health and activity not working on new phone with old watch

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health and activity not working on new phone with old watch

At first I thought I had an issue with the backup I'd made of my old phone. I tried a few times to restore in order to get my old activity and health data but to no avail. I gave up and moved on. Now, two weeks later I realize that nothing I've done over the last few weeks has moved from my watch to my phone, nor can I manually save anything in the health app on the phone (no new datapoints).

My old phone was running 11.2 public beta at the time of the last backup and my new iPhone X was is running the official version (currently 11.1.2). I got around that by restoring from an older backup.

I've set up my watch as a brand new watch (not using any backups) but still can't get activity and health data to work.

What is going on??

iPhone X, iOS 11.1

Posted on Nov 22, 2017 9:57 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Jonathan UK

Level 10

163,901 points

Nov 23, 2017 6:04 AM in response to fwallenberg

Hi

Health and Activity data should sync automatically from your Apple Watch to the Activity app and Health app on your paired iPhone:

If it is not doing so, then the following steps may help:

If you are sharing an Apple ID with another user, then stop doing so.

For Activity tracking and reporting and various other features and services to work as intended, each person should each have a separate Apple ID and be signed in accordingly on their own devices.

If you have not yet done so, update your iPhone and Apple Watch with any available software updates, starting with your iPhone (begin by making a backup):

On your iPhone, go to: Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness - check that both Fitness Tracking and Health are enabled.

On your iPhone, in the Watch app, go to: My Watch > Privacy > check that both Fitness Tracking and Heart Rate are enabled.

Close certain apps and then restart (normally) both your iPhone and your Apple Watch:

Close the Watch app, Activity app and Health app (if open) on your iPhone:
- Double-click the Home button, then swipe up on each app preview to close the apps.
Turn both devices off together, then restart your iPhone first:
- Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
- Restart your Apple Watch - Apple Support

If you are using any third-party fitness tracking apps, check the developers' support resources and/or contact the developers to check for any known issues affecting how data is shared to the Health app on your iPhone.

Follow the further instructions here, if necessary including unpairing and re-pairing your Apple Watch:

If your Apple Watch isn't connected or paired with your iPhone - Apple Support

If the issue persists, then you may wish follow the steps below, which have resolved Activity data syncing issues for other users.

Important: note that this process involves the permanent loss of all sensitive data on your iPhone and Apple Watch, including historic Health and Activity data, HomeKit data and saved passwords:

Start by making an unencrypted backup of your iPhone:

This must only be done via iTunes on a computer (because iCloud backups are encrypted as standard).
Do not select the option to Encrypt iPhone backup.
How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple Support

Restore your iPhone as new (ie to factory settings) using iTunes:

Restore your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to factory settings - Apple Support

After the Restore completes, during setup, restore your iPhone from the unencrypted backup:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

Pair your Apple Watch, setting it up as a new watch (do not restore it from backup):

Set up your Apple Watch - Apple Support

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