Level 1

28 points

Apple Watch not marking SMS text as read

Hello,

I have been having an issue for quite some time with my watch not marking my text messages as read. The iMessage ones come through fine and if I read them on my phone they mark on my watch, however when I send or receive a message that’s not iPhone it makes it as unread even if I sent the message. I have tried unpairing and repairing, I have the newest version iOS 14 and watch os7 I have restarted you name it I’ve done it and it’s still not working. Any other advise?

Apple Watch

Posted on Sep 18, 2020 12:55 PM

Top-ranking reply

mikey407

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Jan 21, 2021 12:46 PM

I had no issues like this until the day I activated my new phone (12 Pro Max). No issues with iMessages, but if I read a non-iMessage SMS on my iPhone, it would still show unread on my Watch and iPad. I followed the steps listed in this thread and others, and the suggestions of some YouTube videos. I contacted Apple and after nearly three hours with an agent, it was escalated to engineering. Their last reply was that they were aware of the issue and hoped it would be resolved in an upcoming iOS 14.xx release.

After looking more into potential fixes, I decided to try this and it worked.

On your iPhone: Go to Settings --> Messages --> Send & Receive.
Under You Can Receive iMessages To and Reply From, deselect your phone number. You will be asked to confirm you want to remove the number from iMessage and FaceTime. Click Remove. I did not lose any messages or experience any other irregularities on any of my devices when I did this.
After a few seconds, add the phone number back.

After doing this, any non-iMessage that came in to my iPhone that I read would correctly show as read on my Watch and iPad. It will not mark read any messages received before this, but moving forward after following those steps, it synced correctly.

Hopefully this is a possible fix for those who have exhausted all other options.

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91 replies

Jul 2, 2021 5:46 PM in response to Kupro

Issue has existed for me for a year. Tried all above (power on/off phone and watch, and watch/notifications/messages/mirror phone) - no joy.

Unacceptable solution was to reset my watch. This loses all records on my watch, so not wanted!

Issue is created with message with reactions (like, love, etc).

To be clear, issue is not “notification” indicator (red dot) on watch; issue is message count is non-zero when all

messages have been read on phone and watch.

Ideas?

Hairgeek_6 Author

Level 1

28 points

Sep 23, 2020 1:41 PM in response to cp from OH

Thank you so much for replying. Yes I currently am using messages in iCloud. I have turned that off and back on many times. I have completely restarted each device in that order. My SMS messages are coming thru on my phone and my watch. It is sometimes delayed on my watch but they come through both. If I open and reply on my phone and then look at my watch it does not mark it as read, and it marks the message I sent as an unread message counting the unread message as 2 unread if that makes sense. It’s also not marking them as read in my MAC either but I’m more concerned with my watch as his very annoying. It’s been going on for months, like 9-10months. I have unpaired and even set it up as a completely new watch and it works for a moment and then goes back to the unread.

drcubanb

Level 1

4 points

Nov 5, 2020 10:46 AM in response to Hairgeek_6

I have this issue as well. I have a Apple Watch series 2 and iPhone 12.

This issue started when I upgraded from my Xr to iPhone 12 on iPhone 12 launch day. I am setup to use Messages in iCloud already.

When I send a Message with my watch it DOES immediately show in my phone. But when I read messages on my iPhone they still remain unread on my Apple Watch series 2. And when I send Messages from my iPhone they show in my Watch, but show as Unread. Said again, Messages I sent from my iPhone 12 show as Unread on my Watch Series 2.

I have attempted the power cycle path suggested in this thread and the issue remains. I have attempted Hard Re-boots on both iPhone and Watch and issue remains. I have Un-paired and reset my Watch and issue remains.

Nov 9, 2020 8:45 AM in response to drcubanb

I’m also having the same problem described. I’m also having a problem with a group text with 2 other people: one on an iPhone and the other on a Samsung. Each of us is only seeing some of the other messages from each other. This only started when I upgraded to the iPhone 12pro.

Hairgeek_6 Author

Level 1

28 points

Nov 9, 2020 1:11 PM in response to raisingturkeys

I wish I had the answer. I just got the Apple 6 series and it’s still doing it. I fixed my computer by doing some sync thing and it worked for a little bit then stopped. It’s so annoying to see so many unread messages my ocd kicks in but I have tried every single thing and nothing works. I hope some way it gets fixed 😞

TxLegend

Level 1

4 points

Nov 10, 2020 7:18 PM in response to Hairgeek_6

Ive had this exact issue for about 6 months now. I’m reset my phone and my watch. Completely wiped the watch and deleted the app. It will work for half a day then go back to saying I have unread messages.

Jkcep7

Level 1

4 points

Nov 26, 2020 4:33 PM in response to Hairgeek_6

I had the same problem going from the iPhone X to iPhone 12 pro with my Apple Watch series 1. I just got series 6 watch and my non iMessage texts won’t show as read when I read them on my iPhone. If I read them on my Mac Book Pro they clear so it’s definitely an iPhone 12 issue. I called apple support and no one could help me.

Can someone solve this issue for us. It is a pain!!! Thanks

Dec 10, 2020 6:11 AM in response to TxLegend

Me too! Mine happened when I got the 11 pro max. I have a 3 series watch. It will work for half a day and then go back to not working again. Currently setting at 233 new messages! 😬😬😬 makes me bananas!!!

Dec 16, 2020 9:05 PM in response to Hairgeek_6

I’m having the same exact issue! I noticed once I upgrade to the 12 pro. I had the series 4 watch and I thought it was the watch, so I upgraded to the series 6 and the same thing is happening. It’s so frustrating. I have tried everything on this thread and still nothing. There was a new update that came out today. I updated my 12 pro and my watch and still didn’t work. Ugh!!!

Dec 17, 2020 2:39 PM in response to Hairgeek_6

Same issue. SMS across all my devices do not get marked as read. I notice it most on the watch since I'm with it all the time but messages on my 2020 iMac running Catalina does the same to all the same SMS messages.

Jan 18, 2021 7:12 PM in response to Hairgeek_6

Oh they know about it. I’ve been having this issue for over a year now. In addition to that my contacts from my phone don’t sync to my iPad but will sync from the iPad to phone. My phone and mini sync and the messages work fine. My issue comes in with my iPad Pro. And the crazy part is that it only does it to non iPhone users, Apple wants to decide who we can text now also.

ralex528

Level 1

8 points

Jan 26, 2021 6:12 AM in response to mikey407

Thank you! That was the only thing that worked for me after unpairing, re-pairing, setting up as new. None of that worked. But this did! It’s been 3 days and no more issues! Everyone should try this first and save yourself plenty of time!

Jan 26, 2021 10:59 AM in response to mikey407

This was my exact situation, an upgrade to 12 Pro Max. Thank you so much for this. It worked for me, and I also spent hours with tech on this watch for other reasons as well as this and I am thankful that you shared!

Feb 2, 2021 9:15 AM in response to mikey407

F I N A L L Y!!! I found this thread today after searching and trying all the things over and over. This fix corrected the issue with my iPhone 12 and older model apple watch. This is the first time I have purchased the newest iPhone so close to release date. I now recall while I wait a while ... So many apps and issues with functionality like this make it frustrating.

Feb 2, 2021 11:14 PM in response to mikey407

Mikey, it actually worked. I cannot thank you enough. This has almost brought me to leaving Apple all together. This has been MONTHS in despair and hours with apple including an engineer. It's so simple yet actually broke the curse that has haunted many of us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

🥲Chrys

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Apple Watch not marking SMS text as read