Watch app won’t open

I had this exact same problem today with my iPhone xs max and mi brand new watch series 6. It worked great for 2 days and then the watch app wouldn’t open and my watch wasn’t connecting to my iPhone. I read a lot about this issue and it seems it happens if you previously had an apple watch paired with you iPhone and pair a new one without erasing the old one.

I tried everything, shutting it off, hard reset and tried to erase the app with no success. Finally I did the factory reset and downloaded my backup from iCloud and it did not work (App still would not open). So I did a factory reset again, this time started as a new iPhone (sadly) and it worked just fine. Luckily i just cared about my passwords and photos so starting without the iPhone backup was not a problem.

TL’DR: The issue is on the iPhone, not on the watch. To fix it, factory reset your iPhone and start it as a new iPhone (without the iCloud backup)

Might sound crazy but saw on another fourm and it worked for me...

*turn find my phone off

*up, down volume then hold lock to turn phone off

*when phone comes back on you have seconds to open the watch app and unpair your watch before it crashes again.

Might take a few tries and sound mad but it really worked. Hope this helps someone.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried to delete the Watch app, then redownload it from the App Store?

Hello i faced same problem and after updatecit was same problem so i decid resest my mob to factory setting after that its ok noe snd watch is working

Only you reset i also contact with apple helpscente even apple shop

they cant find so finally i was fedup and i took my backup and reset factory setting and now i am able to use my app and watch

Apple still haven’t fixed it - I haven’t been able to use my series 6 since launch. The only fix right now is to setup your iPhone again and restore from a backup. Something which I’m reluctant to do as some keychain items are marked as “do not sync” by certain apps (mainly banking apps and one-time-password apps) so would need to re-setup these too.

Hello i faced same problem and after updat i face same problem watch app was not open so i decide resest my mob to factory setting after that its ok now watch is working with app

Hello i faced same problem and after updat i face same problem watch app was not open so i decide resest my mob to factory setting after that its ok now watch is working with app

I cant unpair the watch because to unpair, it requires the watch app, which fails to launch. I deleted the watch from the icloud device list but this didnt help.

the watch app still requires the unpairing for me to delete it.

Yes mine is exactly the same. The app just refuses to launch. Apple will only say they are aware and we have to await a new update for iOS. Rather disappointing from Apple that we buy these high priced devices which won’t work with each other. We might see series 7 by the time they get this fixed....

It seems the only fix is to reset iPhone back to factory settings. Tbh I’m not keen to do that but if that’s the only solution will have to otherwise I’ve got a watch that is completely useless without the app!! I cant even use mine to tell the time either as I unpaired it via find my iPhone as advised to do to clear the problem but it still won’t let me delete the app cos it says the watch is still paired. Can’t even go to an Apple shop either now!!

This may actually be related to an older issue that I do not believe is solved and that is when people renamed their watches (instead of “FIRSTNAME’s Apple Watch”) it messed with profiles and displayed a message that the Apple Watch was no longer paired with the iPhone even though data was still being collected and displayed. Anyway.

If everyone’s tried rebooting iPhones and Watches, I don’t see anything else a user can do if the Watch app can’t be opened (other than a complete wipe which seems ridiculous to have to do).