Find My iPhone button on my Apple Watch is gone

rcmick wrote:

Thanks Bob Harris! Apple should pay you for that since there are many people that need that little app.

Apple sent me a winter knit ski hat that says "Apple Support Community", and it is very warm, which is good, considering we just got 3 1/4 inches of snow today and the temperature has not going above freezing all day. Does that count? 😁

PS. I do have a day job working on a Unix cluster file system, which pays very well, so I do this just for fun 🤩

The find my phone function is literally the watch function that I have used most frequently since getting the watch. It’s actually one of the 2 functions why I even bothered to get the watch in the first place. Adding extra steps to find this function in buried menus was a TERRIBLE DECISION. I’m an Apple die-hard but this has become a daily infuriation, making me curse Apple every time I misplace my phone. PLEASE FIX THIS. Why the news app displaced it in that easy up-swipe I don’t know- who is actually reading long news stories on their watch face? Ridiculous.

EDIT: thanks Bob for sharing the fix. I definitely complained before reading the thread because this has had me pulling my hair out. The side oval is easier than the swipe up, so I’ll eat my words a little. Hopefully I won’t accidentally notify 911 when trying to find my phone…

Suz1321 wrote:

Thank you Bobharris! YOU are THE BEST and have saved Apple from my wrath. 👍

You can “Wrath” at Apple via

Feedback - Watch - Apple

Although, polite, constructive feedback might be more effective 😁

Chili10 wrote:

I agree that this is a slower less consumer friendly update.

I find it to be a very consumer-friendly option. You can now access the Control Centr from any screen, not just the watch face. It's great.

Don’t fix with what works please respect us the consumer

Please don't presume to think you speak for everyone. Not everyone has the same needs and preferences that yu do.

Apple please bring back swipe and hit find my iPhone. After the update it’s like we have regressed. Apple has declined in quality the helpful and efficient access of finding my iPhone. Please bring back the old way which is the BEST.

Thank you so much. I was in a panic they took the feature away. I think it’s a dumb update, especially without notifying users. My daughter had a medical emergency and I couldn’t find my phone because they changed the location feature. I wish they wouldn’t mess with things that aren’t broken

Have you looked at this thread with its numerous responses to your question? This thread, with its dozens of photos and diagrams that explain exactly how you can access the Find My Phone feature with one press of the oval side button on the side of your watch?

This thread, that began with that very same question over two months ago? Have you not lost your phone since the last update?

You might want to review this thread. It'll solve your problem.

jhendrixdo wrote:

I hate the new side button thing needed now! I pretty much only buy an Apple Watch to find my iPhone! If anyone makes just a little bracelet that can do the same thing I will buy that asap.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the side button! I can open the control center when I’m using an app and not only when looking at the watch face! And it is exactly the same effort as swiping up, so don’t tell me it is more effort or any nonsense like that. And now swiping up is much more useful in quickly launching apps I have used recently.

BRAVO, Apple, for this huge improvement in the user interface!

BobHarris wrote:

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.

YES! I used the feedback link to tell Apple how much I like the new interface.

Sanjay Sesodia wrote:

Thanks for the hack to get back a useful feature that Apple removed.

Good Job you Apple Wizes!

Please be specific: WHAT useful feature was removed? You apparently didn’t read ANY of the posts in the thread you posted to or even on the page your post appears on.

Sanjay Sesodia wrote:

The fact that a convenient, on the surface feature, that I liked the location of, was moved to a less than convenient, and unannounced location. Is that specific enough?

It was moved to a location you liked less, not that was less convenient for everyone. And I absolutely support your having a preference, even if it's different than mine. It pays to keep in mind that not everyone likes the same things that you do or has the same difficulty coping with change.

pcniles wrote:

I'm so tired of the complaining and whining about this feature change which is now months old and people are still coming here asking, where is it? where is it? or complaining that it's less convenient or impossible to find, blah-blah-blah. Time to leave this thread; nothing more to say.

Back when, there was a thread that went on for years and reached, if I recall correctly, over a hundred pages, that was people demanding that Apple add Flash to the iPhone. Which was, of course, not something Apple could do. And which Adobe chose not to. But, it didn't stop people from insisting that the iPhone was useless without it.

pcniles wrote:

I'm so tired of the complaining and whining about this feature change which is now months old and people are still coming here asking, where is it? where is it? or complaining that it's less convenient or impossible to find, blah-blah-blah. Time to leave this thread; nothing more to say.

I have twice written Apple that I am pleased with the new placement of the Find My Phone feature. It is indeed an improvement, on every level. I'm glad the latest update of a week or so ago didn't change it back. Apple got it right.

See ya!

IdrisSeabright, Don't forget the Australia does not have ECG and Apple is an evil, money grabbing company for not enabling it. That thread lasted at least 2 years, because that was the way the laws in their country were written, and Apple could not enable ECG until the laws were changed.

pcniles, withdrawing from a thread is and approach that many of use have done, especially when the thread only has 1 user being helped and they have become obstinate and unwilling to accept any suggestions posted. Those posts generally do not run hundreds of posts and it generally consists of the person not accepting help, and a half dozen volunteers trying different approaches to provide help. After a few days, most of the volunteers just give up and unfollow the thread.

But threads like this still have users that seriously do not know how to proceed, and they are so new to the discussions forums that they do not think to look at previous posts in the same thread for the solution. And it is not worth admonishing them to look at previous threads, as many of them are drive-by users, in that they are here for this 1 thing, and they may never come back to the forums again, or at least not for years.

Yes, we also get the doom and gloom posts, but we are still getting the "I need help" posts, and it is for those users that many of use still stay in a thread like this.

We either ignore the negative posts, or point them to Feedback - Watch - Apple, or in some cases report the post to the moderators (the really nasty offensive ones).

Rme2thdr wrote:

I agree completely, what was once easy is now annoying and could possibly lead to accidental emergency calls. This was NOT broken, why was it fixed?

if you are worried about making Emergency calls, then change the Side Button Click Speed

Getting the press and release timing just right can be an issue. You can make it more reliable by changing:

Settings -> Accessibility -> Side Button Click Speed

“Side Button Click Speed” can adjust the press and release timing, so you get the Control Center display every time. Adjusting The “Side Button Click Speed” is also useful for Apple Pay’s double press and release. There is “Default” (sub second timing of needed), “Slow” (up to a second between press and release), and “Slowest” (up to 2 seconds between press and release). I like the “Slow” setting.

NOTE: Slow and Slowest settings do not mean you have to wait a full second or 2 seconds between press and release. It just means you do not need to be super fast.

,assist

Rme2thdr wrote:

I agree completely, what was once easy is now annoying and could possibly lead to accidental emergency calls. This was NOT broken, why was it fixed?

I disagree completely. What was once easy is now EASIER and works better. It is EASIER to push a button than to position the phone, go back to the watch face screen if necessary and swipe up; you can push the button from any position, and from any display, not just the watch face display.