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

My Apple Watch 9 (bought mid December 2023) just started going crazy. It was switching apps, trying to enter passcode, and then finally, after two minutes of trying to stop it, sounded the siren and called 911. I had to explain to the operator that my watch was going crazy and had called spontaneously. She seemed unfazed by this, so i'm assuming this is a common occurrence (also judging by other comments and questions in the forum). I was able to hard reboot my watch, which seems to have fixed the issue (but we'll see). My question is, does anyone know why this is happening? This has to be an issue known to Apple (as it's been reported on other models as well and for several years (oldest commentary I see is from 2020). Is this a bug? A virus? (If so, is there a way to remove it?) If anyone has any information it would be helpful. This happened to me in the midst of a meeting with many people around. Is it just a function of having to restart/reboot the watch periodically?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Apple Watch Series 9

Posted on Jan 31, 2024 4:57 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 3, 2024 6:20 PM

Mine just started doing this! Trying a force restart because it wouldn’t let me turn it off. Screen is jumping all over the place and the watch is not responding at all. Just bought it in November. Had my previous own for years with ZERO issues so I’m not pleased.

284 replies

Apr 7, 2024 12:07 AM in response to mjanelle4

Oh my god! This literaly happened to me today while I was at the airport! The plane was about to board and it was such bad timing. I got my Series 9 just a few months ago and this was the first time it happened to me. It was switching apps rapidly, setting timers, and tried to call 911 but luckily I didn't buy the watch with cellular so the call didn't even go through. I was scared it would delete things and ruin everything but luckily it just focused on switching apps and setting timers. I was terrified. I didn't know how to hard reset it. I tried powering it off by holding down the control center button and then clicking the power off button but the screen was completely unresponsive and it wouldn't work. After struggling for over 3 minutes my wrist being violently buzzed the entire time from the timers going off, I finaly managed to reset it by holding the crown and control center button at the same time. I was so relieved to see the apple logo and for it to be working when it turned back in. They need to fix this issue as it's pretty big but at least I'm prepared for the next time it happens.😂😳

Apr 7, 2024 6:50 PM in response to mjanelle4

My Apple Watch 9 has done the same thing twice. It started by opening apps multiple apps, alerting my emergency contacts, and calling 911. The police came to my house, and I explained that my watch called them against my will. When I took the watch off, it kept trying to enter my passcode. Once I was finally able to shut down, it rebooted back to normal, but this can't keep happening. The watch is only a few months old and should have a 1-year warranty. Has anyone attempted to contact Apple to get a replacement?

Apr 8, 2024 2:04 PM in response to LD150

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.

Apr 8, 2024 9:38 PM in response to LD150

I just did a hard reboot and charged the watch. Now I am waiting to put in my passcode....which it initially deemed incorrect. But all of a sudden my watch is back to normal w/o passcode. Apparently my iPhone did not do an auto update which I am doing now and then I'll update iWatch which must be huge as it is taking forever! That better fix the crazy behavior as calling emergency for nothing is not good.

Apr 10, 2024 12:04 PM in response to Birgit Rhoads

Birgit Rhoads wrote:

I did call Apple and hope the problem is reported. It is unacceptable to have your watch just go bonkers!!!

If it only happens once, it's a glitch. There is pretty much no piece of technology made by humans that doesn't have the occasional glitch. A one-off problem generally doesn't provide enough data to determine what caused it. No sense in letting it bother you too much.


If it happens repeatedly, arrange to have Apple run diagnostics.

Apr 12, 2024 8:37 AM in response to LD150

You keep saying that, but my problems started a week ago (1st week of April, 2024) with the watch repeatedly asking for my sign-in, despite giving it. Yesterday, the charge issues started. It won't hold a charge for more than 4 hours and takes more than 2 hours to reach full charge.

I got this watch for Christmas, 2023. It's too new for this nonsense.

Apr 12, 2024 9:47 AM in response to who209

who209 wrote:

You keep saying that, but my problems started a week ago (1st week of April, 2024) with the watch repeatedly asking for my sign-in, despite giving it. Yesterday, the charge issues started. It won't hold a charge for more than 4 hours and takes more than 2 hours to reach full charge.
I got this watch for Christmas, 2023. It's too new for this nonsense.

Yes because prople don't read the whole thread , you apparently did. Well done.

.

What version of OS did it have at the time? and what version now?


Re battery, 4 hours is very bad, show us a screen shot of the battery graph on the watch


Apr 12, 2024 8:59 PM in response to mjanelle4

This helped me so much! I got my new Apple 9 watch back at the end of Nov and replaced my 3 which never had any issues ever. This new watch flipped out and called 9 1 1 and my emergency contacts and pinged my location. I had to explain to the operator that my watch was flipping out and I was seriously okay. She laughed and said okay and would mark that down in the record. I went to the Verizon store and they couldn’t help me do anything but reset it. I was so worried because this watch isn’t cheap ya know and I wanted a new one for so long and my husband got me this one as a surprise. I’m so thankful I came across your message because now I know how to fix it when it flips out. So far it’s done it twice. Thank you for the information

Apr 12, 2024 10:33 PM in response to mjanelle4

I had a same problem Yesterday, was having a lunch in the restaurant , apple watch went crazy, apps were running in a high speed, tried to stop it by pressing the crown, instead it called 911, couldn't reply, they call me back have to explain them that my watch was stuck and went crazy. Brand new watch series 9 bought in January 2024..! Apple you must fix this problem, calling 911 randomly is not a fun thing! And stressed me out my outing day with my family.!

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

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