Apple Watch control of podcasts playing on my iPhone

Question

Level 1

18 points

Apple Watch control of podcasts playing on my iPhone

At night, I want to listen to podcasts selected on my iPhone on a bluetooth speaker and control the podcasts from my iWatch.

In the past, when I started a podcast on my iPhone, my iWatch would automatically show the podcast that was selected and provide controls for changing volume, going forward or backward, speed and selection of the next podcast in my iPhone podcast queue. That no longer seems to happen. If I select "Podcasts" from my iWatch it now has an unwanted queue of its own not at all related to what I want to have on my iPhone.

I discovered that I can manually access those iWatch controls for my iPhone by going to settings, accessibility, control nearby devices, select iPhone but that requires a one-time manual intervention each time and the controls are listed rather than displayed as icons.

Is there a way to recover my initial capability, i.e., when a podcast is selected to play on my iPhone, my iWatch will automatically show the controls for that podcast?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Apple Watch Series 5

Posted on May 7, 2023 7:22 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

sheli209

Level 1

38 points

May 16, 2023 9:04 AM in response to Geekseeker

Been having the same issue, which led me here. The issue is probably due to the last update. Remembering the first step they tell you anytime you’re having an issue, “Have you tried turning it off and back on?” I decided to give it a try. I shut down and restarted both my phone and watch. Boom! It’s back. Give it a try and see if it works.

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Answer 2

May 15, 2023 1:36 PM in response to Geekseeker

Hello,

I also have the "ear icon" in the control center, however when I tap this icon I get 2 options:

Background Sounds (current set to Rain)
Live Listen (which I can't change when I tap this)

There is also a ear icon at the bottom of the screen which is (blue in my case) indicating Backgrounds sounds on.

I still have this issue of not loading my currently playing podcast which is on my iPhone NOT loading on my iWatch.

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Answer 3

Geekseeker Author

Level 1

18 points

May 16, 2023 7:10 AM in response to stephanj3

Ran experiment on my wife's iPhone. Try this :

Open control panel and turn off background sounds by selecting the blue ear icon.
Open Podcast on your iPhone and play a selection.
Connect a Bluetooth speaker to iPhone and play podcast through the speaker.
Open Control Panel and notice that the connected speaker is playing
Turn off iPhone while leaving the podcast playing
Check to see if your iWatch podcast controls are back! If not, then ...
Touch the face of your iPhone without turning the iPhone on.
Your iPhone should show the podcast that is playing. Touch the podcast control on your iPhone (with the phone still off) to pause, then turn the podcast back to play.
After the last step, your iWatch should now show the controls for playing the podcast.
If so, the iWatch controls will auto re-appear whenever you perform step 5 thru 7
If not ...I am out of ideas.

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Answer 4

Geekseeker Author

Level 1

18 points

May 14, 2023 8:45 AM in response to Geekseeker

Wait long enough ... and it solves itself? Well, it did. Two days ago, my iWatch (series 5) now once again automatically opens the controls for podcasts playing on my iPhone after my phone is turned off (not reset).

There were no intervening updates on my phone or watch nor any setting changes (that I am aware of) to explain the restoration. So, I can't say that the problem was solved (or how it was solved) ... but I can say it was resolved.

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Answer 5

Geekseeker Author

Level 1

18 points

May 15, 2023 7:11 AM in response to stephanj3

Have an idea ... after comparing my phone to my wife's phone I notice that I have an "Ear" icon in my control center ( from Home screen, pull down from the upper right).

I recall that I put that in the control center ( from Settings>Control Center) a week or so back to reduce the background noise when I place a call. At the time I didn't realize that there was a "Live Listen" option with the ear icon. I think (not certain) that when using that option to connect to my iphone, that may have restored the link between my iWatch and iPhone to control the podcast.

I am not a geek but a seeker of geeks so ... take that into account. Let me know if that helped!

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Answer 6

maxtor1

Level 1

8 points

Jan 13, 2024 11:29 AM in response to Geekseeker

I had the same issue after upgrading to a new iPhone. After trying many things that didn’t work, I figured out all I had to do was to close the podcast app on my watch. To do so, double click the crown on the watch to bring up the apps running in the background. Scroll to the podcast app, swipe left on it to reveal the “X” button and close it by clicking it. I then started playing a podcast on my phone and when I opened the podcast app on the watch, the controls were back. Hope this works for others too!

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