How to not have Apple Watch and iPhone fight each other when I'm running.

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How to not have Apple Watch and iPhone fight each other when I'm running.

I'm a somewhat long distance runner (10 - 15 miles) who loves to run with music. To be kind to my knees, I alternate 5 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. I use Apple Watch Timer. Its a manual process that I don't mind. When 5 minutes is up, I stop the bell and start the minute counter It would be great if I could make it automatically alternate 5 minutes with 1 minute throughout a long run. But that's not the real problem.

This is the real problem: While my Watch is doing its thing, I'm running to any number of playlists on my iPhone. It would be great to have these two devices work independently of each other. Because when the timer on Apple Watch goes off, Music on my iPhone stops. I have to start it up manually every time the watch alarm goes off. On cold days, that means taking gloves off every few minutes.

Add to this another annoyance: about 10 minutes into a run, the Workout app on my Watch figures out that I'm running, and it wants to play, and ends up fighting with Timer.

So - how do I:

1) keep my Watch separate from iPhone

2) keep the Workout app turned off

THANKS!

Apple Watch Series 6, watchOS 7

Posted on Apr 1, 2023 7:29 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Shannon_DN

Community Specialist

Apr 5, 2023 2:19 PM in response to Whigged-out

Hello Whigged-out,

Thank you for posting in Apple Support Communities.

While this is not your main concern, you may be able to create a customer workout that will let you run for 5 minutes and then walk. To check out this information, review the information under “Customize a workout” found here: Use the Workout app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

For your next concern, this is a setting that can be changed. The watch will automatically detect when your working out. To turn this off, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch, tap Workout, then go to Start Workout reminder. You will want this to be turned off.

For the timer situation, this is expected behavior. When the alarm goes off, it will automatically pause the music. If you would like to leave feedback about this, you can do that here: Product Feedback - Apple

That being said, if you can use the customize a workout feature, you may not need to use the timer and will be able to avoid that.

If you have any other questions about using the Workout app, we recommend reaching out to Apple directly here: Contact - Official Apple Support

Kindest regards.

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How to not have Apple Watch and iPhone fight each other when I'm running.

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