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Series 1 watch (factory reset) issues with updating & pairing

I have a S1 Apple Watch and fully updated iPhone 7 Plus. My watch hasn't been used in a good 6-8 months so I prepared for a long update. After 4 hours, I had to leave my work desk, and got the vibe that something wasn't working correctly, so I opted to cancel the update and reset my watch to factory settings.

Currently, I'm attempting to update & pair my (now reset to factory settings) S1 watch. After 2 hours of downloading the update, it switched to "Preparing..." and has been there for another 2 hours. The progres bar got to about ~85% complete and now the watch is displaying "Bring iPhone near Apple Watch." They have been within an inch of each other this entire time.

Do I really have to restart this 4+ hour update process again? And how do I ensure this doesn't keep happening when I try to update/pair?

Apple Watch Series 1, watchOS 4

Posted on Jul 2, 2019 11:25 AM

Top-ranking reply

NintendoFanGirl Author

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jul 2, 2019 11:44 AM

The update is (seemingly) downloaded to the phone. Just stuck on "preparing..."

However, I just quit out of the update without canceling since it appeared to be frozen, and upon reopening the watch app I did a backup to yesterday, which appears to have worked. This all baffles me truthfully, not as straightforward as a simple download/update. I'm fairly tech-savvy and this has been the bane of my morning.

It's on, the time is right, good enough for now.

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Series 1 watch (factory reset) issues with updating & pairing

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