My Apple Watch Series 5 has been lost for a couple of days, it’s definitely dead and hasn’t been powered on since the “Lost Mode” is still pending. However it seems to be updating locations, I have looked high and low over and over but I still can not find it, the locations it’s updating is where I have been. Is it possible that the Watch App is doing this updating and not my Apple Watch?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
As super stressful as this is, I just wanted to share my experience, in hopes that it may help someone else. When accessing "Find My" app from my iPhone, similar to most of you, I was very confused as to why my "dead" Apple Watch seemed to always be in the same location as my iPhone; yet, it was nowhere to be found. Concerned that this iOS's feature/app could somehow be sending me incorrect information, I decided to compare, both:
Surprisingly, the data from my Mac, DID NOT correspond to the information that was obtained from my iOS Device. Upon immediate accessing the iCloud.com's "Find My" feature via my Mac, I was able to see the "LAST KNOWN LOCATION" before my Apple Watch went dead/offline. Something I was unable to do with my iOS device and after reading the previous responses I now understand why.
In conclusion, what I learned from this entire fiasco is that, once an iPhone is disabled or id dead:
1."Find My" app installed on the watch's paired device, (i.e. iPhone) will be of NO USE.
2.Determining the last known location, prior to the device being disabled, may be achieved by accessing the iCloud.com's "Find My" feature; using a device that is NOT PAIRED with the Apple Watch. At least, this was my saving grace.
3.The "PING or Playing Sound" feature located in "Find My" DID NOT work, while trying to locate my disabled apple watch. However, once the watch was REBOOTED, the feature DID work.
As mentioned previously, this is a horrible design flaw, one that I hope is fixed with the newest update. Being that we have come to expect so much more from apple, it's highly frustrating when mishaps like this occurs. Hope you guys can find this info somewhat helpful.
ARGH I wish I had known this sooner. I lost my watch 2.5 days ago (I think I may have left it on the hood of my car; long story) and used the Find My app on my iPhone to go to the last location indicated. I played sound; no ping, no lighting up. I knew the battery had to be gone by yesterday. Today I just checked the Find My app out of habit. Lo and behold, the last known location of the watch had changed...but then I noticed the time of the location was the same time I was passing through the area. So I came here to do a little research and saw this.
Now the battery is surely dead, so trying the suggestion to check Find My on my desktop and see if there is actually a different last location for the watch is out of the question. I have seen no crushed watch remains, so I assume it wasn't run over. I wouldn't think it could have stayed on my hood for long, but I tested with a regular watch and it actually stayed on for around half a mile. I could try searching again by sight, but l live in a rural area, and there is lots of vegetation which makes it virtually impossible to find an all-black watch. It isn't in our driveway. For all I know, I could have brought it in the house and forgotten I did so.
Has anybody complained to Apple yet and gotten a response? I had that watch for only four months. If this is a known bug...
Wow these replies are amazing. I’ve been obsessively trying to locate my watch for over two weeks assuming some benevolent soul had put it on a charger. The findmy app actually thinks you are “playing a sound” on your (not-really-connected) watch. Incorrect information is worse than no information. I thought I was an idiot, but at least I’m in good company.
Yeah that is the most frustrating thing ever. My watch has been lost for days now and I know it’s here at my house but I’ve torn my house up looking for it since it said it was here. It also updated location when I went to work so I was like thank goodness it must be in my car if it followed me to another city! Apparently not. Wow that is annoying af
Same. My watch died fast, so I’ve known it must be dead after these few days. However, it says “playing sound” when I try to ping it, I thought someone here just has it and is stopping the sound when I ping it since it says it is playing & location is here! Thankfully I haven’t accused anyone of taking it!
Having an Apple Watch is the biggest waste of money and time. Then when it’s lost it’ll follow you so you never really know where it is. Waste of time completely can’t play pandora can’t go on social media and have to edit the watch to see anything personal. No apps Nothing. I don’t work out either, I will not be buying another one apple can kiss my arse
I’ve seen you post that already. It doesn’t solve the issue. It would be much more beneficial for FindMy to display that last accurate known location of the watch before the battery dies, instead of giving people false hope and information that it is in the vicinity of their persons.
The battery on my watch was not dead when it went missing. I noticed within 30 minutes that the watch was gone and used the FindMy app. Don’t know how long a watch’s battery lasts but surely it’s longer than 30 minutes.
Thank you! This is great information! I, like the others, have looked weeks for my watch. All the while, trying to wrap my head around how it could be following me to various locations. I came to the conclusion that it had to be the phone and not my watch but wasn’t able to confirm that until I read this thread.
Wow! First I turned my Garage upside down because "Find My" showed my iwatch's location my home. Then I turned my Car upside down because it seemed to follow me!
Not sure what were they thinking when they designed this feature. As mentioned here in the forum, at the time I am writing this comment, 1100 people were interested in this question. Let's say 1 out of 10 affected people actually arrived here. That makes the total affected number 11000. Let's say each of these people wasted 2 hours on average in searching for his iwatch in his car (or home) because of this mis-information. That's 22000 wasted hours! With $40/hour, that would be $880,000.
Well done Apple!
Yeah, this is ridiculous. Shame on Apple for knowing they could have made finding a “dead” Apple Watch and failing to do so.
I have $20 Apple Tags that can be found 24/7, but if my $800 Apple Watch dies, then all bets off on any chance of finding it. Great job, Apple.
A few weeks ago, I put my watch on and did my morning routine. By the time I was ready to leave for work my watch was missing. I tired to ring it from phone - no ring. Had to go to work. Later that night I tried to ring it from my phone again - no answer.
I looked it up via iCloud and gave me different location but neighbors house next door. Not there. AT midnight the phone went dead. Tried everything no luck. I passed the warranty by 2 days late. Had it for 92 days. Still can't find it - its somewhere in my house and have spent house going thru everything - even the garbage the day it happened. Very frustrating. Wish there as ring or something even when phone is dead.
Good luck to all
Exactly what happened to me.
I actually now blame this horrible Apple design flaw for making me believe for more than 24hrs that my watch was NOT lost, and delaying my decision to mark it as lost in Find My.
The Lost status is still pending but I have no idea if it means that my watch is lying somewhere undiscovered or if someone had the time to bypass the passcode, reset the watch and pair it with another device - would we know if that happened?? Would the watch still show in my devices or would I get notified it was not paired anymore?
Not enough info is available about all this, and we should all make a big fuss about it for the amount of money we pay for the watch, because they make it sound like we have some options when a watch goes missing, but really, unless the watch miraculously still has battery, we don't.
For example there should be some extra battery life specifically reserved for when a watch is reported missing, allowing the owner to play a sound - to rule out the possibility of the watch still being in their possession but hidden, for example...
But no, once the battery is dead, no sound will come out. A company like Apple who always claim to meet and exceed our needs...didn't think about that??!
well there should be a reserve battery that can be activated in the case it is marked as lost. Just like when the watch can keep showing the time even when it needs charging. And I would like its "last known location" to be available even after 24hrs. What is so good about GDPR and privacy if my watch is lying on the ground somewhere free to be picked up by a stranger whilst Apple, in the name of privacy laws, is not allowed to let me - ME the owner of the watch - access the whereabouts of its last known location after 24hrs 🤦🏻♀️
aurelie1101 wrote:
well there should be a reserve battery that can be activated in the case it is marked as lost. Just like when the watch can keep showing the time even when it needs charging. And I would like its "last known location" to be available even after 24hrs. What is so good about GDPR and privacy if my watch is lying on the ground somewhere free to be picked up by a stranger whilst Apple, in the name of privacy laws, is not allowed to let me - ME the owner of the watch - access the whereabouts of its last known location after 24hrs 🤦🏻♀️
There's no room for an additional battery. When your watch is in Power Reserve, it's using the main battery but in very small amounts. It would take far more battery power than that to connect to a network, receive a signal and then emit a sound.
You can certainly let Apple know your thoughts on the matter here:
Would it make a difference using 'FindMy' from a Mac as opposed to another non-apple device? I used 'FindMy' from my Dell work computer and it is not showing my watches last known location prior to dying. I do have a Mac at home though. Apple Support said showing the last known location is a feature you have to activate on the device. I don't recall ever activating that feature. Why in the world would that not be a feature that is always activated but you can deactivate if you choose?! The most helpful tool in finding a device that typically goes dead after being lost is that last known location!!
Lost/stolen Apple Watch dead but still showing location
