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Activity GPS issues after watchOS 7 and iOS 14 updates

This morning I upgraded my iPhone XS Max to iOS 14 and my S4 Watch to watchOS 7. I then went for a run, using the Outdoor Run activity on my Watch as usual, holding my iPhone while I ran (as I was listening to a podcast with AirPods). When I finished, everything was recorded as normal, and I could sync the activity to Strava.


Later, I went for a walk. I used the Outdoor Walk activity on my Watch, but this time didn't take my iPhone. When I returned, and attempted to upload the activity to Strava, I received a warning that no GPS/route data was present. I checked the Fitness and Health apps, and sure enough, there was no route on the map - only the starting point.


I spoke to someone at Apple Support and they suggested I turned off/back on a couple of related privacy settings. I have since tried another Outdoor Walk activity, without the phone present, and the problem persists - no GPS/route data.


My wife also tried the same this evening, after upgrading her iPhone X and S4 Watch too. She had the same results - i.e. with just the Watch, no GPS/route information was saved with the activity.


This seems like a bug to me. Has anyone else experienced the same issue, or has any suggestions as to how to fix it?



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


Apple Watch Series 4, watchOS 7

Posted on Sep 17, 2020 1:24 PM

Reply
1,375 replies

Oct 3, 2020 3:34 AM in response to Hageltjes

The moral of the story, don't update to latest version of IOS until at least 14.5 15.5 etc as after 6 months or so Apple should by then have sorted out their buggy software

Not the Apple of old, if Steve Jobs RIP was around he'd have fired the lot of them.

Thousands of users have this problem as I have myself

I'm sorry now that I updated so soon, NEVER AGAIN,

This is one my my 'Lessons Learned book' 😡😠

Oct 3, 2020 3:41 AM in response to usna1970

What a palaver, I'm waiting for Apple to get their finger out and FIX THIS

Apple have lost their way since Steve Jobs died, he'd have sacked the lot before sorting it out.

Apple treat their loyal customers as BETA TESTERS

Speaking of beta testers, are they all couch potatoes? no one thought to test it out in the real world?

Sadly it seem not

Oct 3, 2020 7:17 AM in response to ulffrommalmö

How to I fix this issue if my backups are on my PC using iTunes? I tried all the steps to unpair erase/reset and then restore and repair. The only change I made to Apples instructions was to backup my iPhone to my PC and then restore it from my PC. After five hours of work my Activity GPS and workout data is still messed up. Is Apple going to provide a fix for customers that don't backup to iCloud?

Oct 3, 2020 8:49 AM in response to billthegill7

After unpair, backup iPhone XS to Windows PC (iTunes latest version), backup was with password, reset iPhone, restore iPhone from backup, pair AW S4 back and restore from last backup, not only that the GPS is not working as before, all earned medals for everything is now lost and sometimes on outdoor walking workout its not measuring heartrate... so this all (4 hours of messing up with watch and iPhone) has as a result worse status than before... so what now dear apple, i have done all as it is described on the official apple webpage...

after many years of using apple products i can clearly see, that every year is the company doing bigger and bigger faults... its a shame...

Oct 3, 2020 8:55 AM in response to Hageltjes

I went through the whole process yesterday afternoon. 


ITS NOT BAD. 


You can determine how big your backup needs to be to ICLOUD. Remember for 20GB its only $1/mo. So if you don’t keep your backups there this process costs a dollar. Annoying? Maybe. But worth it. And I’m going to switch to iCloud backups permanently now seeing how easy this actually was. 


Yes the first backup takes a little while...but most of the restore process can happen while you use your device. 

I had to go out for a while. Took my phone. When I came back it finished up. 


re-syncing musix from iTunes took a little while too. But that’s a small issue.


Phone and watch restored fine. Have the activity app working like it should!

Oct 3, 2020 9:51 AM in response to Hageltjes

Same issue...Apple Watch Series 1 (latest OS for it, not 7 as not supported); iPhone 7 (updated from latest iOS13 to 14): missing heart rate data, no GPS tracks/routes for any workouts recorded since 2017. In Health.app (iPhone), can view heart rate data in graph back to about August 2020, then nothing previous...going to "Show all data" briefly shows most recent days, then jumps back to 2017 but can't scroll forward to see anything more...in other words, this is all very, VERY broken.


I use iMazing for daily iPhone backups, having it retain each daily backup. Digging into the file system of the iMazing backups I noted this in the "Health Domain" folder (where health databases are stored) for the "healthdb_secure.hfd-wal" file:


iOS 13.5.1: Sep 20 - 312 bytes (pre-iOS 14 upgrade)

iOS 14: Sep 21 - 672 bytes

iOS 14: Sep 28 - 312 bytes --> Recorded first GPS-enabled watch workout after this backup

iOS 14: Sep 29 - 1.91 GB

iOS 14: Oct 2 - 1.91 GB


I don't recall checking the historical heart rate data or GPS tracks right after the iOS 14 update so don't know if it was working properly. But that enormous increase in file size, corresponding with recording the first workout after the iOS 14 upgrade is very suspicious to me as a cause of this bug.


Obviously none of my devices are under warranty so I don't have a support ticket open for this. Perhaps someone with an open ticket can point Apple support to my findings.


I'm contemplating restoring my phone to the Sep 28 backup to see if historical data is ok (and if so, not recording any workouts until Apple announces a fix for this bug)...would lose about a week of other health data in the process but perhaps is the best option at this point. Apple's support document implies their "fix" is for watch os7 so not sure how applicable it is to watch os6 so am reluctant to proceed with their unpair/wipe/restore suggestion.


Good luck to all in trying to fix this!

Oct 3, 2020 2:44 PM in response to Hageltjes

Same issue here. Have you seen this from Strava?

https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050426451?mobile_site=true

I also have an issue with an app called Equilab for horse riding. It doesn’t even load on Apple Watch now! Now I use my phone to record my rides but they don’t Sync to health workouts anymore like they used to.


i have already unpaired and paired my watch. Reinstalled both Strava and Equilab. Didn’t work. Strava suggests erasing both phone and watch completely and restoring both from backup. Surely that wouldn’t solve anything as you are just installing the same settings again.


My Apple Watch is now a completely useless Gadget.

Oct 3, 2020 7:44 PM in response to patryk226

similar problem - iPhone Xs Max and Apple Watch 4. After downloading iOs 7 on the Watch and 14.0.1 on the phone I recorded an outdoor cycle workout with "open goal" . The Watch appears to be tracking it and it does record some of the date but the "Workout" never appears in the fitness APP on the phone. Please Apple - fix it. I was on the phone with an Apple Support person 3 hours a few days ago. This fellow really tried to help me but this has got to be an Apple. Right now the only solution I can figure out is this: it is an "incentive" to buy an Apple Watch 6 AND a new iPhone 12 to be released in October 2020. How can I be so cynical..... The other option is to buy stock in Apple .

Oct 3, 2020 11:53 PM in response to Hageltjes

Similar experience. iPhone XR, iOS 14; Watch 4, OS 7.0.1.


Walk workout on the watch syncs to the phone; map shows only the starting point. But distance, pace, elevation gain, calories, etc. are all there. Run workout on the watch doesn’t sync at all. It shows on the watch until the clock strikes midnight, then it’s gone.


I tried most of the troubleshooting recommendations, but no luck. Good to see that at least it’s a known issue. Anyone know if there is any hope of getting the lost run data back once the bug has been fixed? Thanks!

Oct 4, 2020 5:43 AM in response to Chris_Smith1

Problem seems to be with IOS 14 update. The watch is recording everything correctly but it's not being transferred to the iPhone.

Can't understand why they f up a perfectly good Activity app and 'update' it to the new Fitness app.

Must be all couch potatoes at Apple because if even one of the developers brought the watch and phone on a workout they'd have seen that it was a pure ball of crap.

Many users have followed Apple's 'solution' but have got very mixed outcomes. For some it seems to work, others have lost years of workout maps and other workout data.

I'd advise anyone to wait for Apple to come up with a solution

It would appear that Watch is recording all the data so I wouldn't risk losing my pre IOS 14 data. I will wait until Apple eventually comes up with a solution.

Apple caused the problem with crappy software so IMHO it's up to Apple to sort it out.

I wonder does anyone with a new Apple Watch 6 with workout history and a new iPhone have this problem too?

Oct 4, 2020 5:59 AM in response to GeorgeRomero

That's the nub of the problem, since Steve Jobs RIP died Apple have totally lost their way.

The only target now seems to be squeezing every last cent out of their loyal customers.

Airpods a case in point, got rid of headphone jack blaming it for water ingress problems so later models without the jack had a higher iPS number. In 2019 alone they made $12 BILLION from selling Airpods alone

No longer will they include a charger with future iPhones 'to save the planet' they say 🤣🤣🤣 Pull the other one, it's got bells on it. How many millions/billions out of that little scam???

When they soon get rid of the charging port they will no doubt the 'best ever Apple wireless charger' for the fantastical price of $200, it will come in a lovely shiny box with the 'DESIGNED IN US' emblazoned on it but they'll probably pick it up on the back of cheap Chinese labour for $5. It'll fry your battery but hey you can dump that old phone and replace it with a new shiny 'best ever Apple phone' which is totally non repairable because it's a totally sealed phone everything glued to the easily broken glass front and back. It will impossible to take apart or recycle, just stick it in the land fill 🤢

Apple SAVING THE PLANET 😡😡

Activity GPS issues after watchOS 7 and iOS 14 updates

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