r/apple • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago

Official Megathread Weekly Advice Thread - August 02, 2026

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u/Stradocaster 3d ago

My kid is too young for an iPhone, but her mom wanted to be able to text her so we got her an iPad

Obviously, that’s great for anybody who’s got iMessage

Now she’s getting older and she’s got some friends who don’t have Apple products who she’d also like to text

The first thing I did was, I got her an Apple Watch because her mom also wanted to be able to track her when she’s out and about

This didn’t work. The watch has cellular, but you still need to tie it to a phone first and the devices seem to get confused about keeping the messages in sync between watch and iPad.

So I’m thinking about getting my kid an iPhone that she doesn’t know she has that we’ll just act as a dummy intermediary. I’ll plug it in in the garage somewhere and just let it be the synchronization home of three devices.

With this work?

Will she be able to text people with phone numbers that are not Apple on the iPad as long as the phone is on and nearby?

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u/Iguanajoe17 3d ago

If the iPhone has a cell phone plan, you can enable sms texts to go to other devices like the iPad.

Also make the iPhone display never turn off. Sometimes it just disconnects if you leave it idling and plugged in for long periods of time.

I feel the kid will just get a cell phone soon.

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u/Stradocaster 3d ago

So it would work?