Fall detection false trigger

I can certainly identify with what you’re experiencing. I’m a senior and I purchased this Series 4 watch for mainly the fall detection feature. The first series 4 watch began almost immediately with the fall detection being activated randomly. I was referred to the senior advisor and all the troubleshooting steps were taken to no avail. I was still within that 30 day timeframe and the Watch was replaced. I received the second series 4 and within days the same issue. With reluctance I returned the watch . Maybe when software is pushed out to alleviate the problem, I will purchase the watch for the third time. Sorry to hear you are experiencing this problem.

I'm not at all confident that the watch will pick up when I fall. It hasn't done it yet and it hasn't done it for my closest friend, to date, who also has an Apple Watch 4. That said we both continue to get plenty of false alarms. I particularly get them while in the kitchen during chopping and smashing actions when the arm with the watch on does short, rapid, downward motions, where my arm moves less than 10 inches. There doesn't seem to be any learning going on.

I know of 38 watch 4 replacements just in my home town alone from people who know I follow Apple devices closely. Assuming there is nothing special going on here, that's astounding. Of the 38, "only" 12 were over fall detection. One person is on their 3rd watch. The others were due to problems linking their iPhone to the watch or battery woes.

Personally I had an initial problem linking my watch to my iPhone, but after a reset on the iPhone and turning the watch off then on, I had no problem. As to my battery, I get two full days between charges. I don't think you can ask for more from the battery. Other than fall detection it's worked great. I have had some app problems, but they are clearly the apps having problems, not the watch. Most have been fixed by updates, two were made worse by updates and I've deleted them and found alternatives.

I got on this thread quite a while ago after researching my first false positive when I closed the car door with my hand on the door.

I also considered fall detection a significant factor for the purchase, thinking it might pay off when the weather permits bicycle riding. The series 4 ECG thing was just a kicker.

So, until last week that one detection was the only false positive. Then, while shoveling some snow, I pushed the shovel under some hard frozen ice in the street and my wrist was buzzing. Canceling the fall detection was hindered by gloves and jackets.

I'd like Apple to publicize something about the algorithm used to distinguish motion from a fall. It seems like the depth and frequency of the signal both seem important. I can see how distinguishing fall signal from noise and motion is non-trivial.

In spite of my two false alarms, I'm keeping it enabled.

And, all this discussion has me wondering... what other worn devices that do fall have detection are there and what is their false positive rate? Anybody have anything? A quick Google search found mostly button operated devices and figuring which actually detect and alert without intervention was going to take time.

Anyway, it has been valuable to hear from people who have more serious issues and how Apple responded.

That kind of arm movement along with the clapping of hands over the head are two arm movements that are the most likely from what I can tell in generating a false alarm about falling. The watch continues to not detect real falls. I'm going into the genius bar this week.

The fall detection failed again. This time I clapped my hands to get my dogs attention. Apple "Customer Service" said "no new watch", but rather required that I send the watch to Apple for inspection and repair. They couldn't repeat my fall detection problem. The techs at Apple updated the internal software and returned the watch to me. It hasn't failed again yet. Apple Customer Service called yesterday to see how the watch was performing..nice! So far no more problems.

So far the replacement watch has worked perfectly. If any problem occurs I'll let you know.

The continuing saga of the Apple Watch Series 4 fall detection. I opened my car door and received a false fall detection alert.

This is the fifth false alert. Of the 5 alerts 3 have been all different movements. I've reached out again to Apple Customer Support. I've not heard back. I think it's time to replace the watch. I hope Apple thinks so also!

Thanks virgilfromcypress for sharing your experience and the resolution offered.

I am not sure I have the patience to go through what you have done. I would like to hear if the new replacement fixes your issue. If so, I may try to see what I can get done.

My major issue in this was deciding whether to get one for my father. Given the large number of false alarms I was experienceing, I decided to purchase the Guardian Freedom watch instead. This does not have the fall detection but does have an alarm button. The Initial cost is lower, but monthly cost much higher. It is designed for seniors, and is realtively defeatured which will probably be a good thing for my elderly father. We shall see.

I am on my 3rd Apple Watch. The first 2 told me I fell when I was sitting. I then got the watch with gps and I fell on the ice. The watch did nothing. I have been talking with senior advisors and corporate customer relations. So far no one can figure out what is going on. I don’t have much confidence in this fall detection feature, which is the main reason I got the watch.

I stopped at two watches because of fall detection false trigger. Maybe the issue will be resolved when Apple Watch 5 is released. I seriously hope that Apple sees that there is a problem with this feature. And by the way the fall detection was the reason I purchased the watch also

That's strictly your opinion. Clearly many disagree with your opinion. It's a royal pain in the neck when you're preparing a meal, and your hands are wet and oniony or garlicky. You too often have to stop, clean up, dry off and then answer the watch, then restart your work. The watch should be learning that particular repetitive motions aren't falls, but so far it's not learning.

Earlier this month I did. I laid down in the afternoon and rolled over and it went off when I touched the pillow. At night my watch is on a charger. My security system had two false alarms while it was armed night also. Engineers fixed that problem by sending a firmware update and replacing a window sensor that said it was opened when it was closed and locked.

I was able to stop the 911 call from my phone. For my security system it was a little more difficult. The touchscreen that controls everything froze so I had to run downstairs to the keypad at an exterior door and stop it from there. Then I had call for technical support to have them figure out what was wrong with the system. My security system is good for now but I just found out my neighbor who has the exact system has been having problems for over two months. Hopefully the engineers have solved that problem. Sometimes stuff just doesn’t work under real life circumstances and trying to produce it again can be difficult. Something to mention is that the apple tech did tell me active people can have false alarms.

The problem in establishing a false positive rate is that many false positives are entirely reasonable, like the poster that's chopping garlic. I would be upset if such action did NOT trigger a fall detection.