Verizon is about to break our Gizmo watches

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Carrier behavior and responsibility

  • Many see this as typical behavior from U.S. telecoms: anti-consumer, cartel-like, and willing to rug-pull functionality on branded hardware.
  • Strong disagreement over “victim blaming”: some argue buyers should know better than to trust carrier-branded gadgets; others insist the blame lies with Verizon for breaking purchased products.
  • Some predict nothing will be fixed and Verizon will point to ToS clauses; others think this is such an edge case that refunding or replacing hardware could be cheaper than fixing it, though there is skepticism they’ll actually do so.

Technical and provisioning complexity

  • Multiple comments describe cellular watches as “hacks on hacks”: subpar RF performance, special carrier exemptions from normal device standards, and complicated eSIM provisioning.
  • Smartwatches often have hidden or secondary numbers and “companion” behavior (borrowing a phone’s number), leading to strange routing and billing issues.
  • Users report messy, opaque carrier backends: fraud flags, duplicated accounts, and line re-creations to “fix” things, suggesting brittle legacy systems.

Verizon apps, 2FA, and Google Fi/Voice

  • The new Verizon Family app is widely seen as broken, especially for watch-only lines and some 2FA scenarios.
  • Disagreement on Google Fi/Voice: some report 2FA problems or detection/blocks by certain services; others say Fi has worked flawlessly for years.
  • One commenter notes GizmoHub works fine, My Verizon works fine, but Verizon Family alone fails, implying an implementation bug rather than a policy against Fi/Voice numbers.

Alternatives for kids’ devices

  • Suggestions include Apple Watch with “kids mode,” Fitbit Ace LTE, Garmin kids watches, and non-carrier brands like TickTalk or Cosmo.
  • Constraints: Apple’s solution requires a parent iPhone, which some see as heavy lock-in; Google’s ecosystem raises longevity concerns.

Parental control vs surveillance

  • Some view kids’ LTE watches (location tracking, SOS, restricted contacts) as reasonable “stripped-down phones” improving safety and reducing device loss.
  • Others see them as overbearing surveillance; they argue previous generations managed with basic watches and more independence.