My Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been acting sporadic

My Ultra 2 was bouncing all over from app to app this morning. I finally shut it down and restarted it. It’s was back to semi-normal but I discovered that there were maybe 30 instances of timers running. I must have done something overnight sleeping pressing the side button or something. After the restart and closing all of the running timers, it seems to be normal.

My Ultra 2 was doing the same thing, jumping between apps, starting and stopping workouts and when I took the watch off my wrist it started entering pass codes on its own until it timed out for one minute then five minutes.

I put the watch on the charger while it was timed out and when I went to check it a few minutes later it was fine.

The watch went crazy while I was playing pickleball and sweating and I think the moisture on my wrist may have caused it to short out because once it was off my wrist and dry again it was fine.

Not very ultra if moisture caused the problem.

Same thing happened to me with the same watch (Ultra 2) and probably the same day. It was this Friday, the 2nd of February 2024 in between 20:30 and 21:00 (8:30 and 9:00PM) Central European Time (CET). The watch went crazy writing strange code and jumping from app to app. Took the watch off and it started entering pass codes (like someone trying to guess my passcode) until it got me a delay of 5 minutes. I turned it off. When on again I reset the watch with my phone. I then updated the Watch OS to the latest and also my phone iOS (Phone is 14 pro max). I was not doing any exercise or anything so moisture was not the problem. I was just sitting in front of my TV. Do you have more information about this?

This was a recent update bug.

If a forced restart does not fix it then reset the watch like this…

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.

This was a recent update bug.

If a forced restart does not fix it then reset the watch like this…

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.

Ultra 2 49mm watch was possessed... straight up exorcist vibe. Obviously was locked out due to incorrect passwords and couldn't do anything on watch

Found this post and did the unpair (input Apple ID password), and then did the pair setup including restoring from backup worked. Hopefully for now.

Still have warranty service as I just bought this a couple months ago so wondering if this a physical issue with the watch that needs to be repaired?

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 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

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.

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

If a hard reboot does not fix it then 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.

It happened to me today. Ultra 2. Kept trying to start the compass. Then screens kept changing. I took it off my wrist and then the keyboard was typing random numbers in the Lock Screen. Locked me out. I tried to turn it off but the screen was unresponsive and wouldn’t let me slide to power off. I finally held the crown and side button and did a hard reset. Now waiting the 15 minutes until it lets me type a passcode again. Really freaky.

So after speaking with Apple Support on the 9th of April 2024, (following my Ultra 2’s autonomous meltdown at 2AM that morning) I was advised that it could either be a hardware issue or a software issue, but they would have to have the Ultra 2 to find out. They had an appointment available at my local Genius Bar for later that day. They confirmed an issue and sent my watch off for “repair/ diagnostic”. I heard back yesterday, after a little chasing from me, and they vaguely stated that they had completed their diagnostics and that they were sending me a replacement product. No real information on the root cause of the issue was given. I can only presume that it was primarily a hardware issue or they wouldn’t have replaced it? Guess I’ll keep guessing! Pleased to have “a” watch back on my wrist, but definitely not the “it just works“ experience that I pay for or I’ve come to expect from Apple. Thanks to the Community support, first time I’ve used it. I’ve learnt a few things that I hopefully won’t need! Best regards

see my post.ls above

Series 9 and U2 were affected by a bug in 10.3, fixed in 10.4

Your U2 is fine.

Happened to me. Couldn't turn off and couldn't reset.

Went to Watch App on phone and deleted the watch. Keep the cell link. That worked.

Have to reinstall as if new.

However, install 10.4 BEFORE it happens and that should fix it.

I had the same issue, today with my Ultra 2, April 1st. I restarted the watch which seemed to make me wait 5 minutes to put in my passcode. But it did stop cycling through passcodes as it had. After 5 minutes, I was able to enter my passcode, but did notice that my iPhone needed to be updated. So perhaps my phone was suffering from the same issues people faced in early February. I updated both my phone and watch software. Hopefully, that will put an end to this problem.

I was able to fix mine by first restarting the watch by holding the two button on the right side of the case in until the Apple logo appears. Then it made me wait 5 minutes to input my passcode. After doing so it seemed ok, but I did notice that I had not updated my watch from 10.3 to 10.4. In order to do so I had to update my iPhone's software. then I was able to update the watch to 10.4. Everything seems to be rosy now. Hope this helps.