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Apple Watch Workout data does not sync

Apple Watch Workout data does not sync over to iphone  Activity app, nor to Apple Health app.


This is the silliest little -but-big thing, because ALL data from the Workout is recorded perfectly on the Apple Watch's Activity app.  And it's APPLE's built-in Workout app.  The watch's app WORKOUT just won't sync up with its own iPhone equivalent.


All other Apple Watch app data sync's.


I have tried solutions at...


https://www.cydiageeks.com/fix-iphone-activity-app-not-updating-apple-watch.html


https://macreports.com/apple-support-how-to-get-help/


This is different from the problem where the watch's app is not capturing the data...


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250267794


In this new problem, watch captures it all, just does not sync the Workout-generated data.  


Does anyone have an idea to workaround this bug?


Thanks very much in advance.


P.S. I have not tried re-pairing. It's a global move for a focal problem.  It may fail, too, or make it worse or introduce a new issue .  Also, do I lose my data if I do have to try that?

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Apple Watch 4 - 6.0.1

iPhone XS MAX - 13.1.2

Apple Watch

Posted on Oct 20, 2019 1:59 PM

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Posted on Oct 24, 2019 11:31 AM

Thanks very much for the advice, @fieryjack. The forced restart didn't work. However, my watch did sync within minutes of a 2nd Workout. Since then, I've experimented and come to the following, wider conclusion...


Watch and iPhone used to sync within minutes. They still do when the PHONE generates the original data (e,g., entering food into Argus or weighing self on Renfro digital scale or taking BP with Qardio - that data updates to Health app quickly, as always.


However, data that is generated on the WATCH can take hours to update to the phone. For example, I used to get "calories" burned" into Argus within minutes of doing a Workout. Now it's up to 10 hours.


That data is captured on the Watch immediately - I can see the Workout data right on the watch's Activity app, but NOT on the phone's (nor in Apple Health). It only becomes available for 3rd party apps to analyze/report once it migrates to to the phone's Activity and Health apps.


Doing another Workout turned out to be an inconsistent help re accelerating a push. So far, though, Watch data has always updated to the phone.


So I guess the real question is how to "push a data update from Watch to iPhone." A bit of research revealed a Setting that seemed to give the choice of setting an update frequency, but that no longer seems to exist.


It's irksome when you need the data quickly or when you just want to be sure the data gets captured by the phone (or when you want the reward of seeing a analysis by the phone app :-) ).


At some point, I may get bugged enough to try one of the more global solutions, but I have a feeling Apple may have a bug or may be "batching" updates - neither of which would be fixed by re-pairing.


Or am I missing something?


Thanks again, @fieryjack!

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5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 24, 2019 11:31 AM in response to Community User

Thanks very much for the advice, @fieryjack. The forced restart didn't work. However, my watch did sync within minutes of a 2nd Workout. Since then, I've experimented and come to the following, wider conclusion...


Watch and iPhone used to sync within minutes. They still do when the PHONE generates the original data (e,g., entering food into Argus or weighing self on Renfro digital scale or taking BP with Qardio - that data updates to Health app quickly, as always.


However, data that is generated on the WATCH can take hours to update to the phone. For example, I used to get "calories" burned" into Argus within minutes of doing a Workout. Now it's up to 10 hours.


That data is captured on the Watch immediately - I can see the Workout data right on the watch's Activity app, but NOT on the phone's (nor in Apple Health). It only becomes available for 3rd party apps to analyze/report once it migrates to to the phone's Activity and Health apps.


Doing another Workout turned out to be an inconsistent help re accelerating a push. So far, though, Watch data has always updated to the phone.


So I guess the real question is how to "push a data update from Watch to iPhone." A bit of research revealed a Setting that seemed to give the choice of setting an update frequency, but that no longer seems to exist.


It's irksome when you need the data quickly or when you just want to be sure the data gets captured by the phone (or when you want the reward of seeing a analysis by the phone app :-) ).


At some point, I may get bugged enough to try one of the more global solutions, but I have a feeling Apple may have a bug or may be "batching" updates - neither of which would be fixed by re-pairing.


Or am I missing something?


Thanks again, @fieryjack!

Oct 21, 2019 6:57 AM in response to Ken.E

No you won't lose any data by repairing and this is what I would try first as well as a forced restart by pressing the digital crown and side button together until you see the apple logo on the screen,this has been known to fix all sorts of ailments with the watch and of course you won't lose any data by doing these steps.

Oct 27, 2019 4:25 AM in response to Ken.E

You were right, @fieryjack. The sync from Watch to iPhone became less and less consistent until it finally stopped. The watch even stopped collecting data like heart rate.


At that point, I had no choice but to unpair/re-pair. It's kind of scary to "erase all data," but the re-pairing process offers the choice to "restore from backup," which I chose.


As soon as that was done, all returned to normal, from data collection to sync'ing to phone. Thanks very much!


P.S. it is possible that restoring from backup may restore the same condition that caused the watch to fail in the first place. If that had happened, I would have had to choose to delete all data. That sounds painful since it means having to convert a "new" phone all the way back (to where I had it) manually.


Restoring from backup only takes a few minutes, so is worth trying first. Luckily, although I have no idea why this happened (so no idea how to avoid a recurrence), it all worked out quick and easy, with problem resolved. Thanks again!

Oct 27, 2019 10:24 AM in response to Ken.E

Glad you got it sorted,it's always a good idea to make a backup when everything is working good,I do it through itunes,too much data loss with icloud.

Apple Watch Workout data does not sync

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