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PGeorgeMD Author

Level 1

12 points

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

Posted on Oct 20, 2022 6:38 AM

Top-ranking reply

Dburan84

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Oct 24, 2022 12:20 AM

Running into the exact same issue myself. I live in the metro Denver area and currently I’m showing ~9,158ft where my watch usually shows ~5,170ft. I’m reading up on an issue reported by a bunch of German Series 6 and SE owners from back in 1/2021. Apparently, the altimeter use by Apple is based off of barometric pressure and particularly low pressure systems throw the whole thing off—low pressure being an indicator of weather changes like storms. We’re getting the first winter storm in the mountains and got some of their leftovers this afternoon—got some very brief graupel snow that fell at my house this afternoon. I submerged the watch and the altimeter immediately reset to the usual 5,170ft. The effect was only temporary though—I noticed about 30min later that the watch returned to an altitude similar to that of Breckenridge’s base elevation (approx. 9,200ft.) Super bummer that Apple chose to incorporate such inaccurate tech in a watch intended for outdoor enthusiasts.

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Apple Watch Ultra Elevation Way Off - I believe this is a software issue with the Watch Compass app

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