My Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been acting sporadic

This happened to me literally right now as soon as I woke up it started jumping from app to app, entering passcodes and do everything. I think it must be a software bug because all of the these posts are recent. So apple might need to fix it here shortly.

It's a bug in 10.3 on s9 and U2 watches.

Update phone to iOS17.4.1 and watch to watch OS 10.4

If a hard reboot does not fix it then Wipe Watch and set up again then update

Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm. 

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

It will help - see page 3

Same issue here

then my iPhone started to call phone numbers (from my favorite list ) randomly

folks in different timezone - not happy

this builds on previous software issues: like any call would go through from the phone to me watch and the line was open

I spoke to genius desk twice and the agreed this is a major issue (like when you are on a business zoom call). They could reproduce the issue - but not solve it

in essence : this is not the product I bought

software updates +/- AI learning changes the features

i consider returning the ultra 2 - and get a Timex watch 😆

I tried that like ten times If the power button would come on it would disappear before I could press it or I pressed it while it was in the screen and it did nothing. Sometimes it would go to the slide to power off button but it wouldn't slide at all and then disappear! As I said I let it sit in my drawer until the watch battery died sometime today. Put it on the charger and a few seconds the apple logo lit up and it powered up like normal! Since I have already unpaired and reset the watch, then repaired it to my phone, I don't think it is going to work. I checked for updates today and it said it is up to date! I worried if I bring it in for repair I will lose the pulse-ox feature! Due to my health problems that is a big reason for buying the watch in the first place!

So after speaking with Apple Support on the 9th of April 2024, (following my Ultra 2’s autonomous meltdown at 2AM that morning) I was advised that it could either be a hardware issue or a software issue, but they would have to have the Ultra 2 to find out. They had an appointment available at my local Genius Bar for later that day. They confirmed an issue and sent my watch off for “repair/ diagnostic”. I heard back yesterday, after a little chasing from me, and they vaguely stated that they had completed their diagnostics and that they were sending me a replacement product. No real information on the root cause of the issue was given. I can only presume that it was primarily a hardware issue or they wouldn’t have replaced it? Guess I’ll keep guessing! Pleased to have “a” watch back on my wrist, but definitely not the “it just works“ experience that I pay for or I’ve come to expect from Apple. Thanks to the Community support, first time I’ve used it. I’ve learnt a few things that I hopefully won’t need! Best regards

Read the whole thread next time.

It's a bug in 10.3 on s9 and U2 watches.

Update phone to iOS17.4.1 and watch to watch OS 10.4

If a hard reboot does not fix it then Wipe Watch and set up again then update

Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm. 

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch.

Well it is working ok now. so I still believe it is a software problem. Hardware doesn't fix themselves so usually it will fail right away after reset. Maybe Apples update didn't fix the problem for everyone! I will wait for awhile as I have Apple care.

Had this same issue today and still having! Now my watch says try again in 4hours!!!!! when that time is up it will automatically start typing random numbers and lock me out again. Do I just reset watch from phone app?

My ultra 2 also went crazy today. I do not think moisture or exercise was the source as far as I know, although maybe my having paused a workout contributed to it? Was just standing around waiting to pick up kid from school. The Digital Crown seems normal, but like the other posts, it will sometimes flick around to different apps, and does not really seem to respond to my touch anymore. Also tries entering wrong pass codes. I've tried restarting it, and after the "wait X more minutes" I think I've finally got it back to normal. Frustrating!

I have had literally the exact same issue just now on my 9. It even called the emergency services a couple of times. Eventually managed to force restart the watch. Seems to be okay now after a restart and I’m installing the latest watchOS 10.3.1 on it but fingers crossed.

Happened to me. Couldn't turn off and couldn't reset.

Went to Watch App on phone and deleted the watch. Keep the cell link. That worked.

Have to reinstall as if new.

However, install 10.4 BEFORE it happens and that should fix it.

This happened yesterday. I took it off and it was auto trying passcodes. I immediately ran and put it on the charger. It stopped the madness, but I was locked out for 1 minute for all the attempts. Once I got back in, the phone would NOT acknowledge me trying to power it off. It took me about 5 minutes to finally get it to power off. It's been fine since I turned it back on.

I had the same issue, today with my Ultra 2, April 1st. I restarted the watch which seemed to make me wait 5 minutes to put in my passcode. But it did stop cycling through passcodes as it had. After 5 minutes, I was able to enter my passcode, but did notice that my iPhone needed to be updated. So perhaps my phone was suffering from the same issues people faced in early February. I updated both my phone and watch software. Hopefully, that will put an end to this problem.

Your comment should be pinned at the top. It's the only comment that provides useful and correct information. I'll upvote all your posts. Don't know it that will help but letting the battery run down and hoping the watch magically fixes itself like the top comment said is just ignorant