Apple Watch screen flashing in direct sunlight.

I have the same exact issue. Recently was bought a series 5 for my birthday in May. I have been in direct sunlight since then with no signs of screen flashing. But just now on vacation being in direct sunlight seems to cause the cyclic screen flashing. I have hard reset and still seems to occur right after. The Apple Watch is up to date as of July 3rd. Hopefully this a sensor problem that can be fixed with an update. Really would be a same if the hardware is faulty by default. Will update if I find a solution

Same problem here. Just called the German support. They don’t know about the problem. They recommend to reset the watch. It’s only happening if the watch is in direct sun. Crazy! And no Apple support is reading this here?! How disappointing,...

I am so glad it is not just me. It appears to only happen when the watchface is active and therefore refreshing more. How do we get this to the attantion of Apple Support as when you call, they say there is no such fault.

In my case they acknowledged the problem (German support) and told me that they are aware of this issue. They are taking a look and recommend to be always updated. Default answer, but looks like Apple already knows about this. Let’s see if we get a fix... although after summer will make less sense.

As I said before, Apple replaced my Apple Watch for a new one. I have the “new” Apple Watch for about two months now with no problems. Yesterday when I got out of “theatre mode” it happened again. Same flashing/flickering as before. I’m not going to Apple again to get the watch replaced as it seems to be a hardware issue that all watches have. I can say I’m a bit disappointed in Apple. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. However, with the watch series 6 on the horizon, I don’t think Apple will do anything to address this issue.

I have a series 5 steel with the same issues. My take on it is that the light sensor does not know how to handle the direct sunlight when attempting to dim. I am glad to hear that this appears to be an issue for all series 5 watches, and that it’s not just a malfunction on my watch. Hopefully Apple can develop a solution for us all.

Yesterday I returned may Series 5 to the shop for repair. I dont believe Apple will/can solve it but I do this for warranty - at the end if they are not able to repair the problem i have to get back my money.

This is not a solution. You “fixed it” due to the light sensor being intermittently covered because you where breathing on it and drying it off with your t-shirt. This resulted in the light sensor “seeing” less light which changes the brightness on your display. The flickering only occurs when you have the watch in full sunlight and have the all ways on display function activated.

It may not work for everbody, but I had the same problem as everybody else in this thread which was that the screen was blinking in white when the always on screen was put in direct sunlight. After my quick cleaning it doesnt do that anymore, hence, I stated that my method solved my issue

I’m having exactly the same issue on my Apple Watch 4. Turning off Always On Obviously isn’t An option, as the Series 4 doesn’t have that feature. Should I also be opening a case with Support? It’s never really bothered me… Besides, the warranty is WAY over… And Though I’ve had this issue for a long time, I don’t actually know if I’ve always had it or not.

I notice the same thing, since the flashing occurs around every second, my guess is that your eyes can see the refresh of the screen, when the refresh rate is 1Hz, when the watch fase is directed towards the sunlight.

Yeah… Except that, as I’ve said, my Watch is a Series 4. And its refresh rate cannot go anywhere near 1Hz… Also, the flashing, at least in my case, happens ever so slightly more often than once a second, and therefore isn’t likely to fall in sync with the display refresh rate. If that were true, it’d have to occur about 120 times a second, as that is the minimum refresh rate my Watch can handle… And that WOULD be invisible, even for me… Granted, I get nauseous from looking at 50Hz screens because I can see the flicker, and this sometimes even occurs at 60Hz. But not so much at anything over 90Hz.

I have the same problem with my series 5 Nike Apple Watch the screen is flickering in between the sleep screen and the wake screen and yes it happens when it is in direct sun light .. this is very annoying and not what I would have expected with a new watch ...I hope something will be done to address this problem soon ..☹️

My problem with my Watch Series 5 GPS/LTE is solved now. I sent it to the repair center two times and it came back with the same flickering issue in sunlight. The third time (2 weeks ago) it was exchanged and it seems the problem is solved. Did tests in direct sunlight and was not able to reproduce it any more. It seems apple changed the sensor in the exchange unit.

I bought the Apple Watch series 6 GPS version and this same exact thing just happened to me. It’s cloudy out as well so I’m not sure how that would cause bright light but I’m now debating on exchanging this since I bought this on the release date.