Apple Watch Ultra Elevation Way Off - I believe this is a software issue with the Watch Compass app
Okay. I live in Denver (5280 ft) have the Apple Watch Ultra with latest watch OS (9.0.2) and latest iPhone OS (16.0.3).
When I first pair the Apple Watch Ultra with my iPhone 13 Pro, the elevation is correct. This continues until I use the activity app (native to the Apple Watch) or Strava app, and immediately after that the elevation on the always-on altimeter will show ~ 9000 feet. It will not reset itself unless I unpair and then re-pair my watch with my iPhone.
If I open the compass on my phone, it is the correct elevation, and there is no way to sync compass on the phone with compass on the Apple Watch Ultra.
The only way to repair this issue is by comparing and repairing the watch to the phone, and then it will be correct until I again use the activity app or Strava.
Despite the altitude being in correct in times of absolute reading, it will register elevation gain at the end of the workout, which seems reasonably correct.
I also had issues after a commercial plane ride (reported by others), but I only noticed it after using the activity app, so it may have been thrown off by that and not the airplane’s pressurized cabin.
Other altimeter apps seemed to work fine. So I do not think this is a hardware issue, but rather a software bug with the compass app and elevation getting off sync after using the activity app.
I even had a replacement Apple Watch Ultra sent my way, and this issue is the same on the new device. Therefore, I think this is a glitch with the compass app that needs to be fixed in a Watch OS upgrade.
Does anybody know how I can let Apple know about this? How can I file this so that they can work on fixing their native compass app? Incorporating a calibration from iPhone to Watch OS compass override in the short term might help, and ultimately fixing the Watch OS compass would be nice.
Maybe they know about it, but I think knowing the sequence of events would be helpful.
Apple Watch Ultra