The Apple Watch is your everyday companion which keeps track of your daily routine and activities. Be it fitness tracker, notification handling, receiving or making calls, this smart watch tops in every field. Once you pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone, you can use your smartwatch as your phone, and you don’t need to check your iPhone frequently. But when there is a connection issue between the two devices, you cannot use your watch. The problem is that your Apple Watch not connecting to iPhone after updating to watchOS 4 or iOS 11.
Apple Watch always needs to stay connected in order to give update on feeds, notifications and other everyday purposes. Suddenly, when you find out that your watch lost connection with the phone, thousands of questions pop up in mind and it gets annoying gradually. The watch isn’t recognising your iPhone or its cellular network. If you are using a Apple Watch Series 3, 2 or 1, it has the capability to store data up to 30 days. Getting a backup won’t solve the problem. You have to get to the core of this matter and find a solution. Let’s get over through some steps to fix this issue of Apple Watch not Pairing with iPhone.
How to Fix Apple Watch Not Connecting With iPhone Issue
Check Apple Watch’s Connection Status
The Apple Watch is constantly fetching for your iPhone’s network through several radios inside them. These radios try to establish connection with Bluetooth enabled devices or local Wi-Fi networks. If you want to check whether your Watch is connected or struggling to make a connection, swipe the control centre to analyze.
If your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone
When the Watch’s screen is lit, you can see notifications (if there is any). Swipe up from the bottom to bring up the Control Center. A green phone icon will be visible at the top left corner of the screes which signifies your phone is connected.
Also Check: How to Access Control Center on iPhone X
If your Apple Watch is Connected to an Existing Wi-Fi Network
Your Watch stores all the data and has the capability to remember it for 30 days. It also memorizes the Wi-Fi networks you have connected to it earlier. So, when iPhone gets disconnected with the watch, before surrendering completely the Watch tries to scan for any previously used Wi-Fi networks. It gets connected as soon as it finds one. During this period, you will be able to access the internet services from it like Siri, messages and record workouts on Apple Pay. Only thing which you can’t operate is your health data.
When the Watch’s screen is lit, you can see notifications (if there is any). Swipe up from the bottom to bring up the Control Center. A Wi-Fi icon will be visible at the top left corner of the screen which signifies your phone is connected to an existing Wi-Fi network.
If your Apple Watch can’t Make a Connection
After you get to know what are the signs of recognizing Apple Watch’s connection status, it’s time to figure out the cause of this problem and what can be done to recover from it. Despite having no connection, you can still record workouts and steps, use Siri, messages, and any internet powered app. As soon as it gets connected with your phone (before 30 days), it will upload all the saved data to it.
When your watch is disconnected, you will see a red phone’s icon with a slash over it denoting that there isn’t any network connected to it.
Troubleshoot Your Apple Watch’s Connection Status
First question: Are both devices operational?
Before moving any further, check whether your iPhone and Apple Watch have still some battery life left in them.
Check your Bluetooth connection
After ensuring that the devices are operational, check the iPhone’s Bluetooth connection. Apple Watch uses this primary signal to interact or communicate your phone in network distress. Turning off Bluetooth means creating a barrier in their path of communication. To check the Bluetooth status:
Step #1: Swipe from the bottom of the screen
Step #2: Check the Bluetooth icon. If it is highlighted in blue, that means it is on. Otherwise enable it.
Toggle Airplane Mode
When we face extreme network lag, it is a tendency to toggle the Airplane Mode on and off. In the process of doing so, the problem gets resolved in many cases. To toggle the Airplane Mode:
Step #1: Swipe from the bottom of the screen.
Step #2: Tap the Airplane icon to enable it (will be highlighted in orange).
Step #3: After three seconds, again tap it to disable.
Restart your Watch
Last but not the least, restarting your Apple Watch may or may not be the solution. The process of restarting will be slow, so have patience.
Step #1: Press and hold the side button on your Apple Watch until three sliders appear on screen.
Step #2: Tap ‘POWER OFF’ slider to turn off the watch.
Step #3: After the watch has turned off completely, again press and hold the side button to turn it on.
In case your watch causes trouble in functioning, hold the side button and the digital crown for 10 seconds to force restart. This should solve the problem.
Restart your iPhone
If the Watch fails to establish any connection, restarting your iPhone might help. Your phone can have network issues for being connected this long. To restart:
- Press and hold the Power On/Off button till you see ‘slide to power off’ slider.
- Pull the power slider to the right to turn off your phone.
- Press the power button again to restart your phone.
Also Check: How to Reboot iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X
Reset your iPhone’s network settings
If none of the above steps able to solve your problem, it might be your iPhone’s network settings being the core of every hindrance. You have to reset it too as the last move hoping to solve your problem. Follow the steps:
Step #1: Go to ‘Settings’.
Step #2: Navigate to General→ Reset → Reset Network Settings.
Step #3: Enter your passcode.
Step #4: Tap on ‘Reset Network Settings’.
Wait for a software update
It is the worst of all luck if the above steps haven’t solved your issue. If you can manage without your smartwatch, wait for a software update notification on your phone. A new firmware is likely to resolve this matter.
The last option remaining is to unpair and repair your watch. This will result in the deletion of data from your Apple Watch. Other than that, you can visit the nearest Apple Store. Maybe it is time to repair either of your devices. Ask your questions in comment section below or you can share your feedback with us on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.