Apple Watch (cellular) won't send messages

Does your watch send messages via cellular if you switch off the iPhone?

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Even if your iPhone isn’t connected or powered on, you can send and receive iMessages on your Apple Watch when your Apple Watch is connected to Wi-Fi or cellular.

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copied from: If you can’t send or receive messages on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

This may not work in case of SMS text messages:

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Make sure that your Apple Watch can connect to your iPhone, cellular, or Wi-Fi. To send and receive SMS/MMS from cellular models of Apple Watch, your paired iPhone must be powered on and connected to Wi-Fi or cellular, but your iPhone doesn’t need to be nearby.

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To receive SMS, MMS, or push notifications from third-party apps on your cellular Apple Watch, your paired iPhone must be powered on and connected to Wi-Fi or cellular, but it doesn't need to be nearby. You also need to be signed in to iMessage on your iPhone to use Messages on your watch.

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copied from: Use your Apple Watch without your iPhone nearby - Apple Support

If I remember it correctly, the watch tries to use Wi-Fi or the Bluetooth connection to the iPhone first.

It didn’t (keyboard). Reset the password on the phone, limiting the upper/lower case letters and symbols that scribble could probably handle and then logged in on the watch using the new p/w & started working. (Will download that app you suggested going forward. )

OK, here's what I found. iMessage is no problem sending via cellular from my Apple Watch. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth disabled.

But, sending SMS to an Android with my iPhone switched off did not work. I did get the same red exclamation mark.

However, as soon as I switched on my iPhone and opened the Message app, the SMS showed as Delivered on the watch and iPhone.

So it seems, that for normal text messages via the carrier, you will need the iPhone to be switched on.

Plus, my watch disabled cellular automatically as soon as the iPhone finished starting up and has been unlocked.

In the Watch App on the iPhone, Settings -> Messages is set to mirror your iPhone?

On your iPhone in Settings -> Messages -> "Resend as Text Message" is enabled, as well as RCS Messaging?

When you are sending SMS (not an iMessage) is your watch connected to the cellular network?

Disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, just to be sure.

Then try to send an iMessage, followed by a normal text message, if the iMessage has been sent successfully.

Hi Ingo. Huge TY for the reply. Just tested sending a text from my (cellular) Apple Watch with my iPhone turned off and got the same message send failure notification.

I can’t figure out what I’ve done to cause this (it’s worked really well for a few years — I must have tapped something by mistake to cause this but can’t figure it out.

Didn't the Series 6 support the keyboard as well?

If not, I installed the app "FlickType" on my old Series 5 to get the keyboard option.

Can you post your solution, in case other users run into that issue as well?

Thank you Ingo! Finally got it fixed (scribble is a nightmare with trying to get lower case letters and symbols).

so grateful for your help!

And grateful for all your help!

No problem, you're welcome 🙂