My Apple Watch Dumbphone Setup

Overview

I recently purchased a 2nd gen Apple Watch SE with GPS and cellular for $220. The goal of this purchase was to create take advantage of all the practical features that modern smart devices offer in a seperate device from my phone. This includes iMessages, Apple wallet, phone calls, maps, to do apps, Spotify.

I’ll be referring to this watch as my dumb watch (like dumb phone but watch).

As far as I know, the watch only allows phone calls while your paired phone is on. I attempted to make phone calls while the phone was powered off and was greeted by silence. But as long as the phone is on, I can make calls on my watch even if my phone is not on me at that time.

The watch also has apple pay capabilities, which I use on a daily basis. The majority of apps that I need to use everyday have watchOS equivelents that are well polished.

Daily use

My phone stays silenced and tucked in the bottom of my backpack in case I ever need it for something like the camera. But for majority of daily routine relies just this tiny device.

Why did I decide to do this? Doesn’t this just make things more inconvinent?

Yes, having two devices definitely introduces some more clutter, but the benefits much outweigh this issue. There are only a couple occasions where I feel comfortable bringing just my dumb watch and leaving my phone at home. Those being my dedicated activities in nature where I know I won’t be needing my phone or if I’m running a quick errand. Later on I will be showcasing the two ways to use this device.

Benefits so far

Having the option to not use my phone has massively improved my focus. Rather than using my own willpower to resist going on my phone, I can eliminate the option to even use my phone. It helps with knowing that there isn’t even an option to scroll on my phone if I was feeling lazy and I’d just decide to focus on the task at hand. Along with my scheduled blocking (another posts soon to come), I have created a powerful method of staying productive when I need to without exercising willpower.

Etsy case

Shortly after buying the device, I saw a video where somebody purchased a 3d printed case on Etsy for the watch to make it look like a dedicated device. Immediately I was interested and decided to purchase one for myself to see what the workflow would be like.

Downsides to case

The case is not the highest quality but there aren’t many others like it on the market. A nice concept but not having the watch on your wrist can reduce many features that the watch comes with like watch and respiratory tracking, loud noise indicator, sleep tracking, and much more.

Another downside is carrying the device as if it was a phone instead of on your wrist. It is incredibly light even with the case which some may seek after. But in my case, I found it incredibly easy to drop and lose while I used it with the case. So I have recently continued using it with the included wrist strap.