How do I revert/downgrade from watchOS 10 to watchOS 9?

Without warning, watchos updated and broke the UI.


The issue for me is that I constantly swipe to change the face. A single face is not adequate (even Apple cannot fit a quart into a watch screen size!). By following Apple's own advice on face customisation I created multiple faces that I can swipe through several times an hour. It actually reflects what I do on my Mac and my iPhone.


As of today that functionality is broken (although no-one has yet to tell siri!).


How do I revert to watchOS9 until either the functionality is restored, or Apple deem to give us control over how the watch works?


As far as I can see, this change dedicates swipe to opening the main app in the screen … which tap kind of did at any rate … switching faces/spaces and apps (per rest of apple eco system) is no longer allowed!



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


iPhone 14

Posted on Sep 20, 2023 6:42 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Oct 16, 2023 1:59 AM

hmm right, so let me see if I understand the issue from your point of view


I paid almost $2K for my watch. it had limitations, many, like any other device work in progress. however, the dock and swiping faces were essential in the meantime and helped users to get around some of those limitations.


Apple released the OS 10. exciting! however...


(1) no warning, before the update which raises some concerns, particularly considering the type of dramatic changes affecting many many many users


(2) cannot be reversed, so sorry your $2K investment is gone if you don't like what we did with the OS it is your problem not ours. this one sounds like a nightmare from a movie


(3) Apple does not take any responsibility for rendering the device not useful according to the owners' expectations which were set upon seeing what the watch could do from Apple's advertisement about a product with features that Apple has now removed in their OS 10 without prior notice? are you serious?


(4) some of the features removed such as the essential dock - still with 10 limited favourites as the only way to manage dozens of apps quickly - and swiping faces simply, instead of a tedious press and swipe process dedicated to edit the faces instead, were 101 features for the watch. it almost sounds like someone made a mistake with the release or they run out of time and repatched the OS before releasing it?


(5) the features that Apple removed, were carried after each OS upgrade, hence building the core usability of the watch. and responding to the user's expectations


as an example if I buy a Tesla that has self driving capability and Tesla deletes that capability later in a new release while I am driving and without notice, it sounds to me that the car I purchased is not going to be the same car I purchased, right?

these are just some examples as the new limitations expand across the entire usability of the watch. one might thing Apple conducts some serious customer usability testing before doing something like this, right?


so what are we missing here? why would someone remove the self driving capability of a Tesla without prior notice?


and, is this fair and reasonable for customers supporting Apple? let's remember that some of us paid almost $2K for an Apple watch. this is an expensive price tag for a watch. even if we wanted to sell that watch now, the word is already out. potential buyers would not buy this watch because without the self driving capability, not many would buy a second hand Tesla,


right?


does anyone know how to reset the watch to its default OS, please?

77 replies

Oct 25, 2023 8:37 AM in response to justacustomer

justacustomer wrote:

I do see correlation between swiping on the various Apple platforms, as was explained earlier. You never saw a complaint about how easy it was to swipe between watch faces from many many other users because the simplicity and efficiency was appreciated and expected. It was something that made the watch an efficient delightful experience to organize and use. The current tap-hold-swipe-tap is not appreciated and it does not meet my expectations. Period.

That is not true. If you were following this forum for years, you would have seen some irate users complaining about the watch face unintentionally switching.


But the watchOS 10 change has resulted in far more complaints about all the UI changes, then the unintentional watch face switching.


Anyway, tell Apple via

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch


The more people that send feedback, the more likely Apple will take notice.

Nov 25, 2023 9:45 AM in response to Aleedom

Aleedom wrote:

My grandmother, uses her watch everyday and isnt happy witht e update, if i can see a way to undo the update or the watch is going on sale.

No, you cannot undo the update.


this is just unreasonable. please do something to atleast help your customer base that pays you all the money to do so.

No one participating in this user-to-user forum can "do something". You can, however, let Apple know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple


Dec 2, 2023 8:16 AM in response to drmeyer1

drmeyer1 wrote:

Agree. IOS 10 is terrible. Why introduce extra steps just to change faces and even now you have to scroll to see apps vs old version which was bundled. Why do programmers think they have to update what is not broken Arrrgh!

Tell Apple via

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch


The more users that send feedback, the more likely it will be seen by a decision maker.

Dec 22, 2023 8:08 AM in response to fergus49

fergus49 wrote:

I am very disappointed in the last upgrade. As with others the previous ease of seeing the battery condition by simply swiping up has gone and is now a frustrating multi-step task.

It's exactly the same number of steps. Before, it was swipe the screen then tap. Now it's press a button then tap. Unless, of course your Watch is malfunctioning and you haven't had it fixed.


In my experience the side button is very vulnerable and mine no longer functions.

The fact that yours doesn't work doesn't mean this is a common problem. It's not. You should contact Apple and arrange to have your Watch serviced:


Product Feedback - Apple


Despite that, in the previous OS I could not only easily access the battery charge level, but by swiping up also turn on the watch light which I frequently found very useful. I can no longer access this which is very annoying.
I see we cannot go back to a previous OS and there is a further revision waiting to be installed. I fear what further kiss of functionality this will bring about!

If you mean watchOS 10.2, it actually returns one feature from watchOS 9, the ability to swipe between faces.

I respectfully ask that the ability to swipe up and see the simple functions be reinstated, please!

Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestion. You can, however, let them know your thoughts here:


Product Feedback - Apple

Jan 28, 2024 1:52 PM in response to NomeskiG

NomeskiG wrote:

I agree. In the history of my use with apple Mac, iPhones and my I watch, this is the WORST update ever. My battery life now doesn’t even get me through the day without going flat and I’m hardly using it! Text messages are so much more difficult to read. The control centre swipe up function being removed is a real pain. I don’t know what Apple was thinking. I just want my old watch back. I wouldn’t even buy one if it came with the setup it has now.

Tell Apple


Apple does not read this user-to-user technical support forum for feedback.


But you can send Apple feedback via:

Feedback - Watch - Apple


If enough users send feedback, it is more likely a decision maker will see it, and maybe take action.


Oct 24, 2023 2:15 AM in response to Folbo

I am with you on this. I hate the update and it did it without any notice on mine too. I mostly hate the removal of the face swiping feature. Like you, I used it constantly and having to hold down to swipe is super, super annoying. Apple should give the option to do it either way. But we all know Apple isn't about to do anything to let the user customize their device

Oct 24, 2023 1:37 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Not being able to easily swipe between watch faces is a deal breaker for me. As others have said it makes the watch useless. I spent years building up my modular faces with the apps I need (mainly for my job) and now accessing them is a pain. If I'm going to have to go back to my phone for everything I might as well ditch this watch and just buy a digital one that doesn't need to be charged all the time.

Oct 24, 2023 8:41 PM in response to Dah•veed

I do see correlation between swiping on the various Apple platforms, as was explained earlier. You never saw a complaint about how easy it was to swipe between watch faces from many many other users because the simplicity and efficiency was appreciated and expected. It was something that made the watch an efficient delightful experience to organize and use. The current tap-hold-swipe-tap is not appreciated and it does not meet my expectations. Period.

Oct 25, 2023 7:05 AM in response to SashaUVA

I disabled everything related to location services on the watch. I deleted the weather app on the iPhone which removed it from the watch. Turned off background app refresh. That helped…a little. Apple Support told me manually make the watch charge to 100%, but not to disable optimized charging setting. I was then referred to talk to a genius at an Apple Store in a nearby city.

Oct 25, 2023 9:34 AM in response to BobHarris

It surely is true. Apple would not have heard a complaint about watch face switching from the many many users who liked it. Even if they did get complaints, the old way of watch face swiping should have been an option. Looks like Apple trashed this feature at the behest of a small minority of users. Additionally, I’ve never seen nor heard a complaint about annoying accidental watch face swipe changes from any (many) Apple Watch users I know, many who have been using Apple Watch since it came out. I’ve already communicated feedback to Apple about watchOS 10 dissatisfaction. I have other nice watches that I’m using again—until Apple fixes this unacceptable situation with watchOS 10. So glad I was able to cancel an Ultra2 order.

How do I revert/downgrade from watchOS 10 to watchOS 9?

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