Can’t Set Up Apple Watch for Family Member

The certificate error is almost certainly due to being on an older version of WatchOS. I got two watches yesterday, one for each kid, and one had the CDPErrorState problem and the other had the certificate issue. The one with CDPErrorState was on 10.5, and the certificate error was on 10.3 (I assume Starlight is a less popular color so it had older stock). I was able to set both watches up as additional watches for myself using my own AppleID, so I knew the devices were fine. I also took the opportunity to update WatchOS to 10.6 on both of them before resetting the pairing. Now they both get the CDPErrorState error when trying to pair. :-) It may not be what I wanted, but they are at least consistent now.

incidentally, I just updated my phone to the latest release (iOS 17.6)that came out yesterday but it still will not pair with a family account.

I had both error messages on Apple Watch SE tonight trying to set up a family member’s watch in the family plan. I signed on to iCloud.com with the new Apple ID and then had to restart the watch and restore to factory settings. Finally worked. Glad for the forum here.

Summarize what I have tried and heard so far:

Issue: Set Up a cellular Apple Watch for a Family Member

Error code: “Could Not Sign In. The operation couldn't be completed (CDPStateError error -2.)”

Error stage: "Signing Apple Watch in to the family member's account"

Conditions:

• iOS: 17.6 (latest)
• WatchOS: 10.6 (latest). Note: if the watch os is older, such as 10.3, a different error shows up during the same stage: "Could Not Sign In, unexpected error with certificate"

What has been tried but not working

• dozens of times of repeating the same pairing and setting up process;
• tested wifi and data for connection;
• tested unpairing and paring for multiple times;
• tested multiple new Apple IDs for the family member;
• soft and hard reset of the Apple watch;
• logged in to the family member's Apple ID account and removed the watch from the list;
• used a different phone with a different Apple ID (another parent/guardian in the same family);
• logged in the parents' Apple ID (organizer) on a different iPhone;
• Called Apple and troubleshoot with an advisor/senior advisor through screen sharing;
• worked with multiple technicians in the Apple store (several different sites by different users)

So far, no one really knows the cause and solution for the issue, but it is quite clear that it is related to Apple (both Verizon and AT&T users experienced the same issue).

Hopefully, there is a solution before I returned the device.

Thanks for the update. I just tried the same thing, and oddly enough, the watch shows up as one of that family member's devices, even though the actual watch won't connect. I disconnected it from their iCloud, and I think I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe this new Apple ID needs a day to establish itself. I was on the phone with Apple for a long time today with no resolution but have a future callback scheduled.

I got exactly the same issue, setting up a new cellular Apple Watch SE(2nd) for my daughter with the same error code, and I was stuck at Verizon for 3 hours this afternoon with no luck. When I went back home and tried your method (log into the new Apple ID using a desktop browser), I still got the same error code, but interestingly, I didn't see the watch from my daughter's account for the first time, but when I tried one more time (unpairing and pairing), it appeared in the device list but still the same error code during the login process.

Btw, I have no issue with setting up the watch for myself.

I'm not sure I should go to Verizon or Apple Store tomorrow!

I talked over the phone with an Apple senior advisor by sharing the screen for nearly 80 minutes, but it's still not working!

I am in the Apple store right now; several technicians already tried, but they all are clueless.

So frustrating!

I’m having that problem as well. I thought maybe the issue setting up the watch was related to it being a child account, so I wanted to log in and make her 25 instead of 8 to see if that changed anything. Unfortunately, Apple will no longer send me auth codes to my phone.

I also tried crating a new family account for her from the watch pairing where she was an adult family member, but that also failed with the same “CDPStateError” message. There is also a new iOS update just released yesterday, I guess I’ll update my phone and try again.

One more piece of info for reference: I also tried the same process (same Apple IDs) with another brand new Apple watch (2nd) in Verizon. It didn't work out either. It was stuck in the same place of signing in my daughter's app ID, but with a different error: "unexpected error with certificate."

One more piece of info for reference: I also tried the same process (same Apple IDs) with another brand new Apple watch (2nd) in Verizon. It didn't work out either. It was stuck in the same place of signing Apple Watch in to my daughter's account, but with a different error: "unexpected error with certificate."

One more piece of info for reference: I also tried the same process (same Apple IDs) with another brand new Apple watch (2nd) in Verizon. It didn't work out either. It was stuck in the same place of signing Apple Watch in to my daughter's account, but with a different error: "unexpected error with certificate."

One more piece of info for reference: I also tried the same process (same Apple IDs) with another brand new Apple watch (2nd) in Verizon. It didn't work out either. It was stuck in the same place of signing Apple Watch in to my daughter's account, but with a different error: "unexpected error with certificate."

TyMan777, when you were logged in as your daughter's iCloud account did you see any kind of message or notification that her ID was being used to set up a new device that you had to approve? I feel like when I try to log into a new device with my ID I usually have to approve or acknowledge it on my iPhone for it to complete the login, but I haven't seen anything of the sort when trying to set up the watches for my kids. I do see that they get an email stating that their account has been added to a device, but there is nothing in the email indicating that there is an approval that needs to take place.