My iPhone no longer unlocks my Apple Watch

It used to be my iPhone took about 13 seconds to unlock my Apple Watch. It may have slowed down a mite when I replaced my iPhone6+ with an iPhone 12. But a couple of weeks ago, it started taking much longer, or more often than that not working at all.


I have turned off and on the Passcode/Unlock with iPhone setting in the Watch app several times.

I have shut down both iPhone & Apple Watch several times.

And after this started we had IOS & Watch OS upgrades that didn't change this.


What is my next step to try?

Apple Watch

Posted on Jul 31, 2021 3:38 PM

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Aug 1, 2021 8:54 AM in response to howardfromlafayette

howardfromlafayette wrote:

I already had the current IOS and Watch OS. So I unpaired and restored. That appeared to do the job, thanks.

But a third-party complication that I had on my watch face disappeared. Pedometer++ is not listed with my complications. I e-mailed them.

Unpairing and pairing again, turns off "Unlock with Apple Watch", and that fixes the problem


Turn off "Unlock with Apple Watch" under iPhone settings -> Face ID & Passcode (for touch ID, it may be slightly different title).


This is a bug, and Apple will most likely issue an update in the next few days/weeks.


If you want both, you may be able to do the following dance (assuming you have Face ID; not sure if this will work for Finger Print Reader iPhones):

o iPhone screen blank (screen off)

o Raise Apple Watch until the numeric passcode unlock screen appears.

o Then immediately wake the iPhone and unlock it.

If you wake the iPhone too early, it will not work.

If you wait too long to wake and unlock the iPhone, it will not work.


NOTE: You may find suggestions to Unpair and pair the Apple Watch again. This ONLY appears to work, because that turns off "Unlock with Apple Watch". It a lot of work, to turn off the option you can do yourself in just a few seconds.

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My iPhone no longer unlocks my Apple Watch

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