iPhone12/AppleWatch/AirPods/WorkoutApp/AudiobookApp Issue

An update to this issue.

Not willing to give up, I decided to upload one of my PlayLists from my iPhone 13 Pro, to my Apple Watch S7, something I haven't done before. I then went for a walk to test it out. I put in my Air Pods Pro, Started the Music App on my Watch, and then started an Out Door Walk on the Watch Workout App. The issue was solved. When I reached 1 KM, the music volume lowered, the workout App beeped and announced "1 KM, time 13 min 23 sec. The music volume returned, and this continued with every successive KM. It seems that to get workouts and music to co-operate, the music must be on the Watch. My workout was 74 mins and used approx %10 battery charge

Thank you so much for this suggestion and workaround of a very annoying issue which I reported to Apple Support more than 6 weeks ago. After sending Apple data from both my iPhone 12 Max and Apple 6 watch, I was told, as those on this discussion are already aware, that this is a "known issue", and Apple software engineers are working on a correction.

I used the Runkeeper App you mentioned on Monday evening, January 31st, and was delighted to again have lap times and distance information announcements, interrupting and pausing the free audiobook media that I always play by using the Overdrive App which accesses these titles from my local County library. Your discovery is a great workaround, and I am so grateful that you offered it here, because these announcements help so much to motivate my performance during these daily 2 to 3 hour fast walks.

Are you also experiencing another annoying issue that began recently after IOS 15.3 was recently released? I described it as follows:

"After the most recent IOS update to 15.3 with my iPhone 12 Pro Max and AirPods Pro & AirPods Max, when streaming music, audiobooks, podcasts, or any other audio media via Bluetooth, the content is repeatedly interrupted by repeated pauses, sometimes at random time intervals. This makes it impossible to enjoy whatever media I am playing.

But if I play the same media from my iPhone on both my Apple Home Pods Minis the issue of random pausing interruptions stops.

First, I thought that these problems might be caused by the recent rollout of 5G that was announced by two major mobile phone networks. But I see that others have encountered this same issue even before this new 5G event happened."

I used to have the highest regard for the Apple brand. But now I question that loyalty and am very disappointed and frustrated by these continuing and expanding problems

Thanks again for your help.

Thank you very much for your post.

As you may have noticed, I have also experienced this issue, and first reported it to Apple Support on 17 December 2021.

Are you also noticing a related issue of audio content, music, podcasts, or audiobooks, randomly pausing multiple times, as many as 5 to 8 times each hour, during activities, and while listening with AirPods Pro or AirPods Max?

This second issue has been reported here in another posting. Please refer to https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252866714?answerId=256784389022 .

Like many others, I have been very concerned and annoyed by both of these matters in what I had through was such a quality brand, that sells at a premium price, and has a tradition of striving for extreme perfection in all of its products.

I have an Apple Watch 6, an iPhone 12 Pro Max, AirPods Pro, and recently purchased AirPods Max. I updated to IOS 15 and the latest firmware, and was enjoying all these Apple products until Apple updated IOS from 15.1 to 15.2, then 15.2.1, and currently 15.3.

I believe these problems began with 15.2, but I'm certain that I first noticed the stoppage of Apple Exercise App Siri audio progress announcements on my AirPods for speed, distance, ring closures, and activity completion on 14 December 2021.

As I reported previously, I opened a support ticket, spoke 4 or 5 times with an Apple support adviser, who emailed me links to data tracking apps which I installed on both my Apple Watch and iPhone, collected data during a 60-minute activity, and then uploaded these files to the Apple support adviser, who in turn forwarded these to Apple software engineers, who reported back on 30 December 2021 that these problems were indeed caused by a system issue.

This issue was known to Apple software engineers at least over 40 days ago, during which time Apple released 2 IOS updates without resolving these matters.

I was so concerned with this lack of resolution that I recently wrote to Apple CEO Tim Cook, email address tcook at apple dot com, on 7 February 2022 as follow:

(Please see additional text for content of this letter in the attachment below.)

I have not as yet received a reply from Mr. Cook, or from his staff.

I would suggest to anyone who is also experiencing these problems to (1) Contact Apple Support by phone or chat and open a support ticket in order to document the extent of these problems, and (2) Send a friendly email to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Mr. Cook reads many of these messages himself, and certainly his support staff reads all of them, collects issue data, and sets priorities based on the frequency of issues that are raised.

To insure that your concerns are heard, please be civil, polite and friendly.

Personally, if these issues are not fixed in the next month or so, I am going to return all of my Apple products to the nearest Apple Store ask ask for a full refund because both of these issues interfere with my usage and enjoyment of them, and also because my expectations in buying these expensive premium products was to have a more trouble-free experience.

I am relatively new in using Apple products, only since December 2020. Has Apple always had such issues with their products? I have read several accounts about Apple founder Steve Jobs, and believe that his drive for perfection would have caused such issues not to occur, or if then did happen, to demand that they were resolved immediately.

Thanks again for you comments. I hope this helps.

To sololMac and many others,

I think our frustrations may be over. On Monday, 14 March 2022 I installed iOS 15.4 update on my iPhone 12 Pro Max and update WatchOS 8.5 on my Apple 6 watch. Early this morning, wearing my AirPods Pro Max, I played an audiobook on the Overdrive App, and began a 65 minute fast walk on a route that for the past 3-months, since 15 Dec 2021, had resulted in at least 15 or more audio interruptions during the same time and route, while playing a similar audio book on the same app.

There were no pause interruptions in the bluetooth audio stream today. None. The playback was seamless, as it had been previous to when I first noticed and reported this issue to Apple Support last December, after updating to iOS 15.1.

Please let me know if you can also confirm that this issue has been solved by iOS 15.4 update.

I am not at all pleased that Apple took 90 days to resolve such a high impact issue which affected all media playback and product enjoyment, if indeed, it has actually been resolved for others as well.

In addition, the other issue I reported to Apple Support, and which still has an open ticket, occurs when using the Apple Exercise App, the 3-ring activity app that is one of the Apple default Apps in every iPhone. Siri has stopped announcing mile lap times, total distances, and activity speeds from the Apple Watch if other media is playing.

This second issue, apparently doesn't effect all Apple product users. It also started with the update to iOS 15.1, and is also being discussed in the Apple Community Board as thread # 253475658.

A workaround for it is to use the third party free version Runkeeper App instead of the Apple Exercise App, or run both Apps together. The Runkeeper App does announce laps times, distances, etc.

I hope this works for everyone, and that this very troubling issue may be finally considered resolved.

With fingers crossed, Cheers to all.

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities soloIMac,

We see that you're having an issue when receiving notifications when using the workout app on your Apple Watch. We'd be happy to help.

Does this only happen when using an audiobook? For example, if you are listening to music during a workout, do you experience the same behavior?

We'd also like to have you make sure that all of your devices are using the latest version of software. If all devices are using the lates version, restart your iPhone and Apple Watch and test to see if the issue remains.

If the issue continues, unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone and pair them back together and test one more time.

Unpair and erase your Apple Watch

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Hi soloIMac,

We certainly understand your concern and wanting a resolution. If you unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone and pair them back together and the issue persists, we suggest reaching out to Apple Support for further assistance.

Get Support

Take Care!

Hello Less,

Thank you very much for your detailed post.

I have almost exactly this very same issue. Please see my post https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253475658 and the related replies and updates to it.

Everything worked perfectly until iOS update from 15.1 to 15.2, and firmware updates on my Apple 6 Watch, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.

I also have an iPhone 12 Max, and listen to free MP3 audiobooks from my local County library via the Overdrive App.

I use the flagship Apple Activities App, also called the Apple Fitness App or the Apple Exercise App, the one with the three colored progress rings that I try to close completely each day.

I usually walk for 2 to 4 hours daily, wearing the AirPods Max with full noise cancellation because I live close to our international airport, and my AirPods Pro were not sufficiently blocking out aircraft that has just taken off, and I was missing large chunks of audiobook content.

The AirPods Max also keep my ears warm in the colder weather and provide excellent sound reproduction.

When using the Outdoor Walk module selection on my Apple 6 Watch, I had been receiving Siri announcements of lap times for each mile, ring closure notifications, and completion of the outdoor walk exercise time selected. All of this stopped as soon as I updated to iOS 15.2 and the accompanying firmware updates, about the same time as your report of this issue, except that I didn't observe the 3 variables that you reported. My notifications always paused the audiobook content, which automatically resumed after the notifications ended.

I can still read these notifications on my watch now, but without the previous audible notifications. The only App in which notifications have stopped is the Apple Exercise App, the one that displays the Red, Green, and Blue activity rings, and which I use more often than almost any other App.

I still get news, voice mail, SMS, and social media Siri notifications when listening to audiobooks via the Overdrive App, but nothing from the Apple Exercise App. If I just wear the AirPods Max set to noise cancellation, without any content, such as music, video, or audiobooks, I can hear Exercise App notifications announced on my AirPods Max.

I have contacted Apple Support, and have had 3 separate phone consults with Apple Advisor Scott, who helped me install Apple data tracking software on both my iPhone and Apple Watch, and to upload 75-minutes of that data, after a shorter walk, back to him for relay to an Apple Software Engineer.

However, I would also urge you, and others with this same or similar issue, to please also contact Apple Support, and go through a similar data analysis, as there may be individual variations in this problem, which needs to be fully understood and resolved. Apple Advisor Scott told me himself, when I last spoke with him, that he is working on three separate but similar cases, and agrees that it would be helpful for others with this issue to also report their own experiences to Apple Support.

I also believe that it helps the larger Apple user community to have as many of these issue reported to Apple Support, so that their Software Engineers can pool their talents and energies to fix this problem as soon as possible.

Please keep me updated if you have any progress or additional information. I will do the same. Thank you again.

Cheers & Happy 2022,

Joel

I spoke with Apple advisor Scott earlier last week. He told me that Apple software engineers are actively working on fixing this issue, probably with an iOS update. I also realized that the Exercise App notifications were still being announced on my watch, and tried an experiment, starting an outdoor walk, wearing my AirPods Max, linking it to my Apple watch, but pausing any music, audiobook, or other content. Doing that, I could actually hear the notification loud and clear on my AirPods Max. But to then continue the audiobook content, I had to open the Overdrive App on my iPhone and press play. Pressing the knob on my AirPods Max would not restart the media. As I reported to Apple advisor Scott, the takeaway is that the Activity App notifications do not interrupt any content that is playing through the AirPods, while notifications from news or social media apps still interrupt audiobook content by pausing that content, making their announcements, and then resuming the audiobook or other content that had been interrupted. This is therefore only an issue with the Apple activity / exercise app, the one that so many of us regularly use. I am equally frustrated and annoyed with Apple for overlooking the impact of iOS updates on their own "flagship" app. Bummer, indeed. Thank you for your comments. I will also post any further developments here. Cheers, Joel

A follow up on today's walk. I received the same results as yesterday. I even stopped at a store to pick up an item. Then on the watch, I paused the workout and then paused the music. When I finished my brief stop, using my watch, I resumed the workout and music, so I'm pleased now that I can get music, and workout updates while using the workout app on my watch S7 and Air Pods. However, I did hit a glitch. Towards the end of my walk, I was stopped by a friend, and instead of pausing the music on my watch, I clicked an Air Pod to stop the music, and when I clicked the Air Pod again to resume the music, my Air Pods connected to the music on my iPhone, and I no longer received workout updates. it seems that to listen to music and get Workout/Activity updates, one must start the workout and music from the Watch, and pausing both must also be done from the Watch. I think the intent of Apple is for users to be able to leave their phones behind during a workout. This is unfortunate in some respects as there are apps that would require a data plan on the watch to function without the phone, such as iHeartRadio, one of my favourites.

Hello Ectophile, sololMac and all.

Ectophile wrote:

...

In addition, the other issue I reported to Apple Support, and which still has an open ticket, occurs when using the Apple Exercise App, the 3-ring activity app that is one of the Apple default Apps in every iPhone. Siri has stopped announcing mile lap times, total distances, and activity speeds from the Apple Watch if other media is playing.

The only way I found to get/hear lap times, and other activity announcements while using the Workout App and simultaneously playing media, is to download to, and play the media from the Apple Watch, and not the iPhone. Of course, the Airpods need to be paired to the watch. This is frustrating as I prefer to listen to live radio using the iHeart Radio App which encounters the problem being discussed.

I can't for the life of me, understand why Apple doesn't get this, or can't fix this. I believe that RunKeeper uses the same Apple API's and they don't seem to have this issue.

@ kareng12, hello, this is Ectophile. I am also having this same issue of not receiving Apple Fitness App notifications, after updating to iOS 15.2 on iPhone 12 Pro Max, watchOS on Apple 6 watch to 8.3, and firmware updates 4C165 on AirPods Pro and Max. Please see more details in my post below to soloMac.

Following your suggestion, I did unpair and erase my Apple watch, and then restore from backup, and afterwards took a 3-hour Outdoor Walk workout. There were still no audible notifications received on my AirPods Max, though I did receive audible notifications from various news apps.

I have opened an Apple Support case and have had 3 phone consults with Apple advisor Scott, who helped me install OS data tracking on both my iPhone and Apple watch, and then upload these data files directly to him, which were then forwarded to Apple engineers. This has been continuing now for about 2-weeks and is quite annoying, as I use the Apple fitness app almost every day and depended upon lap time announcements to help motivate and regulate my workouts.

Please comment, if you might have any other advice or suggestions.

I am told by Apple advisor Scott that he is working on at least 3 similar cases and am very surprised that there have not been more posts on this issue.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers & Happy New Year,

Joel

The frustrating part is that the "Runkeeper" app is able to do exactly what we expect Apples own "Workout" app to do.

Today I used the "Workout" app. Started my music, then started my workout, and low and behold, when I reached my first KM, the music stopped, and the "Workout" app announced "1 KM, 9 min, 28 sec". I initially thought "Yay it's working", but no. The music didn't restart, and I had to manually tap play on the music app on my watch. After that, I didn't get any more milestone announcements during my 5 KM walk. If I listened very carefully I could hear the announcements being made from my watch, so it seems there's a disconnect between the watch and my Air Pods Pro. This occurred even after I reset my Air Pods and re-paired them.

Same issue as those above; before update IOS 15.2 I would get activity/pace notifications sometimes through my AirPods and sometimes not. Since IOS 15.2 they now always come through Apple Watch. This is extremely frustrating. I’m listening to music or podcasts so when notifications come through Watch I usually can’t hear it unless I hold my watch right up to my ear. I also contacted Apple Support and they led me through all the steps that have been mentioned but it still doesn’t work and no resolution. Come on Apple you’re better than this.

I'm experiencing the same issue with my Apple Watch S7, my iPhone 13 Pro Max, and my Airpods Pro. Funnily though, when on an outdoor walk using the Runkeeper App, and listening to music, everything works as it should. I start my music app (iHeart Radio) then start an outdoor walk with Runkeeper. The music, plays and when I reach whatever distance intervals I've set, the music volume lowers, and Runkeeper announces the interval, for example, Distance 1KM, Time 12min 45 sec. The music volume returns, and everything continues as expected. I don't understand what the problem is on the Apple side and its app.