throughthemill
Level 1 (14 points)
Apple Watch

Q: Apple Watch microphone issue

Group,

 

After upgrading the Watch OS to 2.2.2 I am unable to use the microphone on my 42 mm Sport. 

 

I went to the discussion groups and tried all the usual answers (cleaned the microphone port, hard resets of both the phone and the watch, unpairing and re-pairing as a new watch to my iPhone, made positive Siri was on in all possible ways) several times each to no avail.  I even went to a website that showed a teardown of the Watch to see how involved replacing a microphone might be.  The answer is VERY because it is soldered to the chip and to access the chip you basically have to remove every component except the heart rate monitor.

 

I made an appointment at my local Apple Store and the tech walked through the same software solutions as I tried at home.  Maybe I was doing it wrong.

 

The last thing we tried was to have her call my iPhone, answer the call with the phone and then pass it over to the Watch.  This worked and I could hear my voice in her phone but could not hear my voice talking from her phone to my Watch.  This proved the issue was not with the physical microphone but how the software addresses the microphone and the speaker.

 

Has anyone else had this same scenario?

 

Is there an app that is not allowing the microphone to work?

 

Is there a patch available to address this issue?

 

When will the new Watch OS update be available?

 

Has Apple beta tested for this scenario?

 

Can I rollback the OS to a previous version that did work?

 

Any help other than what is already listed in this question will be appreciated.

 

Thanks again,

 

Don

Apple Watch, watchOS 2.2.2, microphone software issue

Posted on Aug 29, 2016 5:59 PM

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throughthemill

Q: Apple Watch microphone issue

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Side_Step_Society,

    Side_Step_Society Side_Step_Society Sep 6, 2016 2:42 PM in response to throughthemill
    Level 2 (378 points)
    Apple Music
    Sep 6, 2016 2:42 PM in response to throughthemill

    Has anyone else had this same scenario?

    Can't say I have, personally.

    Is there an app that is not allowing the microphone to work?

    Considering the Apple Watch has very limited resources and doesn't do much to keep apps running in the background, I suspect this is unlikely.

    Is there a patch available to address this issue?

    There is not.

    When will the new Watch OS update be available?

    No one knows at this point in time, though you can at least expect an announcement about it tomorrow.

    Has Apple beta tested for this scenario?

    Not unless they had reason to beta test for it.

    Can I rollback the OS to a previous version that did work?

    Short answer: no.

     

    A couple of things I'd like to add:

     

    1) Test with a "clean" iOS device, and a "clean" Watch. Eg. No third party applications, no custom configuration, etc. See if you can get the microphone to work reliably under the most basic configuration of the two devices.

     

    2) Unfortunately, just because the microphone worked the once during your testing, doesn't necessarily mean it's not a hardware issue. How reliably can you "make" the microphone work?

  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Sep 6, 2016 2:46 PM in response to throughthemill
    Level 9 (56,795 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 6, 2016 2:46 PM in response to throughthemill

    My only question would be, if there was a failure of the unit to work properly, whether microphone or speaker, in the presence of Apple, what did they recommend?

     

    But, I've not experienced any issues with my 42mm Apple Watch, and I've had WatchOS 2.2.2 since it came out.

  • by throughthemill,

    throughthemill throughthemill Sep 6, 2016 5:46 PM in response to ChrisJ4203
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 6, 2016 5:46 PM in response to ChrisJ4203

    Thank you both for responding.

     

    This is the only real issue I've had with my Sport since I got it in December.  Any other issue was simply a learning curve.

     

    When I took it to the Apple Store, the tech said that it appeared to be a software issue due to the fact that once we did the pass off to the Watch from the iPhone it worked.  I was also able to reproduce the results several times by calling the paired phone from Android, iOS and landline (yes, they do still exist) phones.

     

    I did a clean re-pairing with my iPhone, (only native Watch apps, no ups, no extras) with the same results three times.  Unfortunately I do not have another iOS device to which I can pair the Watch.  My work phone is a 5C but, updating to the latest iOS would cause my payroll app to crash and momma likes it when daddy gets paid.  So, no dice.

     

    I've read in the Forum that this is a more common problem than might be suspected.  The common cure is to turn both the Watch and iPhone off and restart, re-pair the Watch after wiping it and being sure that Siri is turned on.  Cleaning the ports is a good idea but, the aperture is so small that any pointed device could cause damage to the mic.  As I said, replacing the mic is almost impossible for the amateur since it is soldered to the chip and the Watch must be eviscerated to reach it. 

     

    I am hoping that Apple will find the culprit and issue a patch in the next WatchOS update.

  • by ChrisJ4203,

    ChrisJ4203 ChrisJ4203 Sep 6, 2016 6:51 PM in response to throughthemill
    Level 9 (56,795 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 6, 2016 6:51 PM in response to throughthemill

    As someone not having an issue with the mic,I would hate to see any changes, as it could render my device inoperative. If you were able to reproduce the problem, I'm surprised they would not take the device for service. You might want to check another Apple Store if you have access to one and show them this issue to see what they recommend.