Reminders app on Watch 5 not in sync with iPhone Xs Reminders app (using iOS 13.4 and watchOs 6.2)

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Level 1

22 points

Reminders app on Watch 5 not in sync with iPhone Xs Reminders app (using iOS 13.4 and watchOs 6.2)

The Reminders app on my Watch does not sync with the Reminders app and tasks that show up on the iPhone paired with the Watch. When I open the Reminders app on the Watch all I see are the following six (6) Lists and they all show zero (0) tasks: Today, Scheduled, All, Flagged, New List, New List.

I've tried turning Reminders off and On on iCloud via the iPhone, resetting/hard rebooting the Watch, Reset Sync Data on the Watch, unpaired and paired the watch as a new Watch and nothing works.

Is this a known bug in the latest updates? Otherwise, any suggestions for a fix not already tried would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

RJ

Posted on Apr 6, 2020 2:30 PM

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Answer 1

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Apr 9, 2020 7:04 AM in response to rayjaynj

Hello rayjaynj,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

I understand that the Reminders on your Apple Watch are not syncing with the Reminders app on your iPhone. You have done some good troubleshooting already, but one additional thing you can try is to check your Notifications and settings for it. See this:

Choose which notifications you get

You can customize the notifications for each app that you use with your Apple Watch. By default, your Apple Watch notifications mirror your iPhone settings. For example, if you set your iPhone Mail app to notify you only of VIP emails and your watch notifications mirror your iPhone, you'll see only VIP email notifications on your Apple Watch.

Check out this article: Notifications on your Apple Watch

"For built-in apps, you can choose which notifications you get:

Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Notifications.
Tap an app. If you want the app's notification settings to mirror settings on your iPhone, tap Mirror my iPhone. If you want to choose certain types of notifications to get on just your Apple Watch, tap Custom.

For third-party apps, you can turn off notifications. Scroll down to the Mirror iPhone Alerts From section and turn off the setting next to the app."

For Reminders, open the Watch app on your iPhone. Go to Notifications > Reminders. Select Mirror my iPhone.

Setup a test notification to test out if they're working as they used to.

Best regards.

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Answer 2

rayjaynj Author

Level 1

22 points

Apr 14, 2020 8:53 PM in response to jeffd55

Not giving up that easily! Problem solved!

I turned off iCloud for the Reminders app and deleted all data for the Reminders app that was stored in iCloud. Also deleted and reinstalled the Reminders app on all my Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac). After doing this all reminder counts for active reminders went to zero and all COMPLETED reminders were deleted, some which went back to 2016.

I then created all new reminders into the Reminders app on the iPhone, which now had a clean slate. Finally, I turned iCloud back on for Reminders app. All my Apple devices synced up.

Reminders for the iPhone and Watch are now completely in sync and reminder notifications are correctly provided by the Watch.

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Answer 3

jeffd55

Community Specialist

Apr 13, 2020 12:44 PM in response to rayjaynj

RJ,

Thank you for the update. At this point, it would appear that you would be best helped to contact Apple Support for more direct assistance with your issue. Contact Apple for support and service

Cheers.

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Answer 4

rayjaynj Author

Level 1

22 points

Apr 9, 2020 12:25 PM in response to Joseph_S.

Hello Joseph_S

I have always had Notifications on the Apple Watch app for the Reminders app set up the Mirror my iPhone and Show Alerts.

I setup a test reminder on the iPhone Reminders app and it worked as expected on the IPhone but never notified or showed up on any Reminders app list on the Watch. Conversely I set up a test reminder on the Watch Reminders app (using Siri) and it worked fine on the Watch and showed up on one of the two reminders lists named "New List" which appear on the Watch but never notified or appeared on any of the Reminders app lists on the iPhone.

I even went as far as deleting the Fantastical App v3 app on the iPhone which has been a bit buggy lately to see if it was causing the Reminders app sync issue between devices . I had never installed the Fantastical app on the Watch. No change at all.

I'm stumped. I can only assume that this Reminders app sync issue between the iPhone and the Watch is due to a bug associated with the Reminders app in either watchOS or iOS.

regards.

RJ

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Answer 5

Apr 15, 2020 2:20 AM in response to rayjaynj

Unforunately rayjaynj, I tried your method a couple of times.

No joy.

iPhone XS Max is still not syncing to S5 watch nor am I getting my iMessage and email notifications. I've also noticed that now my activity app is not tracking correctly.

Frustrating.

I have been dealing with this since IOS 13.4 came out. Prior to that everything worked as it should.

This problem has been escalated to a "senior engineer" at Apple.

I'll post if/when I hear back from Apple.

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Answer 6

rayjaynj Author

Level 1

22 points

Apr 16, 2020 10:02 AM in response to Cooper415

Thanks for the update, although I'm disappointed with Apple's answer. It leaves you in a wait and see game for future updates to fix your problems.

I still have some little annoyances with my Watch which I've learned to live with, such as: recent calls do not get synched with the iPhone and having to manually delete old messages on the Watch even though I already deleted them on the iPhone.

Apple issues frequent updates, so hopefully they will eventually fix some or all of these issues.

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Answer 7

Apr 16, 2020 2:06 AM in response to Cooper415

We'll Apple called me back. Their answer was... "It's a known problem we're working on it."

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Reminders app on Watch 5 not in sync with iPhone Xs Reminders app (using iOS 13.4 and watchOs 6.2)

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