Answering calls from Watch when paired to AirPods w/ music playing = fail

[baking soda]

Whenever I get a phone call during audio streaming (music, mostly, be it from Spotify or YT), and try to answer from the Watch (Series 4), I either hear no audio or it comes from the damn Watch speaker and there is no way to route it to my AirPods Pro. EDIT: actually it's even worse, music playback resumes as soon as I pick up and I have no way to get in the call. The caller would hear nothing and I have to pause music, hang up, and call back.
Note that this happened with both WatchOS 7 and now 8.0. I even changed my phone in the meantime but the issue persists.

What kind of joke is this? And how is watchOS still so buggy? It's been super awkward answering calls in public, even important calls, and having to call back.

I love the Apple Watch but the software makes my blood boil most of the time. And this call issue is so damn unconvenient. I always have to hang up and call back from my phone in order to hear the caller through my AirPods.

EDIT: Tested with AirPods Pro + both iPhone 12 Pro (iOS 14) and 13 Pro (on iOS 15 for obvious reasons), watchOS 7 and on Series 4. Plus I have tried unpairing the AirPods and re-pair them to the new phone.

 

[lala0314]

I am sorry to hear your blood is at a boiling point. This might not help, but if your music resumes, maybe you might be clicking the stem twice? It used to happen to me when I was new to AirPods pro. I hear your frustration, but try with your family when your mind is calm. I use different devices from you, so I cannot completely enact what you have gone thru but hope things resolve soon. A few OS is underway so wait for them(for watch and also iphones perhaps), after installing them, if the same issue, just talk to Apple and ask for a replacement/repair.

 

[swandy]

I believe I had a similar issue. I found that when wearing my AirPods Pros and listening to music (Apple Music), I had to click on the AirPods to answer and then disconnect the call. I would tend to tap on the Watch screen and found that that did not usually work - or at least the call would not be sent to my AirPods.

 

[Itinj24]

This has been an issue since sometime mid to late in the WatchOS 7 cycle. I believe the problem is that the Watch and AirPods are not simultaneously connecting to the iPhone and it doesn’t matter if you have music playing.

The call should auto route to the AirPods whether you answer form the Watch, Phone or AirPods but this is not the case.

*** There should be an Airplay button when you’re on a call answered from the Watch and tapping that will let you connect to the AirPods but then things get wonky. For example, I have announce notifications on for my Home app but if I get an announced message from the Home app, I don’t get a notification on my Watch. These are important since they give rich camera image notifications but I can only view them on the phone now.

It’s a huge mess and I was hoping WatchOS 8 would’ve fixed it but not yet so. I’m wondering why this isn’t being reported more nor acknowledged by Apple.

 

[baking soda]

This has been an issue since sometime mid to late in the WatchOS 7 cycle. I believe the problem is that the Watch and AirPods are not simultaneously connecting to the iPhone and it doesn’t matter if you have music playing.

The call should auto route to the AirPods whether you answer form the Watch, Phone or AirPods but this is not the case.

*** There should be an Airplay button when you’re on a call answered from the Watch and tapping that will let you connect to the AirPods but then things get wonky. For example, I have announce notifications on for my Home app but if I get an announced message from the Home app, I don’t get a notification on my Watch. These are important since they give rich camera image notifications but I can only view them on the phone now.

It’s a huge mess and I was hoping WatchOS 8 would’ve fixed it but not yet so. I’m wondering why this isn’t being reported more nor acknowledged by Apple.

Yeah I've searched the forum but this isn't talked about at all.
Whenever I try and answer from the Watch, the button on the screen clearly shows my AirPods icon, but still the call gets "lost" and music resumes.
I will be trying to answer from the AirPod itself to see if that fixes the issue...

 

[Itinj24]

Yeah I've searched the forum but this isn't talked about at all.
Whenever I try and answer from the Watch, the button on the screen clearly shows my AirPods icon, but still the call gets "lost" and music resumes.
I will be trying to answer from the AirPod itself to see if that fixes the issue...

Answering from the AirPods should be the best option for now until Apple fixes it. Or you can turn on announce calls and answer or decline with Siri this way you know who’s calling without having to look at your watch. It will be at the expense of interrupting your music though.

I know there are more threads about this out there. I made one 😉

 

[TopoR]

Still broken from 7.6 yes.
You can turn off automatic switching for now to partially fix this (you loose convenient automatic switching cross other devices, but while connected to iPhone there will be the same old behavior).

 

[baking soda]

Still broken from 7.6 yes.
You can turn off automatic switching for now to partially fix this (you loose convenient automatic switching cross other devices, but while connected to iPhone there will be the same old behavior).

Considering I only own iPhone and Watch I guess it won't be an issue for me (until I get the MacBook I wanted to try next month lol).
Thanks for the tip.

 

[protobiont]

Whenever I get a phone call during audio streaming (music, mostly, be it from Spotify or YT), and try to answer from the Watch (Series 4), I either hear no audio or it comes from the damn Watch speaker and there is no way to route it to my AirPods Pro. EDIT: actually it's even worse, music playback resumes as soon as I pick up and I have no way to get in the call. The caller would hear nothing and I have to pause music, hang up, and call back.
Note that this happened with both WatchOS 7 and now 8.0. I even changed my phone in the meantime but the issue persists.

What kind of joke is this? And how is watchOS still so buggy? It's been super awkward answering calls in public, even important calls, and having to call back.

I love the Apple Watch but the software makes my blood boil most of the time. And this call issue is so damn unconvenient. I always have to hang up and call back from my phone in order to hear the caller through my AirPods.

EDIT: Tested with AirPods Pro + both iPhone 12 Pro (iOS 14) and 13 Pro (on iOS 15 for obvious reasons), watchOS 7 and on Series 4. Plus I have tried unpairing the AirPods and re-pair them to the new phone.

Same issue here. You are not alone.