Touch Screen issues

Hi

If your Apple Watch does not respond to touchscreen inputs as expected, then the following steps may help:

Remove any screen protector, case or bumper that you may have fitted to your Apple Watch.

If you have not yet done so, update your iPhone and Apple Watch to the latest compatible software versions, starting with your iPhone:

• Update the iOS on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
• Update your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Clean and dry your Apple Watch, being sure to follow Apple's cleaning instructions:

• Cleaning your Apple Watch - Apple Support
• Important handling information

Restart (normally) your Apple Watch and iPhone, turning both devices off together, then restarting your iPhone first:

• Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
• Restart your Apple Watch - Apple Support
  • Note that Apple advises that you should not force restart (referred to by some, but not Apple, as a "hard reset") your Apple Watch unless it cannot be restarted normally.

If the issue persists, next unpair and re-pair your Apple Watch:

• The Watch app on your iPhone takes a backup of your watch automatically when unpairing via the app.
• Initially choose to Restore from Backup during set up (most data and settings will be restored, with some exceptions such as Apple Pay cards and passcode).
• If the issue persists, next try unpairing and setting your Apple Watch up as a new watch.
• Unpair your Apple Watch and iPhone - Apple Support
• Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

If the issue persists, then I suggest that you contact Apple Support (remote diagnostics and/or mail-in service may be available, if required), make a Genius Bar reservation or visit an Apple Authorised Service Provider for assistance:

• US: Apple Watch Service Answer Center - Apple Support
• Elsewhere: Select your country for Apple Watch service and repair information

Out of the box, mine didn't work AT ALL. After calling Apple and resetting the Apple Watch multiple times, when I finally plugged it in, it mysteriously started working. That was Thursday night. It's now Sunday night and I went to turn my Hue Lights on in my dining room to eat dinner and NADA. The display is completely unresponsive. I've unpaired the watch from my iPhone and still nothing.

I have the same issue. It sometimes works perfectly, then stops working. I hard reset and it starts to work again (push in digital crown and the sleep button and hold until apple logo reappears). Going to genius bar tmr.

Same issue here. My watch worked fine for almost two months. But now, since a few days, the touch screen is acting strange. Not responsive or very erratic in his response to finger swap...

Did anyone get this issue resolved by NOT returning to watch ?

Thanks

I'm having the same exact issue. Started yesterday I believe. I have cleared off the Watch and it didn't help at all. I think it's more than a coincidence this started for us all around the same time. My Watch is useless now.

Apple is shipping out a replacement unit. Said he had not heard of this issue. He asked around and no one else in his department had either.

I discovered \that people with big fingers like me have problems paging through the special emoji in Messages. Both the "Genius" at the Houston Apple store and myself entered an engineering report. I do not have a problem with other applications on the iWatch. Both my wife and I are having problems with answering a phone call on our iWatches which may or may not be a touch screen issue.

Same issue here. My watch worked fine for almost one month. Touch screen response is erratic the last few days. No physical damage to watch or any significant events happened to it.

Having the same issue, started out as being erratic and now the screen isn't responsive at all. Tried the reset - the first time I've tried this and it seemed to resolve the problem.

I have the same intermittent problem with the touch screen on the 38mm "Watch" after a month of use. At various, unpredictable times, it will be totally unresponsive to touch or behave erratically when touched. The "fix" that works for me is to reconnect the phone to the magnetic charging disk (regardless of how much charge remains). After some time, typically an hour or more, the screen is responsive again after removing the watch from the charger. Very strange behavior and clearly not good.

Thanks for detailing how to reset the watch. Mine no longer lets me do much of anything. I will try a reset. It was fine for 20 or so days prior

I have had my watch @3 months. A couple of weeks ago, the screen started acting funny in the afternoons. If I put watch on charger, it would respond fine again. Somewhere on one on these threads, a responder suggested someone turn watch off as part of troubleshooting process. This advice made me realize that I had never turned my watch off.

I turned my watch off, maybe for a minute, a few days ago and display has been stable since. I'd you are reading this, your mileage may vary.

I've got a Steel 42cm and the screen just stopped working properly two days ago ... about 1/2 the time it works perfectly ... 1/4 of the time it does not work AT ALL ... ie nothing responds on the screen at all ... ZERO... and 1/4 of the time it works completely randomly ... I"ve tried the digital touch app and found that you can only draw on a portion of the screen... ie when you try and colour in the whole screen , a section of it remains blank... and this section moves from top to bottom etc... basically, the phone is stuffed and I have to take it back to Apple... I"ve tried all the fixes including hard re set , reinstall etc , charging and emptying battery, none of that works. Its either a dud watch or seriously big problem with Applewatch.

The reboot cleared my problem. Interesting reading that others are having issues with units that worked for a while before acting up.

42mm Space Gray Sports.

Exact same problem, touch screen is unreliable, sometimes it works, other times left hand side doesn't work at all. Tonight the screen flashes on so briefly It's almost impossible to read the time and impossible to retrieve messages or view notifications. Often difficult to customise as force touch is unreliable too. It's fiddly to retrieve messages or do anything on it really. I'm not overly disappointed because I've never been quite convinced about this product and so bought the cheapest one just to satisfy my curiosity. That satisfied and the novelty has thoroughly worn off, I think it's time to go back to my Longines! But this is the first Apple product I have ever been disappointed with, so can't win them all.