Level 1

38 points

Apple Watch Ultra locking while on wrist

I have an Apple Watch Ultra running the latest release (9.1 build 20S75) and have had continuous issues with the watch locking itself. It has occurred while wearing multiple types of straps including the Ocean Band, Sport Loop, and the Alpine Loop. I wear my bands pretty tight (tight enough that they leave indentations on my wrist 360 degrees).

I've worn Apple Watches since 2016, and this only started happening with Watch OS 9 / Apple Watch Ultra.

Before the inevitable question, yes, I searched for similar posts and no, I didn't find any that had relevant answers.

Has anyone else been experiencing this issue with Watch OS 9 and/or Apple Watch Ultra? Any ideas on a fix? I'd prefer to avoid the un-pair / re-pair route, but will try it if it's a viable solution.

Thanks in advance.

Apple Watch Ultra, watchOS 9

Posted on Nov 3, 2022 11:28 AM

Top-ranking reply

Alex Mayhew

Level 1

12 points

Posted on Mar 26, 2024 7:32 AM

I had the same problem with an Apple Watch 9 that I just bough. After I read all the support pages, tightened the strap, cleaned the sensors on the back, made sure the wrist sensor was on etc etc it still didn't solve the problem. The watch locked after 10 seconds while on my wrist.

The occurred to me the issue was not with the watch. The issue was with the iPhone (11) that the watch is synched to. I phones have different personalised modes of us - work / personal / driving / sleep. For some reason the iPhone was in sleep mode during the day and this was causing the Apple Watch to lock after 10 seconds as it would do during the night. On the locked phone check if you're on sleep mode. if so hold down the mode button at the bottom of the screen and select personal or work. I did this and immediately the Apple Watch was unlocked while on my wrist and the problem was solved. Hope this helps.

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118 replies

tina3kid

Level 1

13 points

May 16, 2023 9:16 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Look up strange bruising from Apple Watch..... I'm not alone.

Jmbeck21

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2023 10:36 AM in response to dasmeer

I can, but I've been using the same wrist band since I bought the watch so I'm not sure why that would start affecting the detection out of nowhere.

May 16, 2023 10:44 AM in response to tina3kid

tina3kid wrote:

Look up strange bruising from Apple Watch..... I'm not alone.

Look up alien abductions on the internet. Or flat-earth.

Braoks

Level 1

12 points

May 16, 2023 2:44 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

I don’t believe this at all. I’ve had two full sleeves for years. I’ve also had plenty different Apple Watches. The ultra is the first one that has given me any problems.

jlrich64

Level 1

12 points

Oct 31, 2023 5:17 AM in response to flavoredair

Yes my Apple Watch Ultra has been locking while it’s on my wrist too. Band is not loose and no tattoos. Very frustrating

Nov 14, 2023 9:01 AM in response to flavoredair

I have an Apple Watch 9 ( not ultra) that is doing the same thing. Then my iPhone automatically unlocks it ( sometimes when I did not know it had locked itself

Nov 19, 2023 10:29 AM in response to Paulpro

Same issues. Sweat=Locked, moves on wrist=locked, a day that ends in Y=locked. Always on display=NOT

Paulpro

Level 1

8 points

May 5, 2024 7:48 AM in response to lobsterghost1

Of course I did. They had no answers. One person agreed with me it was the tattoos and another manager (with an attitude) denied it.

Bragged

Level 1

8 points

Jun 24, 2024 7:20 PM in response to bhoobala

What did you do to fix this? Mine just started doing the exact same thing yesterday.

Jun 25, 2024 8:36 AM in response to flavoredair

Beadaholique 100-Piece Epoxy... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AFRWIRQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Paulpro

Level 1

8 points

Jun 25, 2024 9:08 AM in response to RayFinkle32

thank you ray for the link

Kerm77

Level 1

8 points

Dec 14, 2022 9:45 PM in response to Charlyes138

Unfortunately my watch got worse and became erratic and the touch screen stopped working and the crown started wigging out too. The funny thing is it worked fine when plugged in. I returned it to Apple and they sent me a replacement which works fine. I would definitely recommend Apple Care + for that reason. The agent did ask me if I had been in a cold and wet environment...which I was outside running in the cold and was sweaty. Kind of disappointing so far...plus the rumor mill is that they may or may not warranty for water related damage...who knows but I have Apple Care + so I should be fine either way.

Strapple

Level 1

87 points

Mar 21, 2023 9:40 PM in response to flavoredair

No locking issues here, interesting to read that there are issues as I had not heard of an until now.

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Apple Watch Ultra locking while on wrist