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Level 1

17 points

Elevation Gain Problem With Series 4 Apple Watch

My new series 4 Apple Watch will not display any elevation gain in the Workout app. The display for outdoor cycling stays stuck on "0 FT ELEV" despite miles of pedaling up and down hills. The watch is paired to my iPhone X.

My wife also has a new series 4 Apple Watch paired to her iPhone 8 plus. Hers displays the correct elevation gain. I have unpaired both watches and re-paired them to the opposite iPhones - mine to her 8 plus and hers to my X. When I do that my watch works properly when paired to the 8 plus and her watch fails when paired to my X. In other words, both watches display the proper elevation gain when paired to the 8 plus and both watches fail to display this when paired to my iPhone X.

I have tried many things:

The OS is up to date on the phones and the watches.

The activity and health app data is correct.

I have unpaired and re-paired the watch a half-dozen times.

I have powered off and on the watch and phone.

I have taken the watch to the Genius Bar at my local Apple store.

I have spoken to Apple telephone support. That is being referred to an "engineer".

I have installed a third party barometer app on the watch and the phone, and both display the correct altitude.

Any ideas ?

Apple Watch

Posted on Dec 15, 2018 10:12 PM

Best reply

Veelia

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Mar 27, 2019 3:21 PM

I had the same problem with a new Apple 4 watch and an iPhone 7. No elevation gain, unless I turned the phone off.

Then I went the phone's privacy settings and made sure location services were on and also enabled "Motion and Fitness." Now the elevation gain works!

View in context

44 replies

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,707 points

Jan 24, 2019 12:06 PM in response to seanfromllanelli

What kind of notifications? Perhaps a few examples.

I just realized that this post is nowhere near the one to which I was responding. With a GPS Watch and no nearby iPhone, what notifications will be missing?

Philly_Phan

Level 7

20,707 points

Jan 24, 2019 12:24 PM in response to seanfromllanelli

My Watch is arriving tomorrow so I'm still kinda clueless.

I would expect that Reminder and Calendar entries would transfer automatically when the devices are close. Once the devices are separated, I'm believing that there will be no additional Reminder and Calendar devices in the iPhone because it's not with me.

Am I making sense?

Jan 24, 2019 12:33 PM in response to Philly_Phan

Yes that makes sense. But it doesn’t work that. Think of it as an alarm. It knows the date and time. And with GPS knows your location. Though I not used the location reminders I the Watch. So can’t say even if it works. Ta

SteeeeeP

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2019 11:08 AM in response to seanfromllanelli

I have a similar issue. I have a AW Series 4 cellular paired to an iPhone 7. my girlfriend sports an AW Series 4 w/o celluar paired to an IPhone 7+. While her watch records elevation gain correctly. My watch measures elevation gain massively off. Sometimes 3x the actual gain.

Issue is unfortunately easily reproducible.

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Feb 2, 2019 1:42 PM in response to SteeeeeP

SteeeeeP,

Interesting. Similar problem but distinctly different. The elevation gain problems I have experienced seem confined to the iPhone X, and instead of being massively off the elevation gain remains stuck on zero while the phone is turned on.

Have you tested the AW with the iPhone turned off? That should give you some indication of where your problem lies. In my case it seems to be with the iPhone X or its software. I'm interested to install the new IOS upgrade that should be coming out this week in response to the Facetime bug. That might address my problem but I'm not holding my breath.

Swift Harbor

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Feb 2, 2019 3:38 PM in response to Swiftharbor

Steeeeep,

Another thought - try switching AW's with your girlfriend. Pair yours to her iPhone and vice versa. That should help narrow down the source of the problem.

If the problems remains with your AW after the switch, does it track horizontal distance accurately? If so I would suspect a bad barometric sensor.

Swift Harbor

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Feb 7, 2019 7:44 PM in response to Swiftharbor

IOS12.1.4 did not cure the elevation gain problem. I installed it this evening and took the iPhone X and my Apple Watch 4 out for a test. As before, the AW4 stayed stuck on "0 EL GAIN" when climbing a hill. When I powered off the iPhone and continued up the hill the AW4 then registered normal elevation gain.

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Feb 8, 2019 6:22 AM in response to seanfromllanelli

Sean,

My previous postings describe my lengthy efforts to engage Apple in finding a solution to this problem. Apple support and the local Apple store have both thrown up their hands and told me to hope for some future software upgrade that will fix the problem.

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Mar 25, 2019 4:32 PM in response to jwasiak

jwasiak,

BINGO !

I think you solved it. I checked the privacy settings on my iPhone X and they were turned off just like in your example. I then walked uphill to my next-door neighbor's house and the watch registered 12 ft. of elevation gain for the first time when paired to my iPhone X. I'll check it out more thoroughly on Wednesday when I have my next long bicycle ride but I'm confident that you nailed it.

Take a bow.

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Mar 27, 2019 4:12 PM in response to Veelia

jwasiak,

It works like a charm. I made the changes you suggested above and went out for a 12.5 mile bicycle ride this morning. The Outdoor Cycle app on my Apple Watch 4 registered 559 feet of elevation change when it was paired with my iPhone X.

Many thanks.

Jan 12, 2019 7:41 AM in response to Swiftharbor

Not sure why yours doesn’t work. Try taking the watch out on its own for a work out. Say walk 20mins with some elevations. Ta

Jan 23, 2019 7:20 AM in response to imran_hafeez

Yes that would suggest there is an issue with the Watch. Where are you seeing your elevation gain for Strava? Ta

Jan 12, 2019 3:09 AM in response to Swiftharbor

I have iPhone X and watch 4 and the elevation works fine when I out on bike. Ta

Swiftharbor Author

Level 1

17 points

Jan 12, 2019 9:11 AM in response to seanfromllanelli

Ta,

Thanks for the education. I didn't know that. I'll test the watch solo today and report back.

Jan 12, 2019 9:23 AM in response to Swiftharbor

No worries! All the data from your watch will load up when you are back with your phone. Ta

Elevation Gain Problem With Series 4 Apple Watch