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Apple watch 3 won't update to watchOS 4.3

My Apple Watch will not update to watchOS 4.3. It either hangs and does not move or tells me it to will take 2 days or 9 hours and sometimes 15 hours then nothing happens. I have even gotten a failure message.


I have read other suggestions and I have tried turning off my Apple Watch, restarting my iPhone 8, etc. but nothing helps. I have made sure my iPhone has up to date software too. My watch is plugged in and is connected to WIFI.


Can anyone help me?


Thank you.

Posted on Apr 9, 2018 8:17 AM

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12 replies

Apr 10, 2018 11:13 AM in response to rjs838

Greetings rjs838,

I understand you're not able to successfully update the software for your Apple Watch. I'll be happy to help provide guidance for this behavior.

Please review the following support article:

Update your Apple Watch

Specifically, the provided steps mentioning to remove the software update from the Apple Watch may help:

If the update won't start, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap General > Usage > Software Update, then delete the update file. After you delete the file, try to download and install watchOS again.


Let me know how the steps work out for you.

Cheers!

Apr 10, 2018 4:01 PM in response to rjs838

My impression of the last update is that it was significantly slower than previous releases. I suspect this is overloaded servers getting hit by increasing millions of watch users so you need to try to launch the upgrade at a time when most users are sleeping. The steps in the help doc linked above might help, but for a guess try launching the update before your region wakes or very late at night when there will be least competition for bandwidth.

Jun 24, 2018 9:17 PM in response to rjs838

Hey! I’m sorry to everyone having this horrible issue with their apple watches. As many of you have replied, thank you for your contributions to this post.


I might have found the fix, and I’m hoping that my method works for many of you!


Here is a Step-By-Step tutorial on how I made mine work.


1) Force Reset Apple Watch. (If you are setting up for the first time, hold down the circle button and press Reset Apple Watch upon pop-up)


2) DELETE the Watch App from your Apple device.


3) Disconnect from your connected Wi-Fi network completely and RESTART your iPhone, ETC.


4) Power on the device in which you want to connect your Apple Watch, connect to Wi-Fi network and download the Watch app again from the App Store.


5) DO NOT SCAN APPLE IR SCREEN, instead enter it manually (Press the “i” icon on the bottom left of Watch to find Pin)


6) Begin Update and THIS SHOULD WORK 100%

I hope this method works for you guys as I am one who was experiencing the frustration of updating an Apple Watch.

Apple watch 3 won't update to watchOS 4.3

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