Apple Watch 4 - OS 6.1 - timer freezes

I had the same problem and was resetting each time it happened. Just now discovered that if I closed the timer app (by swiping left), and then asking Siri to set a new timer verbally, it snapped out of the frozen state. Still a bug, but at least it saves me from restarting each time.

Yes, I have to use the same Siri workaround. Timer was fine on 6.0 but 6.1 broke it somehow. I called Apple Support and their only suggestion was to restart the watch, but the problem shows up again after a few uses. I am assuming they will come up with a patch ?

You don’t have to restart the watch to fix the frozen timer. You can force close the app by holding down the button on the right while the timer is active. Once it changes to the log off screen, hold the crown button down until it returns to the home screen. Now you will be able to restart the app. It’s still a pain but much faster than restarting the watch itself.

I’m hitting this as well. I just left it and used timers on Siri, the phone or Google Home instead.

However, I have had 2 cases where my battery unexpectedly died at night, and I’m now wondering if the frozen timer drained the battery.

Anybody else with this symptom?

I have the exact same problem on my Apple Watch series 2. Over the course of a week or 10 days of major frustration I stumbled onto the same workarounds as everyone else… Kill the timer app, hard power cycle the watch and/or use Siri commands to override… Very irritating because I use the timer a lot… Hope the fix is coming soon. It is definitely a 6.1 problem

I have the same problem. Use timer every morning to time stretches. When I open the app on the watch, it comes up, but is frozen and won't respond to any clicks. Only way to fix is to restart. Frustrating. Not sure how to check what version of the iOS I have for the watch.

I bought the newest watch two weeks ago because my series 3 was having a few issues. The new one has more issues.

I use the timer a lot and it freezes all the time. So then I have to restart it in order to use it. I don’t have time for that. Plus, Today I had to keep reentering my password. I never shut it off or took it off my wrist, but three times I’d have to put my password in again. It’s annoying. I hope they fix it soon.

I agree leeanne86, this is very annoying. Until Apple fixes the timer bug I simply speak to the watch "Hey Siri, set a timer for 5 minutes" (or whatever many minutes I want). After the time is over, the "repeat" button still works (if you want to repeat the timer count). But if you do "stop", you must talk to Siri again to set a new timer. For me, this is faster than killing the app with the side buttons.

Now to the passcode: in my experience, the only instance in which the passcode may be required multiple times in a day is when the watch is too loose on the wrist. If the band is not loose on the wrist there should not be anything causing multiple passcode requests. My new Series 5 watch doesn't have that problem and neither did my old Series 3.

Another voice added to the crowd - Series 2, watchOS 6.1, and my life tends to run in 15 and 30 minute increments so if the Apple Watch did nothing else but tell time and buzz my wrist discretely at set intervals it's still worth the cost to me.

Ironically, everything else on the watch seems to respond better/faster with 6.1, which surprised me - but this is a huge PITA, especially because I'm sometimes in situations where I can't really use Siri/voice commands without interrupting my work. I hope Apple is paying attention to this!

Same issue, timer freezes, Apple are you reading these comments and have a fix in mind with the next update????? Apple this is an issue and I’m not doing work arounds daily due to your software glitch ??

Force closing timer app doesn’t reset it for me. It gets stuck (pushing repeat or cancel has no effect). Even after force quitting timer app, it’s still stuck.

I use the timer app a lot. So much so, I put it on my watch face. This bug is driving me crazy.

I’ll try using Siri to unstick it, as others suggest. Still a cluge, but better than having to restart the watch each time I use the timer.

Even when I did this and restarted the app, it was still frozen. The freeze occurred when I repeated a 3 minute timer with my students for an activity I was doing with them. Using Siri for the timer fixed the issue, but I hope Apple fixes this soon.

also timer messes up AirPod to disconnect all the time while song is playing. Timer is not stable on both apple watch and iPhone while AirPod is connected. Solution is to use the wired earphone or restart both Apple Watch and iPhone

Nope, just wait. Sadly we all had high hopes but the problem continues as we wait for a fix...

Warranty on a new watch will NOT cover this ridiculous software glitch.

APPLE. If you’re listening we’re getting really frustrated with our #MalfunctioningAppleWatches!

i spent time testing 3rd party apps like amazon music and pandora. When the timer goes off from Apple Watch It pauses the music from iPhone/AirPod pro, but after ending or repeating the timer the song will not continue to play. Problem too when you have strength activity app running on the watch at the same time and the AirPod keeps disconnecting. I tried a Bluetooth speaker, but now the song continues to play while the timer is on.. However, when I use iTunes on the iPhone it works fine. So I guess the 3rd party app is causing the issue. Hope there’s a fix to this coz I use the timer a lot on my watch when working out.