The Apple Watch has become for many one of the essential devices in our day to day. Apple's smart watch already has 8 generations and since 2015 it has been marketed all over the world. However, as a good device that it is It is not without problems of all kinds. And it is likely that if you have an Apple Watch you have had a problem with the connection between the watch and the iPhone causing a lack of notifications, loss of information from the mobile to the watch and much more. We tell you three possible solutions to recover the connection between the Apple Watch and the iPhone.
The special connection between iPhone and Apple Watch
The Apple Watch has two versions: with the possibility of connecting to mobile networks and without it. This allows the Apple Watch to have an integrated eSIM, being able to browse the Internet or consume mobile data without having to connect to the iPhone. However, the other standard model without Internet connection depends exclusively on the iPhone for the vast majority of special functions.
This connection is made via Bluetooth and allows the Apple Watch to receive notifications, calls, messages and much more from the iPhone. Thanks to this connection, the user can be aware of everything that happens on the iPhone without picking up the phone itself. Besides, Not only are notifications that arrive but the Apple Watch "duplicates" the iPhone in terms of the concentration modes that the iPhone has on, so it is still an extension of our iPhone, but on the wrist.
Check that Apple Watch is connected to iPhone
That is why it is essential to ensure that both the watch and the phone are in continuous connection. To find out if this is happening we have to open the Control Center On Apple Watch, swipe up. An icon that simulates an iPhone will appear at the top of the control center. if you are green is that the connection is occurring successfully. If it appears from red color or a red cross is that there is no direct connection to the iPhone.
if by any chance the red icon does not leave the control center means that Apple Watch is not connected to iPhone. But don't worry because we show you three possible solutions that could return the lost connection:
Solution 1: Make sure you have an updated iPhone
It will seem like a joke but it is not. Sometimes the most complex problems disappear with the simplest solutions. If you have problems with the Apple Watch we recommend that you update your iPhone to the newest version. To do this, you just have to go to Settings> Software updates and in case a new update appears, do not hesitate to do it.
It will take no time and you will make sure that this is not the problem that the Apple Watch is not connecting to your iPhone. Remember that to install the iOS update it is necessary to have more than 50% battery charge although we recommend that you plug the device into the current until the update is finished.
Solution 2: Reconnect the watch to the iPhone
If you still do not have that correct connection, we have more possible solutions. Although it seems obvious, sometimes it is not. For reconnect connection enough with activate Airplane mode on both iPhone and Apple Watch. Both options are found in the control center. On Apple Watch, swipe up and on iPhone, swipe from the top right of the status bar.
Once this step is done, we will make sure that both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are enabled on the iPhone and that the distance between the two devices is close enough for the connection to be made. Once done, if the connection still does not occur, we will have to proceed to the restart of the two devices:
- To restart an iPhone after the iPhone X: press the lock button for a few seconds, slide to turn off and then proceed to turn it on.
- To restart an iPhone X or later: Press the lock button and the volume up button at the same time and slide to turn off. Next, we turn on the device.
- To restart Apple Watch: Press the side button (the long one) for a few seconds until the slide to power off appears. We slide and, later, we press the side button again to turn it on.
If, once the restarts have been carried out and verified that we have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, we do not recover the connection with the Apple Watch, we will have to move on to the next potential solution.
Solution 3: Unpair your Apple Watch and pair it again
unwinding the clock
As we have said, for the Apple Watch to work it is necessary that is paired with an iPhone which will provide you with all the information. However, sometimes we will have to unlink it for some reasons. One of them is that the connection between the iPhone and the watch is lost and we are not recovering it.
To try to fix it, we are going to unpair the watch from the iPhone to reset the connection and try to return to the starting point. To proceed to the outcome we have to follow these steps:
- Access the Clock app on your iPhone
- In the upper left, click on "All watches"
- Select the "i" next to the name of the watch you want to unpair
- Click at the bottom where it says "Unpair Apple Watch"
- If you have an Apple Watch GPS + Cellular you can decide whether to keep or remove the mobile data plan. If you want to pair your Apple Watch again, How is the case, you will have to stick to the plan.
And ready. In a few seconds we will have the Apple Watch and the iPhone separately, without any intermediate connection. Now we will proceed to link the clock again, as if it were a new clock. Just like we did when we first bought it.
Pairing the watch to the iPhone again
Right now we have the Apple Watch "as new". To proceed to the new link we will have to follow the following steps:
- We will bring the Apple Watch to the iPhone until a message appears on the iPhone saying “Use the iPhone to set up this Apple Watch”. Press Continue. In case this message does not appear, enter the Clock app, in the upper left part click on "All clocks" and click on "Add clock" following the steps.
- The pairing process will ask you to place the iPhone in front of the animation that is occurring on the Apple Watch to ensure that it is the watch that it is. We will focus on the iPhone and in a few seconds iOS will inform us that the Apple Watch is linked.
- In the event that this step of the animation does not work for you or the iPhone is not able to read it, we will click on "Link manually" and we will have to follow the instructions.
WatchOS will then tell you if you want to install the Apple Watch again or download a backup using the data extracted from the iPhone. My recommendation is that you use your data because otherwise you will lose a lot of information depending on the time you have had the watch on your wrist. And starting the watch like new means starting from scratch.
Nothing works… what do I do?
If you have not been able to pair the Apple Watch with the iPhone again, it is likely that something is happening on one device or the other. The next step would be to factory restore both devices. However, it is a bit of a cumbersome task, especially considering backup copies and the fact that the iPhone is a more delicate device than the Apple Watch.
Our recommendation, therefore, is to contact Apple technical support. At the beginning of your call, if it is by call, they will ask you to do all the previous steps that we have already indicated but you have to Make sure that you tell technical support that after doing all that, it still does not connect to the iPhone. They will guide you to send your Apple Watch to a collection point to try to solve the problem, if it is under warranty, or they will indicate possible solutions in case the device is not under warranty.
Once again our recommendation is that If you have the opportunity to go to a physical Apple Store that you go. It is preferable that personnel can have contact with the devices in order to understand the problem. In addition, they have very powerful tools to debug the errors that are taking place in the devices in order to find a quick and effective solution so that the connection between the two devices returns without having to do as many things as those mentioned above. However, the physical Apple Stores in Spain are quite limited and it is understandable that telephone technical support is the first option for many users.