stopwatch on wrist raise after update to watchos 4

It kind of defeats the purpose of the Apple watch. Why have all those faces if you can’t use them. In the past I used the “Utility” face with the timer running in the background 5 days each week. Why does Apple treat us like we are stupid children who can’t make our own decisions?? Why is “customizing” such a dirty word for Apple?? i.e. why can’t WE decide if we want the Stop Watch running in the background or foreground??? I thing we art wasting our time because I don’t think Apple reads these posts and if they do, they don’t care.

Where did you hear that they admitted it is a bug?? I figure they changed it on purpose thinking someone would prefer it this way. I, for one, can't stand it this way. Stopwatch is so important to me that I almost wish I had not bought the watch. I don't plan on upgrading unless they change the stopwatch. Why have all those faces if you can't use them??

Interesting – I really figured that Apple just figured that they knew what was best for us. Unfortunately, they don't allow us to customize as Android or Microsoft do. I came very close to changing over to Android for that reason.

watchOS 4:

The MacStories Review

watchOS 4: The MacStories Review

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that I cannot conveniently use stopwatch or timer anymore, as I use it all day long with my job. if you use stopwatch or timer with watchOS 4, Then after about 3 1/2 minutes the watch face reverts back to timer or stopwatch and you can’t use your actual watch face. The timer or stopwatch overrides everything else on the watch, and you can’t use a watch as it is designed to be used. The only way to know the time is to squint and look in the upper right corner of the watch, or repeatedly hit the crown to get back to the watch face that you want to use. My problem is, I don’t always have a free hand to do this and it is very awkward.

Jonathan,

Thanks for all of your help on this forum.

It is definitely NOT normal to always display the active app on wrist raise! It was not the case with WatchOS versions 3 and earlier.

When the stopwatch is running, I want it to run in the background; not display every time I raise my wrist. This is HIGHLY ANNOYING! I cannot believe Apple has not fixed this.

Even if you go back to the watch face after starting the stopwatch, when you raise your wrist and the display wakes, you see the stopwatch!!

I have inadvertently stopped the timing because of this.

WatchOS 4 introduced this.

I really agree. My wife was going to buy me a new Apple watch for my birthday, and I told her not to. The stop watch function is very important to me, and since 4.0 it is a mess. I now use the stop watch on my iPhone instead but then I forget it. I am making mistakes due to the watch 4OS. I updated to 4.2.2 but continue to be disappointed. I reported the problem to Apple months ago by phone and by internet. 2 useless updates since then.

Sorry, this was my first time posting to an Apple discussion, and i had not completed the message.....

So part 2...

Be Sure to get the Timy at http://www.timyapp.com/

not the Timy at Timy - TinyCal Lite on the App Store

I installed the one at http://www.timyapp.com/ and that Timy stopwatch will show up in Complications too on the Watch face and will work for you until Apple fixes their stopwatch

Thanks.

This behavior still makes absolutely no sense. The simple fact that starting the stopwatch on the chronograph, lowering the wrist, then raising to the app is just ridiculously dumb. What is the point of having a chronograph watch face with a stopwatch integrated if the app is just going to take over the screen. Same thing with having the stopwatch as a complication that shows the duration once started. What is the point if the app takes over? I have already submitted this as feedback, see all these posts, and yet apple still will not address this simple item that worked perfectly in OS 3.

I agree. My wife was going to buy me a new Apple watch for my birthday, but I said I didn't want one because it is not as useful anymore. I am sticking with my Series 2. I hate weighing the security advantages against the always possible degrading of the OS as in the OS4. I wish I could downgrade to Watch OS3 so I could use the Utility watch face and the stopwatch simultaneously. I really do not think this is a bug – I think it is an Apple "feature" because Apple believes They know best and most unfortunately they don't allow customization and personalization because they feel we are unqualified to make our own decisions. BTW, I also submitted online as feedback and also to Tech support by phone.

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.

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.

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!

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:(

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.