Text messages going to watch and not phone

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Level 1

25 points

Text messages going to watch and not phone

I have seen many of the discussions about phone being locked versus watch not locked. Here is what I am seeing. Text messages will go to the Watch but never show up at all on the phone. This is odd since the watch has no ability to get a message without coming through the phone. It does not matter if the phone is locked or not. If I reply on the watch it shows up most of the time - but not all the time - on the phone... just the reply. It is very frustrating to not see the entire thread on the phone. You loose the history. Plus, if you clear the notifications on the watch you may loose the message entirely. I also sometimes get messages to the watch with a very old text, for example someone texted me last week, I never saw it, then another text from same person today and I get the new message and the old. It is like it is stuck. This is bad - makes me want to turn off getting messages to the watch altogether!

Apple Watch, iOS 9.2

Posted on Dec 15, 2015 8:03 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

mdm76012 Author

Level 1

25 points

Dec 15, 2015 10:16 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Thank you for the suggestion. I went through the steps and restarted both as instructed. Still behaving the same way.

One other odd quirk - I tried to turn the wrist action feature off - the one that shows you the time or alerts when you raise your wrist - and despite being turned off it will not stop. I even had it turned off when I restarted the watch and it stayed turned off... but still displays on raised wrist.

What I would really like to see is a feature that knows when your driving a car and holding the steering - this action makes it come on often - and when driving at night it is annoying. Perhaps the feature would use location services and know when your moving more than about 20 miles an hour.

OK - I digress....

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Answer 2

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,871 points

Dec 15, 2015 8:40 AM in response to mdm76012

Hi

The behaviour that you have described is not normal. Try these steps:

Check the Notification settings on your iPhone:

- On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Notifications > Messages.

- Check that Notifications are enabled, along with Show in Notification Centre and Show on Lock Screen.

Disable and re-enable iMessage on your iPhone:

- On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Messages > turn off iMessage, wait for a few moments and then re-enable it.

Restart both your iPhone and your watch. Turn both devices off together first, then restart your iPhone before restarting your watch:

- To turn your watch off: press and hold the side button until you see the Power Off slider; drag it to turn off;

- To turn it on: press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

If that does not help, try the further troubleshooting steps here:

If you can't send or receive messages on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,871 points

Dec 16, 2015 5:14 AM in response to mdm76012

If messages are not behaving as expected between your devices, it may help to unpair and re-pair your watch:

The Watch app on your iPhone takes watch backups automatically, including a fresh one when unpairing via the app. Choose to Restore from Backup when offered the option during set up. Most data and settings will be restored, with some exceptions (eg Apple Pay cards, passcode).

- Unpair your Apple Watch and iPhone - Apple Support

- Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

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Answer 4

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,871 points

Dec 16, 2015 5:06 AM in response to mdm76012

In case of any misunderstanding: there is a difference between viewing messages in the Notification Centre and viewing them in the Messages app on Apple Watch (and also on iPhone).

To view the Notification Centre on your watch:

- Swipe down from the top edge of the screen.

You can dismiss notifications individually as and when you read them:

- When reading one: scroll to the bottom of the notification and tap on Dismiss, or;

- When reading one: swipe down on the notification (from the top section, if reading a notification that is longer than one screen), or;

- In the list view, swipe left on a notification, then tap on Clear.

To clear all notifications at once, press firmly on the screen when viewing the notifications list, then tap on Clear All.

When you dismiss notifications on your Apple Watch, they are also dismissed from your iPhone. However, the messages are not deleted; they remain within the Messages app.

To open the Messages app on Apple Watch:

- When reading a Messages notification, tap on the Messages icon within that notification, or;

- Go to the Home screen (via a single press on the Digital Crown) > Messages icon, or;

- Tell Siri to "open Messages".

Within the Messages app, tap on a conversation within the conversation list to view the contents (your own messages and any replies).

To delete a conversation, swipe left on it within the conversation list. Deleting a conversation on either your iPhone or Apple Watch does not also delete it from any other device (deletions within the Messages app are not synced across any Apple devices).

More information:

About notifications on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

http://help.apple.com/watch/#/apdcf848d29e

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Answer 5

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,871 points

Dec 15, 2015 10:43 AM in response to mdm76012

I suggest that you contact Apple Support or make a Genius Bar reservation for further assistance:

https://www.apple.com/support/watch/contact/

If you would like to suggest new features to Apple, you can do that here:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html

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Answer 6

mdm76012 Author

Level 1

25 points

Dec 15, 2015 11:55 AM in response to Jonathan UK

Thank you for the link to feature suggestions. I will use it.

As for the support I do not think contacting them for this is worth the effort. In all likelihood they will tell me to do the same things already suggested.

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Answer 7

mdm76012 Author

Level 1

25 points

Dec 15, 2015 10:13 AM in response to lindcarm

I did... as a part of the suggestion below... no help.

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Answer 8

lindcarm

Level 1

41 points

Dec 15, 2015 8:12 AM in response to mdm76012

Try just restarting your watch. It could just be a little malfunction that will be fixed with a restart.

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