The launch of watchOS 7 finally delivered what many parents desired: an Apple Watch functioning as a GPS-based tracker for children, though the cost requires careful evaluation. As a parent of a “tween” permitted to explore the neighborhood with a communication device, I thoroughly tested the new Family Setup system over the last few months.

My conclusion? Honestly, I’m uncertain whether I would recommend the Apple Watch to other parents, or simply suggest considering a smartphone for their child.

This stems, in part, from the benefits offered by dedicated family-tracking services – such as Life360, for instance – as well as how a child might react to the Apple Watch itself, and the inherent complexities of a system not originally intended for family tracking.

As a parent of an active, nearly 11-year-old, the initial appeal of an Apple Watch as a family tracker is clear. It provides all the necessary features: GPS tracking, calling and texting capabilities, alerts, and access to emergency services. It’s relatively easy to manage and, compared to a new iPhone, less expensive. (The latest Apple Watch SE cellular models begin at $329. This feature also functions on older Apple Watch Series 4 or later models with cellular connectivity. Adding the Apple Watch to an existing phone plan typically adds around $10 monthly.)

I believe the Apple Watch as a kid tracker primarily attracts parents who are hesitant about providing a younger child with a phone, and the potential access to addictive apps and the broader internet. I understand this concern, but I personally believe waiting until a child is “older” and then handing them a phone without preparation is unwise. They require a gradual introduction, and the “tween” years are an ideal timeframe to begin.

Smartphones and technology are unavoidable realities. As a parent, I aim to introduce these tools in measured doses – with parental controls and screen time limits, for example – and then monitor their usage. Mistakes will happen, both on my part and my daughter’s, but we both need these years to learn how to balance parenting and digital tools. A phone necessitates difficult conversations about the challenges we encounter. I recognize why parents want to postpone those discussions, and opt for a watch instead.

Based on my experience, I would fully recommend the Apple Watch only to families who are either tech-free or maintain a very limited technological presence, where children will not receive phones at any point, households with strict limitations on children’s phone usage (such as Wi-Fi-only phones), or those who delay providing phones until their children reach their teenage years. I won’t attempt to persuade anyone to adopt my potentially more progressive view on when to give a child a phone. The Apple Watch may be suitable for these families, and that is their decision.

However, many may wonder if the Apple Watch can serve as a temporary solution for a year or two before purchasing a smartphone. To those considering this, I believe it represents an expensive way to postpone the inevitable and unavoidable task of guiding your child through the digital age.

Given my perspective, a significant caveat to this review is that my daughter does, in fact, have a smartphone. Also, let me clarify: this is not a comprehensive review of the Apple Watch itself, nor a detailed report of its technical specifications. It’s a subjective account of our experience, from which I hope you can draw insights.

Initially, configuring the Apple Watch with Family Setup was straightforward. “Set Up for a Family Member” is one of the two setup options presented. Apple provides a user-friendly interface that guides you through pairing the Watch with your phone and making all necessary selections, such as enabling cellular, activating “Ask to Buy” for app purchases, enabling Schooltime and Activity features, and more.

However, actually using the Apple Watch as intended after configuration proved more challenging. I found it considerably easier to use an iPhone app (like Life360, which we already use) where all the required features are consolidated in one place. This was not the case with the Apple Watch Family Setup system.

To test the Apple Watch with Family Setup, my daughter left her iPhone at home when biking or meeting friends outdoors.

As a child who gradually earned access to an iPhone, I was surprised by her initial lack of responsibility towards the watch.

She didn’t treat the multi-hundred-dollar device with respect, instead regarding it like costume jewelry or a wrist-worn scrunchie. The Apple Watch was left on dressers, bathroom counters, kitchen tables, and beanbag chairs.

Fortunately, the “Find My” app can locate the Apple Watch, provided it has battery life and a signal. However, there were some unsettling moments when a dead watch was discovered on the back of a toilet (!!), on top of the piano, and once, abandoned at a friend’s house.

And this came from a child who always knows where her iPhone is!

The issue is that she had years of practice learning to be responsible for her iPhone. This led me to believe she was responsible for expensive devices. We endured a couple of years and several low-end Android phones while she learned to care for a device. Despite protective cases, one phone was destroyed by a fall onto a tile floor, and another was run over by a car. (How it ended up in the road, I’ll never know!)

Eventually, she earned an iPhone. Initially, she was only allowed to use it at home on Wi-Fi, but it now goes outdoors and has its own phone number. She has been careful with it since. (Knock on wood.)

The Apple Watch, however, didn’t hold the same status. It wasn’t an earned privilege, it wasn’t enjoyable, and it lacked her favorite apps and games. It was simply imposed upon her.

The iPhone is frequently used for enjoyable and engaging activities like Roblox, TikTok, Disney+, and Netflix, while the Apple Watch felt comparatively boring. While it does have an App Store, and allows for Memoji creation and customized watch faces, these features held limited appeal, especially given her prior access to technology.

“Do you want to download this game? This looks fun,” I suggested, pointing to a coloring game one evening.

“No thanks,” she replied.

“Why not?”

“I just don’t think it would be good on the little screen.”

“Maybe a different game?”

“Nah.”

And that was the end of it. I couldn’t convince her to try a single Apple Watch app in the following days.

She didn’t even want to stream music on the Apple Watch – she has Alexa for that. She didn’t want to play games on the watch – she has Roblox on her laptop. She also has a handheld Nintendo Switch.

Initially, she selected an Apple Watch face that matched her current style – simple and neutral – and that was the extent of her interest in personalizing the device for several weeks.

Having exhausted her interest in Memoji by borrowing my phone to play with the feature upon its launch, she showed little enthusiasm for further customization, despite my suggestions.

However, after I set up the Memoji Watch Face and showed it to her, she responded with “YESSSS. I love it,” and eagerly took the watch to explore it further.

Demonstrating features is important, it seems.

For the most part, the Apple Watch was only worn at my request when she went outside.

This soon became a routine.

“Can I go outside and play?”

“Yes. Wear the watch!” I’d reply.

“I knowwww.”

It took over a month for her to remember to wear the watch on her own.

I admit I didn’t fully demonstrate the Apple Watch to her or explain its features in detail during those initial weeks. While I could have made her an expert, I believe it’s important to recognize that many parents are less tech-savvy than their children. Children are often left to figure out devices on their own, and this child has experience with several devices. Therefore, I was curious how a fairly tech-literate child would adapt to an Apple Watch.

She found it somewhat confusing.

“What do you think about the Watch?” I asked one evening, gauging her opinion.

“It’s fun…but sometimes I don’t really understand it,” she replied.

“What don’t you understand?”

“I don’t know. Just…almost everything,” she said dramatically, as tweens often do. “Like, sometimes I don’t know how to turn up and down the volume.”

Upon further questioning, I learned she was confused about adjusting the alert volume for messages and notifications, as well as switching between phone calls, vibration, and Do Not Disturb.

Translating from kid language, I realized she hadn’t fully explored the watch’s user interface. She didn’t realize the iPhone’s swipe gestures had counterparts on the Apple Watch. (And why would you swipe up from the bottom of the screen for the Control Center when that doesn’t work on the iPhone anymore? On iPhone, you now swipe down from the top-right to access Control Center functions.)

She also hadn’t discovered the tiny “Settings” app (the gear icon) on the Apple Watch’s Home Screen to make further changes.

Instead, she expected to use a side button for volume control – like on a phone – or the digital crown. But these physical features confusingly led her to the Home Screen and app switcher, when she actually wanted to manage calls, notifications, and alerts.

And why zoom into the Home Screen with a turn of the digital crown? She wasn’t even using the apps at this point. There weren’t many on the screen.

Curious about her feedback, I asked, “What kind of apps do you want?”

“Roblox and TikTok.”

“Roblox?!,” I said, laughing. “How would that even work?”

It turned out she didn’t want to play Roblox on her watch. She wanted to respond to messages and participate in group chats from her watch.

Oh. That’s actually a reasonable idea. The Apple Watch is, after all, a messaging device.

And since many kids her age don’t have a phone or access to messaging apps like Snapchat or Instagram, they exchange Roblox usernames and friend each other in the game as a workaround. They then message each other to arrange virtual or real-life playdates.

But the iOS version of the Roblox mobile app doesn’t have an Apple Watch equivalent.

“And TikTok?” I found this amusing as well.

The fact that the Apple Watch isn’t an ideal video player was lost on her. It’s a device with a screen, connected to the internet. So why isn’t that enough, she wondered?

“You could look through popular TikToks,” she suggested. “You wouldn’t need to make an account or anything,” she clarified, as if these details would resolve her concerns.

Even if the technology existed, a TikTok experience on the small screen wouldn’t be enjoyable. But this demonstrates how much interest in technology is tied to available apps and games, rather than the platform itself.

Other built-in features were even less appealing.

Although I had set up basic Activity features during setup, like a “Move Goal,” she had no idea what they were. I showed her the “rings” and how they worked, and she thought it was neat that the Apple Watch could track her standing. However, there was no genuine interest in quantifying her daily movement – at least, not until we were hiking weeks later and she heard my watch chime as my rings closed, prompting her to do the same. She became interested in recording her steps during that hike, but the interest didn’t last.

Apple designed the Activity features so kids could track their move goal and exercise progress. But I suspect many kids won’t care, even if they’re active. Kids play – they don’t think, “How much did I play? Did I move enough today?” And they shouldn’t, really.

As a parent, I can view her data in the Health app on my iPhone, which I use to manage her Apple Watch. It’s interesting to see things like her steps walked or flights climbed. But it’s not entirely useful, as she doesn’t continually wear the watch throughout the day. (She finds the bands uncomfortable – we tried Sport Band and Sport Loop, and she still fiddles with them constantly, trying to adjust them for comfort.)

Furthermore, if I wanted to change her Activity goals, I’d have to do so directly on her Watch.

Of course, a parent doesn’t buy a child an Apple Watch to track their exercise. It’s for the location-tracking features. That is the primary reason a parent would consider this device for a younger child.

On that front, I appreciated that the watch was a GPS tracker integrated into our Apple ecosystem as its own device with its own phone number. I liked that I could ping the Watch with “Find My” when it was lost – and it was lost frequently, as I noted. I liked that I could manage the Watch from my iPhone, since it’s difficult to make changes once it’s handed over to someone else.

I also liked that the Apple Watch was consistently available. This may have been its biggest perk. Unlike my daughter’s iPhone, which is almost always at 10-20% battery (or less), the watch was consistently charged and ready for outdoor play.

I liked that it was easier for her to answer a call on the Apple Watch compared with digging her phone out of her bike basket or bag. I liked that she didn’t have to worry about constantly holding onto her phone while out and about.

I also appreciated that I could create geofenced alerts – like when she reached the park or a friend’s house, or when she left. But I disliked that this feature is buried in the “Find My” app. (You tap on the child’s name in the “People” tab. Tap “Add” under “Notifications.” Tap “Notify Me.” Tap “New Location.” Search for an address or venue. Tap “Done.”)

I also disliked that when I created recurring geofences, my daughter would be notified. Yes, privacy. I know! But who’s in charge here? My daughter is a child, not a teen. She knows the Apple Watch is a GPS tracker – we had that conversation. She knows it allows me to see where she is. She’s young and doesn’t currently feel this is a privacy violation. We’ll have that discussion later, I’m sure. But for now, she appreciates the electronic tether to home as she explores her world.

When I tweaked and updated recurring alerts for geofenced locations, these alerts could be confusing or concerning. I appreciate Apple’s transparency and attempt to help kids understand they’re being tracked – but I also argue that most parents who gift an expensive watch to their child will explain why. This is a tool, not a toy.

Also, the interface for configuring geofences is cumbersome. By comparison, the family-tracking app Life360, which we normally use, has a screen where you simply tap add, search for the location, and you’re done. One tap on a bell icon next to the location turns alerts on or off. (You can get granular about it: recurring, one-time, arrives, leaves, etc. – but you don’t have to. Just tap and be alerted. It’s more straightforward.)

One feature I liked on the Apple Watch, but couldn’t fully utilize, was its Schooltime mode – a remotely-enabled, scheduled version of Do Not Disturb. This feature blocks apps and complications and turns on Do Not Disturb, while allowing emergency calls and notifications to come through. (Make sure to set up Shared Contacts to manage this aspect.)

Currently, we have no use for Schooltime, due to the pandemic. My daughter is attending school remotely this year. I can imagine how this might be helpful when she returns to class.

But I also worry that if I sent her to class with the Apple Watch, other kids would judge her for her expensive device. I worry that teachers (who don’t know about Schooltime) would judge me for having her wear it. I worry kids would covet it and ask to try it on. I worry a kid would run off with it, causing disciplinary issues for teachers. I worry it would get smashed on the playground or during PE, or fall off because she fiddled with the band. I worry she’d take it off because “the strap is so annoying” (as I was told), then leave it in her desk.

I don’t worry as much about the iPhone at school, because it stays in her backpack due to school policy. It doesn’t sit on her arm as a constant temptation, “Schooltime” mode or otherwise.

The Apple Watch Family Setup is also not a solution that adapts as the child ages to meet the expanding needs of teen monitoring, compared with other family-tracking solutions.

To continue the Life360 comparison, the app now offers features for teen drivers and new privacy-sensitive location “bubbles” for teens, giving them more autonomy. Apple’s family-tracking solution, meanwhile, becomes more limited as the child ages.

For instance, Schooltime doesn’t work on an iPhone. Once the child upgrades to an iPhone, you’re meant to use parental controls and Screen Time features to manage app access and usage. A good transitional step would be to maintain Schooltime mode on the child’s next device.

Instead, by investing in Apple Watch for its Family Setup features, you’ll likely end up with a child who owns both an Apple Watch and a smartphone. (You could regift it or return it, I suppose…I wish you luck if you try that!)

Beyond the consumerism of buying an Apple Watch for a child, my biggest complaint was that there were three different apps for managing and viewing data associated with my daughter’s Apple Watch. I could view her tracked activity in my Health app. Location-tracking and geofence configuration were in the Find My app. And remotely configuring the Apple Watch itself, including Schooltime, was in my Watch app.

I understand that Apple designed the Watch as a personal device for one person and had to adapt it for family tracking. But Apple hasn’t approached this as a completely new system designed from the ground up for families or their evolving needs as the child grows. It’s simply pairing the child’s watch with the parent’s iPhone and adding extra features like Schooltime.

As a result, the system feels underdeveloped compared with existing family-tracking solutions. Given the numerous features to configure, adjust, and monitor, Family Setup deserves its own app, or at least its own tab in a parent’s Watch app to simplify its use.

Ultimately, if you are allowing your child to venture out into the world – beyond school and supervised playdates – the Apple Watch is a solution, but it may not be the best one for your needs. If you have specific reasons why your child won’t get a phone now or in the future, the Apple Watch may work. But if you don’t have those reasons, it may be time to consider a smartphone.

Both Apple and Google now offer robust parental control solutions for their smartphone platforms that address many parents’ concerns about content and app addiction. Considering the cost of a new Apple Watch, the savings aren’t significant – especially when considering entry-level Android phones or hand-me-down phones as alternatives.

[Apple provided a loaner device for the purposes of this review. My daughter was cited and quoted with permission, but requested her name not be used.]