. 

Katie

They connected it,but we want the watch to work on a seperate number,for a family member who doesnt have an iphone

Katie_B
EE Community Support Team

Is the family member with EE or do they not have a mobile number at all @Diem171818?

Katie

My husband's iphone is with Vodafone,. We purchased the iphone watch to link it to the phone for a family member without the phone,the watch currently doesnt have a number,as the vodafone is failing massively to set it all up,i believe they just dont support the service. Is thats sth that EE can help?

Katie_B
EE Community Support Team

Hi @Diem171818

Please could you confirm if you have a watch plan with Vodafone at this moment?

Katie

We purchased a watch and are paying for it monthly.  There is One Number connectivity plan but it doesnt support what we need,so we can cancel that as we are still within 2 weeks notice. Could we get a plan for the watch only  with EE  and connect it on Family option with apple phine? 

Screenshot_20240125_085132_Chrome.jpg

 it says on apple website ,that watch and phone dont have to have the same provider.i attached the photo

dmcconachie
Investigator
Investigator

We fell into this trap too trying to set up a family member watch for my daughter, first with O2 and then with Vodafone. Turns out EE and Truphone (MVNO currently using 3 network) are the only networks that can do the family member setup in the UK. We went with Truphone and it was literally a 5 minute setup which, having spent 20-30 hours on the phone to call centres and in shops, was a real facepalm moment.

Scroll to the bottom of this page: https://www.apple.com/uk/watch/cellular/#table-family-setup