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Apple Watch heart rate not reliable with Fitness app

I have the continuing problem with my Apple Watch heart rate not reliably reporting on the Fitness app. I may start the workout with the heart rate working properly, but then after a few minutes it goes grey and does not report. It will go in and out and may be grey and unresponsive for a few minutes even up to 10 minutes and then come back, only to go grey again. This is extremely frustrating. If it would just function properly, I would be a huge fan. What is the problem? Is it Apple Fitness, or the Apple Watch, or my iPad 6th generation? They are all using the latest operating systems. Please help. Thanks.

Apple Watch

Posted on Mar 20, 2021 6:15 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 20, 2021 2:24 PM

I have several posts with similar issues. The common "fix" (that sometimes works) seems to be something like:


The first (and simplest) thing to try if something isn’t working right is to restart your Apple Watch and its paired iPhone. If necessary (device not responding), try a forced restart. Both methods can be found here:

How to restart your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Restart your iPhone - Apple Support


If that doesn't help, the next steps would be to unpair and pair your watch again and restore from the backup just created. This should result in no loss of data. It deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 20, 2021 2:24 PM in response to chesterfromolympia

I have several posts with similar issues. The common "fix" (that sometimes works) seems to be something like:


The first (and simplest) thing to try if something isn’t working right is to restart your Apple Watch and its paired iPhone. If necessary (device not responding), try a forced restart. Both methods can be found here:

How to restart your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Restart your iPhone - Apple Support


If that doesn't help, the next steps would be to unpair and pair your watch again and restore from the backup just created. This should result in no loss of data. It deletes all temp and corrupted files and re-indexes the file system.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support


Mar 22, 2021 6:26 AM in response to javaliga

Thank you for the response. I did already perform a restart of the Apple Watch, but I have not ventured far enough to unpair and pair the watch again. I think that you make a good point and that I need to take the plunge. I have had my Series 4 for a long time so I am reluctant, but as long as I make a backup it should be fine. Thank you and I will let you know what happens.

Apple Watch heart rate not reliable with Fitness app

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