Apple watch battery issue after 4.3.1 update

I got my AW Series 3 cellular back when WatchOS 4.01 was current (always wait for the first patch) and it has had every update since then. There has been no perceptible change in performance or battery usage in any of the updates, I still see 65-75% battery remaining every day by about 10pm when it goes on the charger until I hit bed, when it goes back on my wrist for another 23 hours. In other words something seems to be wrong around your watch. Maybe it is a stuck or incompatible app, maybe it is coincidence and one of the cells in your battery has now deteriorated enough for you to notice. Maybe you are just watching more closely after the update.

You don’t say which version of watch so a few broad ideas you can try. Start in number order,

1. Forced reboot to restart the watch and all the apps. Just press and hold both buttons until the Apple logo appears.

2. Unpair and re-pair, setting up to restore from the automatic backup.

3. As 2 but setup,as new, then add your apps one at a time. Check to see if one of them is dragging down the battery life before loading the next one.

4. Contact Apple Support And get the watch checked, particularly the battery.

I‘m having the same problem. My battery will not last a full day now. I’ve never had this problem until this update. I’m hoping Apple is working on a fix, because there is a serious bug in the new OS.

I'm having this same issue. I have the 2nd series watch and have done every update as it was released with no issues. Since 4.3.1, I can't get the charge to last at all. It's lasted under 8 hours the past week and then today it lasted only 5. I tried keeping an eye on the charge percentage today and I checked it after 4 hours and it was at 96%, then less than an hour later, it was completely dead. I charge it overnight every night and put it on in the morning. Usually when I take it off around midnight, it's at 50% or so. This is so frustrating. I hope a fix is being worked on. This is ridiculous.

The Apple Support specialist had me re-pair the watch with the iPhone. This took about 30 minutes. I monitored battery drain through a normal day with minimal watch use; no music, phone calls, etc. The results were the same. At the end of the day, I had 29% battery left. Interestingly, the specialist had a 1st generation watch as is mine with no issues.

This morning, the specialist remotely ran a battery diagnostic program which lasted 4 hours and confirmed the battery was fine. He also ran general watch diagnostics which proved all of the watch components were fine. His conclusion was a software issue and not hardware. He scheduled a re-check with me after the next watchOS upgrade.

No. Hopefully soon. Dealt with a really nice specialist. He said not to bother taking it in to an Apple store as they would just mail it to a centralized repair shop. Since my watch passed all of the hardware tests he said it would be a waste of time mailing it.

Yesterday the watch turned red (pwr saving mode) a few minutes before retiring for the night. Nothing special about the activity; taking phone calls, playing music, etc. The specialist is convinced after tests run over a three day period the hardware is good and there is a software issue. The battery diagnostic test itself ran over four hours. I believe the specialist was very thorough. It will be very nice if the next software update fixes this.

Last night I thoroughly cleaned the back of the battery and charged it. This AM, so far, it is reacting to my wrist. Will be monitoring battery as well as wrist action throughout the day. My battery never gets below maybe 50% so we'll see.

I too have the same issue. My watch is an apple watch 3, brand new in March 2018. Battery used to be a 75% at end of day. Now, since I did the update to 4.3.1 it barely lasts 8 hours after being charged all night. I am having to charge it during the day while I am at work. What is up?

Saturday the watch ended the day in the red with 8% battery left. Sunday it had 26% which is average for my complaint. Today, Monday I will have 61% left. Go figure! There has been no change in my usage. What I think is happening is one or several of the apps were misbehaving after watchOS4.3.1 came out and has been recently updated. I don't know how to check to see which watch apps were updated late this weekend. Anyway, there is hope.

I noticed it aswell. Another issue I have is if you apply the "PRIDE FACE" it makes the whole watch glitchy

Exact same situation before and after the update. I have the original Apple Watch.

I suggest you call Apple Support and make them aware of this issue.

Testing after restarting both watch and phone. Might be a little better but now much. I'll call Apple tomorrow.

same problem here with 1 generation apple watch.. before the update it lasts about 1-2 days now not one full day.

I see exactly the same behavior on my watch (series 2) as well. It's draining the battery even when the watch is set to flight mode.