I agree it is normal if the app was opened but it was not. My setting for “On screen wake show last app” was set to ”While In Session” yet closing, display still comes back on wrist raise. I had never launched the app since the upgrade and even force closed it. Still it comes back on wrist raise without invoking the stopwatch app. It is definitely a bug related to the upgrade.
I had restarted the watch which did not resolve. I have unpaired and paired new with restoring to a backup. So far, this is working now as expected without displaying the stopwatch app unexpectedly.
I was hoping — but not expecting they would change this. I believe that Apple think that we prefer to see the stopwatch or timer rather than the watch face. They see it as a feature rather than a bug. I was going to buy the cellular version but changed my mind because of this. I use the stopwatch all day for business.
You would think, but it’s actually a bug or just major lack of attention to detail on Apple’s part. Here’s why:
- the Setting doesn’t work - you can select to only show you the active app (ie, the stopwatch) within 2 min. That doesn’t work. You can wait 10 min and wake the watch and it will still show you the running stopwatch, not the watch face or last app
- the watch faces with the chronometer don’t stay on the watch face display either! So you see the stopwatch on the watch face when you start it. But when you wake the screen again, it’s dispalying the stopwatch app! This is such a massive miss it’s incredible for Apple.
I’ve sold my Apple Watch and switched as a result of this. When a company stops listening to its customers, it’s a bad sign.
I don't think they listen in general. For example, no CD/DVD burner/player in my otherwise very nice desktop. Not enough ports in any of their devices. I think they are trying to turn the watch into a medical and sports watch and they figure the stopwatch and timer should take over, and they figure we would not be smart enough to personalize for our purposes, so they don't give us a choice.
If you would like to submit a feature request to Apple (Apple reads all submissions), then you can do so here:
Thank for this. I had to do this too, but getting the stupid stopwatch coming up every time was a total drag! I still need to play with the settings, but at least I usually get my watch face now!
Not sure if you saw my thread below. Unpair and pair the watch again, restoring from backup. It takes a bit of time but has resolved the issue for me!
Thank you, I did see and have to wait to get home to finish; as I played so much this morning, trying to figure it out and the battery died:(
For me, when you unpair, a fresh backup is made, so it's watchOS 4. Re-pairing didn't take nearly as long as the original upgrade did, but the reinstall of all the apps took a while.
Try un-pairing and re-pairing the watch to your phone. It worked for me, though not with a Series 3 watch.
This is so irritating. the best I can come up with is to set it to "Within 2 minutes of last use" instead of "While in Session", and then make sure I don't look at it for two minutes. Obnoxious!
Here's a workaround: if the stopwatch is running, stop and reset it so it's "dead". Then change the wake setting on the Watch app to "only when in session". Worked for me.
But then, how do you use the stopwatch...our problem is that we want it running in the background. We do not want it on the screen at wrist-raise or tap.
Absolutely did not work for me.
I agree with everything you wrote. My guess is that Apple Employees don’t actually use their own products. I know one employee who uses Android because he can customize it much more.
Solution: Get the free Timy app. It runs in the background and you can see the progress on you complications.
stopwatch on wrist raise after update to watchos 4
