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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

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1,375 replies

Dec 14, 2020 6:44 AM in response to JoycieB39

Mine was fixed after I backed up the iPhone to iCloud then erased all settings then set up from the iCloud backed up and all gps maps routes working normally however I didn’t do anything to the watch as I believe it’s the iOS issues and not watch issues. I still haven’t update the latest watch lawyer as I don’t to risk things not working again.

Dec 15, 2020 5:05 AM in response to ulffrommalmö

I too can confirm I have nearly all my workout maps back.

Only missing ones from between 24th September 20 and 04 October 20 which was the day I updated to IOS 14 so I can live with that.

On the days of the missing maps there is just a flag at the beginning of the workout.

It's great to have the missing data back.

I've learned a lesson though, I won't be updating IOS 15 when it comes out, I'll be waiting until at least IOS 15.4 and watching Zollotech and other reviews before taking the IOS 15 plunge. A case of "once bitten, twice shy"

Good luck to everyone getting back your missing maps 👍

Dec 16, 2020 6:35 AM in response to MayoTom

I am despairing with this. I now have all my GPS data back from prior to the iOS 14 update as well but I have had the strangest bug for over a month now. I can track the longest bike ride or Pilates session and I have no issues but as soon as I track a run that is longer than 40 minutes by Watch just switches off, the battery goes to 10%! I make sure I always fully charge my Watch series 5 before each run. This happens when I use the Fitness app or Strava. My way round this for the last couple of times was tracking my run as a bike ride on Strava and then editing it to a run when synced. Isn't quite accurate I think, but I don't know what else to do anymore. I don't usually take my phone when running and it is not save running like this. Any suggestions or ideas? I have already unpaired and restored from backup, should I set my Watch up as new? Really hoped that yesterday's update would have sorted this.

Dec 16, 2020 2:37 PM in response to inkaclark

Today, WatchOS 7.2 has become available and involves performance improvements for the Apple fitness stuff. Maybe that will fix everything.


If no avail, a specific watch app is probably the culprit for draining the battery. So, I recommend uninstalling from your watch all the watch apps except your main fitness app so you can isolate that for suspicious battery drainage. This is done from the iphone watch app in General, within the Installed on Apple Watch list by turning off ‘Show on apple Watch’ for each app. (on your iphone, these uninstalled apps will simply move down to the apps available for install list where they can easily be put back when ready, no worries). Next, fully charge your watch to 100%, then observe the battery life on your watch for the next few hours to see if the battery gets drained by the app you still have installed. If so, you know the issue is with that app. If little drainage occurs, then slowly add back one app at a time until battery drainage is noticed. This should reveal which app is the culprit.

Dec 23, 2020 11:33 PM in response to JoycieB39

I’ve had this same issue now, twice. It appears my activity app recorded all 12.5km of the actual data of my walk (heart rate, splits, pace, etc) but th map only recorded 6.36km and only did so from starting midway through my walk!


The only correlation I can make that would maybe have affected the gps activation, is that the start point (where IT decided to start collecting data) was where I used the camera app on my iPhone to snap a couple of photos.


The watch (S3, Watch OS7.2) has been often only recording the start point for other activities I’ve wanted to track the gps data for, as denoted throughout mid his Apple help topic.

I have had to soft-reset my watch by holding both buttons in until the Apple logo appears and it seemed to resolve it, temporarily. 😣

Dec 28, 2020 12:45 PM in response to JoycieB39

As I posted previously the iOS update worked for me but I lost some historical map data.


Tentatively I upgraded today to a Watch SE. It paired and restored perfectly in about 10 minutes. It's currently on Watch OS 7.1.


I tested it with a short walk and it mapped perfectly. I was concerned that a new Watch would revert to no mapping but it's all fine. Hopefully when it updates itself to 7.2 overnight it’ll still be ok...

Jan 1, 2021 9:49 AM in response to JoycieB39

I have exactly the same issue. Went on a 12km walk today, recorded via the Workouts app. All the stats (distance, time, etc.) are correct, but the mapped route only shows approx half of the route I took. I had my iPhone on me during the walk, but I didn't use it at all or take any pictures on it. I'm fully updated, running iOS 14.3 on the iPhone and watchOS 7.2 on the watch.

Activity GPS issues after watchOS 7 and iOS 14 updates

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