After much anticipation, the first batch of Apple Watch orders began arriving to customers today. In this how-to article, we will discuss how to setup the Apple Watch and pair it with your iPhone.
The first thing you need to do is power on the device. To do so, press and hold the side button for two to three seconds until the white Apple logo appears, as shown in the picture above. When it is booted, you must select the language of the device by tapping on your answer.
The next screen on the Apple Watch tells you to open up the Apple Watch app located on your iPhone, which automatically was automatically installed to your phone when you updated to iOS 8.2. On the Apple Watch, tap on “Start Pairing.”
When you tap on “Start Pairing” on the Apple Watch, a blue psychedelic animation appears on the watch.
Open up the app on the iPhone and select “Start Pairing.”
From here, you have two different options to perform the setup: automatically with the camera or manually. When you do it with the camera, hold the phone above the Apple Watch, and make sure the yellow box on the screen matches up with the Apple Watch and it will automatically pair. The other option is to manually setup your Watch. On the Watch, pressing the white “i” in the lower right hand corner will bring up the information screen, which displays the name of your Apple Watch. Then on the phone app press the “Pair Apple Watch Manually” button and manually type in the numbers that appear on the screen.
After performing those steps, your Apple Watch is now paired to your iPhone.
The setup process then continues with the Apple Watch app by pressing the “Set Up Apple Watch” button. The next screen asks on which wrist you plan to wear you Apple Watch.
Select your answer and then agree to the terms and conditions of the Apple Watch.
After agreeing to the terms and conditions, enter in your Apple ID password in the grey box by tapping on the word “Enter Password.”
The next step tells you that your Apple Watch uses Location Services and explains the benefits of the feature. There is no option to turn off Location Services. Press “OK” to continue to the next step.
The next screen tells you that Siri is used on your Watch and explains that it is capable of being used for making phone calls and sending text messages. There is no option to not use Siri. Press “OK” to continue.
The next step is to decide whether or not you want to send diagnostic and usage data to Apple to help improve the Apple Watch.
Then you have the option to create a passcode for the Apple Watch. This is only used when you take off your watch and then put it back on your wrist. It is meant to help protect data stored on the Watch in case it is lost or stolen.
Adding a passcode on your watch is an optional step. If you decide to add a passcode, press the “Create a Passcode” button. The Apple Watch app tells you to go onto your watch and enter the passcode there. You enter the passcode two times on the Apple Watch to confirm it.
With the passcode, you have the option to unlock it from your iPhone. This means that when you unlock your iPhone, it will also unlock your Apple Watch while you are wearing it. If you are not wearing the Apple Watch, you will have to enter the passcode even if you unlocked your iPhone. To continue choose either “Yes” or “No” on the Apple Watch. You can always change your mind about using a passcode from the Apple Watch app.
Next, you have the option to download the watch versions of the apps that you already have installed on your iPhone. You also have the option to manually install the apps on the Apple Watch at a later point.
The last step involves syncing the data from iCloud and downloading the apps if you decided to do so in the previous step. From iCloud, your contacts, calendars, Passbook, and favorite photos that are stored in iCloud Photo Library are synced. It also sets up all the email accounts that are on your iPhone, even the ones that are not with iCloud. This step might take a while.
