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bksandifer Author

Level 1

26 points

Watch goes to compass mode. What gives?

I have a fairly new Apple Watch, series 7. I just purchased it in July. Now, after 15-20 seconds of inactivity or when I get up and go for a walk, my watch-face switches to the compass face with "footsteps" at the bottom right of the screen. (see images below. I didn't move my arm.) I can get back to my watch-face screen by clicking the crown, but it's very frustrating for the watch not to stay of the standard watch-face screen. I've tried powering off and on again, but that doesn't help. Is anyone else experiencing this problem? What can I do to stop it?

Apple Watch Series 7, watchOS 9

Posted on Sep 20, 2022 7:09 AM

Top-ranking reply

Bianchifan

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Dec 29, 2022 8:39 AM

I was having the same issue with my new Ultra. Went to setting > general > return to clock and the scrolled down to compass. From there, I scrolled down to the “when in session” section and toggled “return to app” to the off Position. Seems to have worked.

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33 replies

Mar 10, 2023 9:29 PM in response to bksandifer

Very Helpful. Thank you

ankhank

Level 1

27 points

Dec 16, 2022 1:51 PM in response to ankhank

Those settings/general/return to clock must be at some specific version of OSX or iOS.

Which one are you referring to, and what are the other comparable choices for, e.g., my OSX 10.13 or the latest iOs which don't offer those specific Settings choices?

Apple often makes changes to the choices with each new operating system, I've noticed. Same thing happens with Apple Mail, which is ofteninconsistent across release versions.

bksandifer Author

Level 1

26 points

Sep 20, 2022 8:58 AM in response to Community User

Thank you. That solved the problem.

Sep 20, 2022 9:06 AM in response to bksandifer

Will_G_D

Level 1

15 points

Oct 24, 2022 4:07 PM in response to Community User

Thanks, was having the same issue on my new Ultra, this fixed it

jvg06

Level 1

8 points

Oct 26, 2022 7:35 PM in response to Will_G_D

Same, fixed on ultra.. question is does this gimp the compass app in anyway?

Oct 30, 2022 5:53 AM in response to Community User

This works.

Nov 8, 2022 7:28 PM in response to bksandifer

Thank you and as like many of us, was frustrating and thinking it was a bug of sorts but really appreciate giving us the info :)

Cheers

Michael

Nov 24, 2022 12:07 PM in response to lobsterghost1

Problem fixed. Thanks

Nov 30, 2022 11:44 AM in response to Kudum

Didn’t work for me on my new ultra. I finally did a reset of Watch as new and all is good now. Frustrating!

ankhank

Level 1

27 points

Dec 3, 2022 11:35 AM in response to Community User

Where are these settings? I have apple watch 7 and do not see them.

Dec 5, 2022 12:49 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Thank you, finally something worked for me!!!

Dec 16, 2022 8:32 AM in response to Community User

This worked for me. Weird how this issue just started happening to me this morning, never had it before, I never changed any settings to cause it.. Series 6. Thanks

rauky

Level 1

8 points

Dec 19, 2022 6:18 PM in response to Community User

Thank you, your instructions were succinct and spot-on. I don't know how these settings were changed, as it worked fine. jr

tacky22

Level 1

8 points

Dec 26, 2022 10:18 AM in response to Community User

When I follow these instructions and I get to "when in session" I can't turn off the app. I must be doing something wrong.

Watch goes to compass mode. What gives?