Apple Watch screen flashing in direct sunlight.

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.

Same issue here. Series 5. European version. I've the watch since the launch but didn't noticed anything until today. It's not something serious but definitively a bug. I'll file a ticket anyway.

I hope they will fix this in a software update.

I purchased an Apple watch series 5 two weeks ago and I have noticed the same thing. Whenever I go outside into the direct sunlight the screen goes black and will not turn on until I take the watch off my wrist. I have restarted it many times, it is updated to the latest software and i have also tried repairing it to my iPhone but the problem persists. I haven't noticed that the screen flickers just that it goes black and does not display anything once in the sunlight.

I talked with the Apple support today and there was a really good supporter at the phone. He told me that the light sensor has issues and Apple has no solution now. He saw the same problem also on his personal Series 5 watch. The only way now is to deactivate always on display. I dont believe that Apple will/can solve it in the Series 5.

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 have the same problem. Will the update solve the problem?

It happens to me all the time I go to the beach. Apple support says they couldn’t identify the problem and probably it was a “beta issue”, telling me to just unpair the watch. Now? What can I do?

In the meantime, I’ll try to get a replacement!

I dont think that will help.

Yeah, probably quality tests that didn’t take in consideration something like this. I don’t know.

I had the same problem but I was able to solve it by the simply breathing on the watch and then drying it off with my t-shirt 😀

Rossfromlyons your series 4 can not have the same issue because you dont have the always on display, so maybe you misunderstood the series 5 issue.