Watch showing strange icon - two watches coming together - or watch+phone iOS 10.2

Yes and getting the animation without engaging with another ID must be a bug

I have exactly the same issue when I try to charge both my phone (14 Pro) and my watch (9) at the same time. Strange squiggly lines on the phone with eerie sound effects and the aforementioned two watch faces joining on the watch. Take one or the other off and it stops. I’ve tried three different charging stations with the same results.

Hey,

This morning, after taking a shower and coming to the bed room where my iPhone 14 sit on the table, my Watch made a weird sound and checking the screen, I saw something like the screen burns from the middle. Then two watches faced each other switching to a watch and a phone facing each other then it stopped. I didn't seem to understand what is going on and I goggled what i could be so I got to this topic.

I didn't know so far how to activate NameDrop but now I could replicate this intentionally. The weird thing for me is , how I understand, this should be working on devices logged in with different apple accounts. Apparently both of my devices use the same apple ID, so I don't get why it is happening.

Place your phone top just under the bottom of your watch. You will get this image. Its simulating that you should place your phone over the watch face, not below or next to. And if you are using just watches, place both faces toward each other.

this is a apply pay or pay item process it seems

No it is contact sharing, not Apple Pay!

Use NameDrop on iPhone to share your contact info – Apple Support (UK)

Touch your watch with your phone. The animation appears. Nothing sinister though in my view unexpected.

Read the thread to see how to turn it off if you don't like it.

Touch someone else's iphone on ios17 or watch with OS10 with yours snd then the animation invites you to share selected contact info. I you think that is useful then leave namedrop turned on.

Use NameDrop on iPhone to share your contact info – Apple Support

It definitely was the NameDrop feature for me. Once I turned it off I had no further issues.

Airdrop (Namedrop) was my issue too, definitely.

Just happened to me. At the risk of sounding juvenile, I got the distinct feeling that my watch and phone were copulating, especially after a halo-like graphic appeared after the phone/watch "hook-up" graphic.

Earlier in the day my watch said something about now having iMessage, which seemed silly since my watch gets the messages from my phone. I ignored it, as I do so many phone and watch things. I've given up trying to figure out how to optimize the experience.

PM

Kensington, MD

I was an Android/Samsung user for years before switching back to Apple/iOS in the last year. I’ve had my iPhone 14 Pro Max for almost a year, but my Dad just got me an Apple Watch SE thinking he was getting me the newest Watch a month ago. I haven’t gotten a data plan or anything for my Watch since he didn’t buy it through my carrier, I didn’t want the hassle or the extra $10-15 tacked on my bill, so I just paired it with my iPhone. I didn’t have any issues the first few weeks, or if it made such a notification, I didn’t notice it. Yet, for the past week or two, I’ve been getting such notifications every day or every other day. I’m not technologically savvy or intuitive, so I thought at first, maybe my Watch battery was dying, but then I learned how to check it. In the beginning, I was taking off my Watch like a moron, trying to stick it to the back of my phone. Yet always, my Watch and iPhone are within either a few feet of one another, usually my iPhone is in my hand, or at least in my house or my purse, so it’s not ever far away. I have noticed that whilst other notifications such as texts and apps are still coming through, the delay is somewhat longer than it was when I first got my Watch. I know it says using a Bluetooth connection, there’s going to be a delay, but it can be several minutes now. Also, when I’m attempting to skip songs for example in Apple Music, my Watch shows that it’s either not connected at first, taking again, several minutes to pull up, or sometimes even not at all.

I only have the watch for crash and fall detection, as I have brain cancer and epilepsy, so getting to easily access my tunes was just an added bonus. The last smart watch I had was a Galaxy Watch Three, so this is light years ahead of what I’d been used to for years. I can’t complain too much, I’m not really sure even how or who to complain to. However, I don’t want there to be an issue, Lord forbid, if I hit the floor again alone, and my Watch doesn’t work properly to alert my emergency contacts.

I have an apple watch 8 series and iPhone max pro 11 … I just received this same two watch picture with buzzing on my watch …. I went into air drop as poster below said and I can only get updates from people on my contact list … The people on my contact list don’t even live in my state so its definitely not happening because of air drop … the only thing I have done recently is update my phone and watch.

It is in relation to the apple pay or your wallet. (Something like this)

if you place your phone over top your watch, you will see a comm happen and call up the card to use for paying something or someone.

if you place your phone just below or behind your watch, took me a few tried, the images your seeing are defining how to properly use the system. Place the phone over the watch or face to face of the watches.

This started happening to me today after my mom bought a series 7 and I was working pairing/setting it up with her phone. After I did that (when my phone and watch are nowhere near her) my watch seems to show those graphics randomly. Its driving me crazy.

Turn it off as described above.

It should only happen when a watch and a phone are a couple of inches apart. If yours are several feet apart then restart your watch and phone and hers.

If no remedy then unpair both yours and your mom's devices and pair again, well away from each other (take your watch off when pairing your mom's devices)

I agree with you.

You can Report it as a bug https://apple.com/feedback