Level 1

15 points

Apple Watch "Always On" only shows time

It seems like there's been an update of some sort. I have "always on" and "show complications" turned on in my settings. When my watch first goes into rest mode (after I put my wrist down), the screen dims and continues to show all the complications, as it has always done. But lately it seems like sometimes it stops showing the complications and just shows the time until I raise it up. Has anyone else noticed this? Just shows the time in the upper right corner.

Apple Watch Series 8

Posted on Mar 1, 2023 8:16 AM

Top-ranking reply

Pilerman

Level 4

2,148 points

Posted on Mar 7, 2023 10:20 AM

The screenshot that you provided rings a bell to me! It seems to do that to all of us.

You have an app open in the background. I can't tell what app it is but what's in the background is NOT your home screen.

The home screen is where you'd be seeing all of your complications.

From that screen that you're on in your screenshot, press the Digital Crown to return to your home screen.

You can change this setting and I believe that it will automatically take you back to your home screen when you're not actively using your watch:

From the paired iPhone, open the Watch app and click on General. Scroll down to and click on "Return to Clock". Change it to "Always" (you might have it set to "After 1 Hour" right now).

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25 replies

Lissy_12

Community Specialist

Mar 3, 2023 10:52 AM in response to Talywkr

Hi Talywkr,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities! Which complications are you using? As noted below:

Use the Always On feature with your Apple Watch

How app complications appear when your wrist is down

While your wrist is down, the time and complications on the watch face update once a minute, and information appears as follows:

Time complications, such as Stopwatch and Timer, round their displayed information to the minute.

Complications that show live data, such as Compass and Noise, are not active.

Other complications, such as Calendar, Weather, and third-party apps, refresh once per minute or as needed.

Hope this helps!

Have a great day.

Neil22R

Community Specialist

Mar 4, 2023 9:32 AM in response to Talywkr

Hi Talywkr,

Thanks for following up. If the issue persists, we'd recommend reaching out to support next. Contact Apple for support and service

Cheers.

Pilerman

Level 4

2,148 points

Mar 7, 2023 1:37 PM in response to Pilerman

It's here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254533091

Talywkr Author

Level 1

15 points

Apr 10, 2023 12:08 PM in response to Pilerman

So they’ve added a “Show App” setting now that fixes this!

Talywkr Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 3, 2023 6:08 PM in response to bailier

I have checked all of that. I wonder if it has something to do with another app running on the watch? I noticed it again today while doing a workout, but right now it’s not doing it. When it happens, you can see the app blurred out and just the time shows.

It didn’t used to do this. And now two hours later it’s not, it’s showing all the complications again.

Talywkr Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 3, 2023 11:01 AM in response to Lissy_12

That's the thing; when this happens, it only shows the time. And what's more odd is that it's not consistent behavior, it only happens sometimes. Right now it's showing all the complications even when not in "wrist up" mode. But then sometimes I'll look down and all the complications will be missing, with just the time in white showing in the upper right hand corner (where it normally displays when the complications are showing).

I've tried turning complications off and on, and restarting the watch. I wish I could at least make the behavior consistent so that we could try to figure out what is causing it.

Talywkr Author

Level 1

15 points

Mar 7, 2023 10:46 AM in response to Pilerman

Thanks, I think you got it. I wonder if there was an update the caused that setting to default to 2 minutes (where it was set when I just checked). I never changed that, but I know that it didn't used to do that behavior. I switched it to one hour, lets see if that does the trick. Odd that you can't turn it off altogether.

Pilerman

Level 4

2,148 points

Mar 7, 2023 1:13 PM in response to Talywkr

You don't want it on one hour, I'm almost certain it will do what it's been doing if you set it there.

What to set it on is a great debate in the forums. Mine is set to "Always", others prefer that it gets set higher but I've never heard of anybody setting theirs on "1 hour".

I can probably do some digging in here and find a thread where the author reported it as a bug. In a way, it sort of is a bug because it will do that while you're actively reading a text message that you just started reading. You have to tap the screen to get the clock to go away so you can resume reading the text. The situation that was brought up by another user was actually for a different app and not messages. I used messages as an example.

Aug 16, 2023 5:44 AM in response to Talywkr

My watch does the same thing in black and white

:44

how do I get back to my screen

Nov 14, 2023 12:51 PM in response to Talywkr

Oh good grief. I hope that fixes it. Who thought that people wouldn't think "Return to Clock" is what was causing it to not return to the home screen.

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Apple Watch "Always On" only shows time