2 Apple Watches, 1 iPhone. Can you swap back and forth between the two watches?

[dwebstert]

Can the iPhone 6 support two Apple Watch profiles? How easy is it to swap between the two watches? Will any date be lost when swapping?

I am considering a Sports model for when I workout and a SS for day-to-day wear: dinner, work, etc.

 

[Just_Me_D]

On the surface, I assume you could simply "unpair" watch #1 and then "pair" watch #2 when you're ready to use it.

 

[Ledsteplin]

On the surface, I assume you could simply "unpaid" watch #1 and "pair" watch #2 when you're ready to use it.

It took me a minute to see your typo.


Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5. ☮

 

[Just_Me_D]

It took me a minute to see your typo.


Sent from my ancient but trustworthy iPhone 5. ☮

Good catch, and thanks. I've since corrected the typo. ...

 

[swarlos]

Just curious why wouldn't you just get the SS model that has the band you like and then spend the dough to get a sport band so you can swap out for your workout instead of buying two watches and spending a crap ton of money?


Carried by a raven from The Wall.

 

[dwebstert]

Because I wanted the Space Gray Sports and the SS with a Classic Band.

 

[impaler]

If you want to use the full functionality of an Apple Watch without hassle, swapping back and forth between iPhones will drive you nuts. For instance, every time you unpair the Watch from the iPhone, you lose all your Apple Pay cards, and other configs. That would be a nightmare for me, to have to keep calling the banks and re-requesting the cards to be added.

 

[dwebstert]

Thanks Impaler. I agree, that would present a big problem. Hopefully, Apple will consider this as an enhancement in a future software update.

 

[impaler]

Thanks Impaler. I agree, that would present a big problem. Hopefully, Apple will consider this as an enhancement in a future software update.

As interesting as that could be, I wouldn't hold your breath. The Watch is really designed for single person and device use. Just spitballing, but I think the only way they could make this happen securely enough, would be to create profiles for the Watch. However, it seems so far away from their concept of how it will be used, and would be such an unusual and rare feature, I don't see the engineers spending any real time on it.

 

[Bigeric23]

If you want to use the full functionality of an Apple Watch without hassle, swapping back and forth between iPhones will drive you nuts. For instance, every time you unpair the Watch from the iPhone, you lose all your Apple Pay cards, and other configs. That would be a nightmare for me, to have to keep calling the banks and re-requesting the cards to be added.

Thanks for the information.

 

[dwebstert]

I agree with the profile idea. In fact, I was thinking (hopeful) that if you renamed each watch with a unique name that that might allow the iPhone to support two different watches with minimal steps needed to swap from one watch to the other.

 

[Scatabrain]

I switched my phones today and paired and unpaired. What a pain. It wiped the watch and I had to call 3 banks to auth apple pay again. I would say switching is NOT meant as an every day activity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bahandi]

People in the Pebble community turn off the watch they want "unpaired" then turn on the watch they want "paired" up. Not sure if this would work in the case of reauthorizing specific watches.

 

[shorose]

"If you want to use the full functionality of an Apple Watch without hassle, swapping back and forth between iPhones will drive you nuts. For instance, every time you unpair the Watch from the iPhone, you lose all your Apple Pay cards, and other configs. That would be a nightmare for me, to have to keep calling the banks and re-requesting the cards to be added."

But I think the issue is NOT about switching iPhones - it's about maintaining two watches on one iPhone. I read somewhere that when you unpair a watch, the settings are backed up on the phone. I'm hoping that would eliminate some of the problems like re-authorizing cards? I have an SS, and I'd like to add a Sports Watch to the mix for my work in a healthcare setting. I'm surprised at how little discussion there is about this. Any more feedback?

 

[dwebstert]

Yes Shorose, my question was about maintaining two watches with one iPhone. I can't find the link but I just read an article today that stated each time you unpair your watch from your iPhone, you lose:

• synced music
• any authorized credit cards
• data in the Activity app

There was one more that I don't remember.

So it doesn't sound like Apple anticipated a user want to have more than one watch with a single iPhone. Maybe a future enhancement.

 

[shorose]

The one that does make sense to me is data in the Activity app, since it is continuously monitoring and changing. I have a Sports Watch coming in early June, so I'll be trying everything I can to make the 2 watches swappable - or at least come up with an acceptable swap scenario. I'm glad I decided early on to do this, so I'll only potentially be losing data from 4/24 through whatever day I resolve it or give up! I'll post here with my results.

 

[bahandi]

Yes Shorose, my question was about maintaining two watches with one iPhone. I can't find the link but I just read an article today that stated each time you unpair your watch from your iPhone, you lose:

• synced music
• any authorized credit cards
• data in the Activity app

There was one more that I don't remember.

So it doesn't sound like Apple anticipated a user want to have more than one watch with a single iPhone. Maybe a future enhancement.

But does unpairing mean the intentional act of unpairing the phone or watch? Or does that include a "loss of connection"? Hope that made sense.

Having two watches (assuming one can afford it) would definitely be handy for some people.

 

[dwebstert]

If I understand your question, I was referring to intentionally unpairing the watch.

 

[shorose]

Yes Shorose, my question was about maintaining two watches with one iPhone. I can't find the link but I just read an article today that stated each time you unpair your watch from your iPhone, you lose:

• synced music
• any authorized credit cards
• data in the Activity app

There was one more that I don't remember.

So it doesn't sound like Apple anticipated a user want to have more than one watch with a single iPhone. Maybe a future enhancement.

I found the link you mentioned in Apple Support, but I can't post the link, so - go to Apple Support and search for Apple Watch backup. The file is dated May 12.

Note that Activity app data IS stored - it's the Activity app calibration data (if you created some) that wouldn't be stored. The 4th item that is not backed up is the passcode. Still considering . . . .

 

[dwebstert]

I can't believe Apple did not anticipate users wanting to do this. Not to mention that this would be a deal breaker, at least for me, when considering buying a second watch.

And in Apple's defense, maybe they did consider it but the feature was not yet ready for release. So hopefully we will see this in a future software release for the watch.