Make phone call from Apple watch app

Question

Can we use a button to make a phone call from the apple watch app?

For iPhone app we can use once the button is pressed:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"tel://1111111111"]]);

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 01 '15 at 11:17

openURL is silently ignored if the device is locked or the app is in the background. Additionally WatchKit doesn't contain an API for initiating a phone call.

Your best bet may be to prompt the user to open the iPhone app, possibly using Handoff, and tap a button to initiate the call from there. Not a great solution, but WatchKit is pretty limited right now.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

1

It's now possible from WatchOS2 :

if let telURL = NSURL(string: "tel:5553478") {
    let wkExtension = WKExtension.sharedExtension()
    wkExtension.openSystemURL(telURL)
}

cf1, cf2.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:00

Community

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answered Feb 29 '16 at 09:40

Ded77

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 05 '15 at 10:06

You can't do this on Apple Watch itself. But there alternative ways like:

Tell the user to call the phone in the companion iPhone app
Use Handoff to jump from Apple Watch app to the companion iPhone app with just a tap on a button (a more user-friendly way)

NOTE: The best way is always waiting for new versions. In WWDC 2015 taking place in San Francisco (June 8-12), they will introduce WatchKit 2 with support for the companion kits on iOS and the native watch apps that run on Apple Watch without having the iPhone nearby.

Make phone call from Apple watch app

3 Answers3