Can you text on a smartwatch without a phone?

When your watch powers on for the first time, swipe up and then tap the question mark icon. On the next screen, swipe up and tap here. Tap Continue, and then agree to the different policies. From there, follow the guide to set up your watch without a phone.

With a cellular watch, you can send and receive texts using your phone number and cellular service.

Note: You can't use a cellular watch with an iPhone.

Check if you have a cellular watch

1. If you can’t see your screen, wake up the watch.
2. Open the Settings app .
3. Tap Connectivity and look for "Cellular."
   • If your watch doesn’t show this option: You don’t have cellular service. Skip the other steps.
4. Make sure you have:
   • Cellular service for your watch. For more info about getting service for your watch, check with your carrier.
   • Cellular service for your phone.
   • SIM card for your watch
   • Your carrier’s messaging app, like Messenger from AT&T or Messages from Verizon.

Note: The text abilities of your watch vary depending on your carrier and plan.

Send a text message

AT&T customers: When you send a text from your watch, you can choose to send the text from your watch’s number or your phone’s number.

Verizon customers: All text messages are sent using your phone’s number.

Send messages

To send a chat message with apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, and others, you need the same app on your Android phone or tablet.

Say "Send a message with" followed by the app name and the person, and then say the message. For example, "Send a WhatsApp message to Sam."

Learn more about messaging apps and how to troubleshoot sending messages.

Text with a messaging app

1. From your apps menu, open Messenger (AT&T) or Message+ (Verizon).
2. Tap New Message.
3. Choose who you want to send the message to.
4. When done, at the bottom of the screen, tap the blue check mark.
5. Speak the message you want to send.
   • On some watches, you can also type, send an emoji, or scroll down for pre-written messages.
6. Your watch will tell you that the message is being sent. To cancel before it's sent, tap Cancel .

Reply to a text

You can reply to a text message from the notification card or your messaging history.

Reply from the text notification

1. On your watch, scroll down to the notification you want to reply to.
2. To open the message, tap Reply .
   • On some watches, you need to swipe left and tap Reply .
3. Speak the message you want to send.
   • On some watches, you can also type, send an emoji, or scroll down for pre-written messages.
4. Your watch will tell you that the message is being sent. To cancel before it's sent, tap Cancel .

Reply from your message history

1. From your apps menu, open your carrier’s messaging app.
2. Scroll down to see past messages.
3. To open a message, tap it.
4. Tap Reply .
   • If your watch doesn’t show this option: At the bottom of the screen, tap the blue button.
5. Speak the message you want to send.
   • On some watches, you can also type, send an emoji, or scroll down for pre-written messages.
6. Your watch will tell you that the message is being sent. To cancel before it's sent, tap Cancel .