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

This happened to my S9 (ios 10.2) watch yesterday (2/6/2024). It was as if someone was physically pressing the buttons as well as the touch screen. It turned on airplane mode, set timers, opened menus, and even changed settings. When I tried to power it off, it tried to call 911. I finally took it off my wrist which caused it to enter an incorrect passcode enough to lock itself for a min. While on the "locked for 1 minute" screen I was able to force a hard restart on it. Upon turning it back on, I had to wait the 1 minute to enter my passcode - but then everything was fine. I had to change back everything that was changed before (turn off water lock, turn off airplane mode, etc). But just now, it opened up a menu that I did not press a button for... but stopped after that. I know I have an update waiting (ios 10.3), but sounds like folks on 10.3 are having this issue too....

I also had similar problems last night. it was a bit scary. luckily no emergency number was called. latest update installed, hard reset performed, icloud password and privacy settings reset performed. I hope Apple has an explanation for this issue or is conducting an investigation into this behavior.

I have had my Apple Watch Series 9 since early November 2023, and this has now happened twice to me. Previously I had my Series 2 for almost 8 years, with no problems at all other than the battery and being unable to update the software, due to how old it was. I am deeply disappointed with this glitch but pleased to see I am not the only one. Apple @Apple I hope you fix this, or do a re-call on these Watches.

Same problem - particularly concerning as it attempts to call emergency services! very dangerous

It should be APPLE POLICY to immediately post on streams like this to clarify:

(a) They are aware of the problem.

(b) Explain what the issue is.

(c) What a temporary solution is (if any)

(d) When a permanent solution will be available.

Thoroughly disappointed in Apples deafening silence on support issues.

3/15/2024

Just as described above my watch was acting crazy as if someone is trying to hack. I just hard reboot as recommended seems to have worked.

OMG! You're the only other person whose story started off just like mine! Mine also started with my watch vibrating from a timer that had gone off that I didn't set. I tried to turn it off but it wouldn't let me. Mine was unlocked which was the main difference here. No one talks about the timer thing happening to them. The timer thing must mean that the watch was glitching out many minutes before you even notice because if it was setting all of those timers, who knows what else it was doing under your sleeve! I also had to hard reset mine and I didn't realize I could do it by holding down the crown and side button until trying for over a minute. I originally tried to hold down just side button to open the menu where it just shows SOS or power off button. I managed to open it but the screen was unresponsive so it wouldn't click the power button. I got so scared thinking my watch was a goner at first because I didn't know it had the option to perform a hard reset. I'm so thankful that Apple incorporated this option as it helps you when you really need it. I was worried I would have to wait for it to die!

I have commented a couple of times, same exact issue a few weeks ago. I truly feel EVERYONE that had this issue NEEDS to contact Apple. Yes, they’re going to do a diagnostic test, but if they hear from enough people perhaps they’ll look into this. Thank God it hasn’t happened again, but I fear it will. It’s extremely scary when you can’t control your watch. 🤦🏻‍♀️

My Apple Watch went crazy like that today. It was like it was possessed or hacked- opening and closing apps, deleting notifications, opening Apple Pay (that was particularly concerning), entering passcode numbers incessantly. Causing music to play loudly. It finally ended up calling 911 and when I apologized to the operator and explained it was my Apple Watch, she was so nice and acted as if she was familiar with the problem. I was finally able to do a hard reset but it wasn’t at all easy- I had to try multiple times - it did help to put it on the charger for a while first. After I did the reset, it notified me there was an update available. Also hours before this happened I had updated my iPhone to 17.4.1 and had not restarted my watch after that so that might have been part of the issue. It was a very stressful experience. Why hasn’t Apple fixed this?

I had the exact same experience. I thought it would be difficult to explain, and that no one would believe me, even though I have video proof. The watch started by sending text messages to one of my recent contacts. Then, later, I noticed the timer running, even though I hadn’t started a timer. It went downhill from there. Screens started changing on their own. The screen wouldn’t respond to my touches, and when I tried to hold the off button, it launched into emergency mode. It called my emergency contacts and 911. I have had two separate episodes like this about 40 days apart. After the first, Apple had me delete and reload the watch as a new watch without my prior data. That didn’t fix it because it happened again. This watch needs to go. It scared my wife the second time because I was away on a road trip by myself at the time. She got an emergency call saying I needed help. This is not helpful.

Hold down the crown button and side button together for about 10 seconds u til you see the Apple logo. Doing that fixed mine

This happened to me also with my Ultra. In the middle of the night it started multiple timers as it switched back and forth running different apps. I also took it off to stop it accessing apps and got locked out for hours. Luckily no 911 call. By morning it had drained itself and went in to power save mode. I powered it off, and restarted it and put it on the charger. I’m still locked out. I had a series 2 for many years, never had anything like this.

Rumour has it that this can affect watches other than U2 and S9.

So continue doing a forced restart and wait for the next update, although 10.4 was supposed to be the fix.

Forced Restart. Hold in Crown and Side button together til Apple Logo appears then release.

My Apple Watch 9 did the same spooky thing, display crazy, calling 911 (in a restaurant, embarrassing),the siren, etc. Updated to 10.4 last night. It seemed ok this morning, then suddenly again started the siren and message „calling SOS“. The new update is NOT working.

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 to os 10.4

Same here. Ultra 2 developed a mind of its own, had a hissy fit and tried to play with every app it could find. Found this thread and did a hard reset. All ok now. What on earth happened there?!