Ultra 1 touch screen freezes with when I start an Apple Workout with Check in Reminder enabled

Apple Watch Ultra 1 - touch screen freezes when I start an Apple Workout

Hi there,

Currently have all iOS and watchOS updates installed. Watch is Apple Watch Ultra 1. iPhone is iPhone 17 Pro Max.

My Apple Watch Ultra 1 has a problem. Whenever I start an Apple Fitness Workout on my watch the Start screen appears and then the touch screen functionality of the watch screen stops working. Meaning that I cannot start the workout on the watch, swipe up/down/across - nothing. All I can do is start the workout on my phone, which then sets the workout running on my watch, but the touch screen functionality is still gone. It basically becomes a "dumb display".

To get the watch back to correct touch screen functionality I have to use the digital crown to interrupt the app on my watch and force quit the app. 

This problem has existed across multiple watchOS updates but it has never always been there as a problem - the watch did once perform properly.

Now after a bit of online sleuthing I found that the culprit may be the "Check in Reminder" function for workouts and that by toggling that Off on the Apple Watch App on my iPhone it will cause the problem to go away. And, after trying that, it does indeed fix the problem. But I then don't have the "Check in Reminder" functionality any more, which I like and would prefer to be able to continue to use. Toggling the "Check In Reminder" back on brings the problem back.

Has anyone encountered this problem before? And if so, were you able to sort this out so that you could have the "Check in Reminder" operating as well as a functioning watch touch screen when doing an Apple Fitnesss Workout.

I'd appreciate any advice or thought.

Thanks.