The worst Apple Watch problems, and how to fix them

by Patricia Jackson Director Of Operations

It may be one of the most accessible smartwatches on the market, but the Apple Watch doesn’t always work as it should. We’ve been lurking on forums, digging through comments, and gathering opinions on a host of issues, glitches, and everyday annoyances. These are some of the most common Apple Watch problems. If you’ve been suffering, don’t let that Apple Watch wind you up — we’ve got workarounds and possible fixes for you to try.

Skin beneath Apple Watch feels uncomfortable and itchy

It’s not a problem everyone will get, but for some people, the area of skin that comes into direct contact with their Apple Watch’s sensors can become itchy and feel uncomfortable, especially after wearing it for a while. This seems to be a problem some people have with watches in general, but it seems the sensor points on the Apple Watch can be especially bad for certain people.

Unfortunately, there’s no real way to fix this, as it seems to be a skin sensitivity issue. However, there are some ways to stop it from impacting as heavily.

Workarounds:

§ Loosen the strap on your Apple Watch. Sometimes the issue can be caused by sweat becoming trapped between the skin and sensors, effectively lowering your skin’s ability to breathe. Loosen your strap a little, and the extra looseness will allow your skin to breathe a little better — and it probably won’t affect your Apple Watch’s sensors too much either.

§ Take a scheduled break from your Apple Watch every day. Give your watch time to recharge, and your skin a chance to recover as well. If your symptoms are minor, just a little time off can stop it from becoming irritating.

§ If it’s the strap causing you discomfort, try swapping out your strap for one made from a different material.

Apple Watch doesn’t turn on when wrist is raised

One of our readers, Sarah, kindly contacted us to explain this issue and how to fix it, and there’s also a discussion of this one in the Apple support forum. The issue is that the Apple Watch screen is not coming to life as it usually does when people raise their wrist or do a flicking motion with it.

Possible solutions:

§ Start with the Watch app on your iPhone by going to My Watch (Tab) > General > Wake Screen, and make sure that Wake Screen on Wrist Raise is turned on.

§ This could also be because your Apple Watch is in Theater Mode. If it is, then you should see the theater icon at the top of the screen, which is two masks. To turn it off, simply press the Digital Crown to bring the screen to life, and then swipe up from the bottom to access the Control Center. Scroll down to find and tap on the Theater Mode icon.

§ It’s always worth seeing whether your iOS device or Apple Watch needs an update. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and see whether your device is due an update. To check your Apple Watch’s update status, open the Apple Watch app on your iOS device and go to General > Software Update.

§ Light bleed on Apple Watch Series 4 display

§ Messages remain unread on Apple Watch

§ Screen has popped out of the watch casing

§ Apple Watch won’t connect to LTE

§ No iPhone connection error

§ Digital crown not working

§ Bluetooth won’t connect or frequently disconnects

§ Poor battery life

§ Apple Watch won’t charge

§ Apps crashing or freezing

§ Apple Watch isn’t tracking activity

§ Apple Watch won’t turn on