Apple Watch For Your Kids, a new feature for the Apple Watch series of smartwatches that lets you set up the wearable device for a child, is now available in India. This lets you set up an Apple Watch device for a child to use, without needing to connect it to a separate iPhone for the child themselves. Apple suggests that this can be used to track location and keep in touch with children through calls and messages, apart from using the device's health and fitness tracking capabilities to keep children active. The feature is now available for users in India with the Apple Watch SE or Apple Watch Series 4 and later.
The new feature allows you to set up the Apple Watch device with a parent's iPhone, and works with the cellular capabilities on the smartwatch to allow functionality even when the device is used away from the primary iPhone used for the setup. Kids can then use the cellular functionality to place calls and send messages even when away, with the obvious benefit of having the limited functionality of the Apple Watch itself.
This means that you don't need to give your child an iPhone, while still being able to keep track of their location and allow them to have access to calls and messages. Select contacts can be set for call capabilities, and location tracking will let parents know where their children are at any point. Key features such as mapping, Siri, alarms, and Emergency SOS can be enabled for convenience, without actually needing an iPhone. Apple Music and Bluetooth connectivity for headphones also work.
Activity and fitness tracking is available as well, with Apple stating that it can be used to motivate kids to stay healthy, apart from giving you details of their health parameters. There is also a parent-controlled mode called 'Schooltime' which controls access to certain apps and also turns on the do-not-disturb mode to avoid distractions.
For now, cellular connectivity for Apple Watch For Your Kids is available through Jio in India. The feature is only available for Apple Watch devices with cellular connectivity in India, and needs to be paired with an iPhone 8 or later device running the latest available versions of iOS and WatchOS.