My Apple Watch 9 is acting weird - Is this a bug?

MY Apple watch 9 same problem early this morning, the calling 911 alarm (SOS alarm?) woke me up, fortunately pressing crown enough times stopped it. Then there was a flash of apps popping up it seemed to stick on the music app apparently playing Kinks songs from the iPhone. Trying to stop that it called 911 again, which I was able to stop. I took the watch off and that seemed to stop the apps from popping up. Did the reset, put the watch back on, and half way down the hallway the 911 alarm started again. Took off the watch and went to apple support chat. My firmware was 10.2 with 10.3 waiting in the wings. Updated the firmware and the problem seems to have stopped. So watch seems to working now.

Bottom line, yes this is a problem.

It looks like this is finally fixed in the watchOS 10.4 update.

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:

• Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double tap to expand the notification
• Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double clicking the side button
• Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
• Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

I am on with Apple Support and it does appear to be a known issue...my

instructions are to un-pair and re-pair the watch to the phone. There

is also an iOS update (17.4) that includes a fix for this bug...

Fixed in OS10.4

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:

● Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double tap to expand the notification

● Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double clicking the side button

● Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display

● Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

Now.

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements and bug fixes, including:

• Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double-tap to expand the notification
• Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double-clicking the side button
• Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
• Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: Apple security releases - Apple Support

It's a bug in 10.3 on s9 and U2 watches.

Wipe Watch and set up again then update

Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm. 

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch. Set up as New Watch.

Update phone to iOS17.4.1 and watch to watch OS 10.4

Birgit Rhoads wrote:

I can't believe it is now May 17 and people are still reporting their watch is going bonkers. And not a word from Apple!!! Shame. What are people doing who don't know about Apple Discussions page?

There was a word from Apple!

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:

• Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double tap to expand the notification
• Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double clicking the side button
• Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
• Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

If you have not already, update to iOS17.5 and OS10.5.

If it still does it on OS10.5 contact Apple Support.

Click here > Contact - Official Apple Support  or phone numbers Click here > Contact Apple for support and service - Apple 

Os10.4 resolved the bug which appeared on series 9 and Ultra 2.

Never let the battery die.

This was a bug in OS10.3

Wipe Watch and set up again 

Put Apple Watch on its charger.

Press and hold the side button until you see the screen with the power button in the upper-right corner, then let go of the side button. If your Apple Watch has an earlier version of watchOS, you see the Power Off slider instead of the power button.

Press and hold the Digital Crown until you see the red Reset button.

Tap Reset, then tap Reset again to confirm. 

After Apple Watch unpairs completely, you can pair again. Remember that you'll need the Apple ID and password that were used to set up the watch. Set up as New Watch.

Update phone to iOS17.4.1 and watch to watch OS 10.4

As a matter of fact, I did. I learned about the “known issue” after taking my watch to the Genius Bar last week where I described the symptoms clearly. The tech at the Apple Store did not mention the false touch issue or ghost touch or the apparent fix for it in 10.4. When I went to the Genius Bar, I had not yet read these posts, so I thought the issue was unique to me. Their remedy was to ship the watch off for repair. The record shows that once it arrived, it was turned around in 90 minutes with the comment “could not replicate.” Honestly, if they had mentioned the known issue they referred to as false touch and the specific fix, we could have saved time and shipping.

So, as of today, I have my watch back with latest update loaded. I also have disabled the SOS functions on the watch for now. I can rely on the phone for those functions for now. I will wait a couple of months to confirm that 10.4 has indeed solved the issue permanently.

I am good to go now and here is my update. After my watch went haywire I placed it on the charger as someone recommended and that got the watch stable. What I then noticed was that my phone was showing WatchOS 10.1.1 in a "Preparing" state. That went on for a few days. I finally checked in the watch and saw the same thing. I powered the watch off and on then checked again and it showed that it was ready to update to WatchOS 10.3. I let that all download and update followed by reboot and now it seems I am good until the next time Apple lets something wonky loose on me.

Apple Watch 9 same issues--going crazy, entering its own PIN, not responding, could not update to 10.3. Waiting 3 hours is pointless, PIN screen does its own thing.

The fix was:

Unpair from phone

Hard restart, press & hold both buttons until logo appears

Release both buttons and immediately press & HOLD the power button until RESET appears

Hard reset watch

Then pair again with iPhone and update to 10.3 iOS

So far, it works

OS10.4 fixed this for Series 9 and Ultra 2.

IOS is not relevant, neither of the 17.4.1 variants affect this but 17.4.1 has a patch for a vulnerability that has been deployed in real life.

That’s it. Anyone outside those parameters may have a sticky button. Not a hack.

My Series 9 is pretty new and has had the same ghost touching issues so many others have noted. It has been happening for several weeks now. I did as you suggested- updated to the new update 10.4 and to the latest iphone 15 update, then a hard reset of both, then a full reboot & re-pairing, first from my backup, then as a new watch (twice actually). None of these things made any difference. Its still ghost touching. I find that my battery life has greatly diminished because the phone is constantly glitching (but no SOS calls for me, thankfully!). It needs the be recharged multiple times per day, even with no real use. I will schedule a visit to my local Apple Store. If that fails, I may simply put it away and go back to my trusty Timex. This is my first Apple Watch, and I'm extremely disappointed that Apple hasn't been able to step up and address this significant problem.

Talked to Apple. They said to make sure you have the latest software. Then they said to unpair your watch from your phone then restore watch to factory settings. So far no issues. Will let you all know if I have issues again.