PammieJean

Q: How do I remove an Apple Watch Source from Health App?

I recently got an Apple Watch and encountered some issues.  In trying to troubleshoot the problem one of the steps tried was to reset the watch and pair it with the iPhone as new Apple Watch.  As a result I now have two Apple Watch devices listed in the Sources of the Health application.  The record for the first pairing says "This Apple Watch is no longer paired with this iPhone".  All I seem to be able to do is view this status but I can't find a way to remove the record.  I have tried the right to left swipe to bring up a delete option but that doesn't work.  I have also looked around the Watch app and since that pairing is no longer active there is no way to access it there either.  I then looked at Settings on the iPhone under Privacy > Heath and only apps are listed there not devices.  How do I remove this source?

iPhone 6, iOS 8.3

Posted on May 8, 2015 11:52 AM

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Q: How do I remove an Apple Watch Source from Health App?

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  • by bentboolean,

    bentboolean bentboolean Aug 19, 2015 7:29 AM in response to PammieJean
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    Aug 19, 2015 7:29 AM in response to PammieJean

    I solved this issue for myself, removing bad and stale health sources from the iOS health app.

     

    There are three ways to backup an iPhone.

     

    1) iCloud

    2) iTunes - encrypted

    3) iTunes - not encrypted

     

    I noticed that the note next the iTunes unencrypted backup option specifies that it will not back up account passwords and health data. Sure enough, backing up the phone then restoring from an unencrypted iTunes backup removed iOS health sources for me.

     

    Good luck!

  • by Adrian97c,

    Adrian97c Adrian97c Aug 19, 2015 8:04 AM in response to bentboolean
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 8:04 AM in response to bentboolean

    Wait, does that mean it'll erase all of the health data? I only want to get rid of the extra/duplicated sources.

  • by bentboolean,

    bentboolean bentboolean Aug 19, 2015 8:05 AM in response to Adrian97c
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 8:05 AM in response to Adrian97c

    Yes, I think it will delete all of the health data. For me, this was worth it, not only did i have a bunch of old sources in the list but one of them was in a bad state that prevented adding a new Apple Watch.

  • by Adrian97c,

    Adrian97c Adrian97c Aug 19, 2015 8:24 AM in response to bentboolean
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 19, 2015 8:24 AM in response to bentboolean

    So this is not a fix that would work for the normal issue of not being able to delete individual sources

  • by FredfromFlorida,

    FredfromFlorida FredfromFlorida Sep 29, 2015 8:32 AM in response to PammieJean
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    Sep 29, 2015 8:32 AM in response to PammieJean

    Same problem. Apple Care Tech Support, usually able to provide solutions, is so-far stumped. They are supposed to get back to me. The nearest Genius Bar is about an hour away from me, so might be awhile before I get there again. I suspect there is no easy way. The CS rep said that if there is no solution, the bug issue? feature?   will be sent up the line. Hope there will be a resolution, maybe with 9.0.2.

  • by _AdamTheGreat_,

    _AdamTheGreat_ _AdamTheGreat_ Sep 29, 2015 12:10 PM in response to PammieJean
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Sep 29, 2015 12:10 PM in response to PammieJean

    The actual devices are listed in an encrypted database alongside the other health app data. That being said, as of now, the only way to remove an orphaned device is to restore a non-encrypted backup. Health data is only backed up via encrypted backups.

     

    As I said in a previous post, to prevent this from happening make sure to always restore your Apple Watch from backup. Doing this restores the randomly generated GUID that is assigned to the watch during the pairing process. This GUID is what is referenced in the device source list (on the backend).

     

    I tried manually deleting the items using an app called iBackupBot. But I was unable to modify the database tables due to it being encrypted.

  • by FredfromFlorida,

    FredfromFlorida FredfromFlorida Sep 30, 2015 2:21 PM in response to _AdamTheGreat_
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 30, 2015 2:21 PM in response to _AdamTheGreat_

    Just out of curiosity, how is it known that the only way to remove the orphaned devices is by restoring a non-encrypted backup if all backups are encrypted? So bottom line is that the orphaned devices cannot be removed if they are listed as a source in the IOS "Health" app? But wouldn't any restoration result also in restoring the orphaned watch? Perhaps I should have gone into more detail regarding my situation, as your advice might change. I don't know if you are referring to multiple watches appearing as sources (NOT my situation), or to the same watch appearing multiple times (my situation).

     

    Bought Apple Watch on Wednesday.

    Paired with iPhone 5s on Wednesday.

    Bought iPhone 6s Plus on Saturday.

    Wiped and turned in 5s on Saturday.

    Restored 5s backup to 6s Plus on Saturday.

    Paired same watch (one I bought on Wednesday) with 6s Plus on Saturday.

    Had one iteration of paired watch, and one of unpaired watch in the "Health" IOS app.

    Monday called Apple Care. They had me do a Watch Restore (process automatically backs up the watch, they said). No data appears to have been lost.

    Now have 3 iterations of the same watch under "Sources" in the "Health" IOS app - two are "no longer paired," the third is paired.

     

    Still the same answer -  the two unpaired iterations of the same watch cannot be deleted?

     

    Thanks!

  • by _AdamTheGreat_,

    _AdamTheGreat_ _AdamTheGreat_ Sep 30, 2015 3:22 PM in response to FredfromFlorida
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Sep 30, 2015 3:22 PM in response to FredfromFlorida

    As of now, there is no way to manually delete orphaned sources.

     

    When I talk about backups, I am talking about iTunes backups. iCloud are encrypted by default, iTunes backups are not.

  • by FredfromFlorida,

    FredfromFlorida FredfromFlorida Oct 2, 2015 7:16 AM in response to _AdamTheGreat_
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 7:16 AM in response to _AdamTheGreat_

    O.K., thank you.

  • by Michael.Zou,

    Michael.Zou Michael.Zou Oct 2, 2015 7:56 AM in response to PammieJean
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    Oct 2, 2015 7:56 AM in response to PammieJean

    Go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap on Privacy and then Motion & Fitness and tap on Reset Calibration Data.

  • by sparkbox,

    sparkbox sparkbox Oct 2, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Michael.Zou
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 8:35 AM in response to Michael.Zou

    Michael.Zou wrote:

     

    Go to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap on Privacy and then Motion & Fitness and tap on Reset Calibration Data.

     

    Ok... that suggestion didn't work for me.  Was this a guess? Or, was this a solution that worked for you?

  • by Michael.Zou,

    Michael.Zou Michael.Zou Oct 2, 2015 8:43 AM in response to sparkbox
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    Oct 2, 2015 8:43 AM in response to sparkbox

    It worked for me before i reply your post.

  • by sparkbox,

    sparkbox sparkbox Oct 2, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Michael.Zou
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 2, 2015 9:33 AM in response to Michael.Zou

    Michael.Zou wrote:

     

    It worked for me before i reply your post.

     

    First, thank-you for replying and sharing your solution.  I just want to confirm that your solution removed the old unpaired - apple watch device - from the iPhone's apple health app under "sources" tab where there is a list of "devices".

     

    For me personally your solution did not work for me - was there anything else that you did?

     

    I have deleted old data from all the apple health categories, performed the calibration reset from the apple watch app under privacy -> motion & fitness and rebooted the iPhone and apple watch.

     

     

    Thanks for your time

  • by juliansmith,

    juliansmith juliansmith Oct 18, 2015 1:43 AM in response to bentboolean
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    Oct 18, 2015 1:43 AM in response to bentboolean

    Your approach worked a treat, and what was even better, my iPhone remembered my watch so I didn't even have to pair it again.

     

    I also noticed that my watch appeared properly under 'Source's' in the Health App, whereas before I had my iPhone and two old Apple Watch profiles.

     

    2/10 in terms of pain to implement (YMMV)

    9/10 quick fix to get the job done

     

    J

  • by MagicWind,

    MagicWind MagicWind Nov 20, 2015 6:20 PM in response to juliansmith
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 20, 2015 6:20 PM in response to juliansmith

    Now, ios 9.1 is out, but it is still impossible to delete the unpaired watch.

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