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Apple Watch Reboots During Runs While Streaming Music via LTE

So third replacement is also brand new. (Hats off to apple care for giving a new 3 twice after 1.9 years used one). Refused to set it up for me. Instead gave it to my wife so she can have it. She wont use LTE or the workouts, which would work perfect for her.

Well guess what, she is on the new software and she has gotten 3 reboots in the last 2 days.

I went back to my Garmin, and unfortunately now have to bring my phone with me on workouts. Gosh I hate the armbands and the flip belts, I see why I went LTE.
 
Hi,

Same problem here, Series 4 LTE SS, problems happens a few times.
Last time was yesterday, after 25 min of running, using WorkOutDoors and LTE to listen music with Apple Music.

Just installed WatchOS 7.2b2 and i'll tell you on saturday if it's better.

Julien
 
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Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for posting here. I usually update my devices whenever I get the notice that a new update is available. Thanks to all of your reports, I have held off on updating to watch os 7 and will continue to hold off until I see some good news here.
 
Hi all,

Today, 1 hour running with S4 WatchOS 7 beta 3, AirPods Pro and streaming music with LTE. No problem.

I will retry next wednesday and will let you know.
 
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iDjul said:
Hi all,

Today, 1 hour running with S4 WatchOS 7 beta 3, AirPods Pro and streaming music with LTE. No problem.

I will retry next wednesday and will let you know.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update. I’m hoping it’s been fixed and I can upgrade my watch finally. Appreciate the reports.
 
So....

Today, running with my Apple Watch, watchOS 7.2 RC
Crashed after 20 min and 4km, same location than before.

Problem not solved :(
 
Bob190 said:
Been using my Garmin Fenix 6s Pro for runs since my original post. Today I decided to try my AW 4 LTE on a longer run given that WatchOS 7.2 came out recently.

Much to my surprise I completed a 1.5 hour run while streaming Pandora over LTE without a reboot. Also, only used about 40% of the battery.

Encouraging .. hopefully it wasn’t just a fluke.
Click to expand...
I’ve had this particular error for almost all the time I’ve had my Series 4 LTE.
I’ve been on a lot of runs where it doesn’t reboot BUT weird pattern has been hunting one of my runs around a lake where a part of the route is through some forest. I don’t listen to music on that run, because we are two runners talking on that route. The watch rebooted at the exact same hill in the forest for four straight weeks! I have since tried to disable the LTE before running that route and - No reboots!

My conclusion must be, that it is some sort of low signal LTE bug, that messes up the watch and reboots into 10% mode.

Would throw the watch in the ocean if it happened on Marathon race day o_O
 
Hi xDKP,

Very interesting report!
Mine rebooted last sunday during a pause when i've launched a call to my son... So yes, i also bet on a LTE bug.
 
Soooooooo,

Unpair the watch and set up as NEW.

No problem yesterday during my 10k workout.
 
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I'm having the same problem as described here - watch shuts down after 30 - 40 mins when running whilst streaming music over LTE. S4 stainless steel.

I noticed it was always a cold day when this happens. I had put it down to the battery not being able to supply enough voltage to the CPU because of

a) the low temperature
b) it's doing a lot of work - HRM, GPS, LTE, bluetooth etc
c) the watch is 2 years old now so battery will be a bit shot - capacity is down to 87%

Becauase of c) I was going to look at getting an out-of-warranty battery replacement to fix this. But came across this thread and now am not so sure.

@iDjul - interested to hear if your unpair and set up as new is still working out for you?
 
Just want to chime in with GAT22's thoughts.

I experienced this on a number of runs with my former Series 5 aluminium with cellular LTE, whilst streaming a podcast via Overcast. This never happened when playing a pre-downloaded podcast.

As with GAT22's experience, it was always a colder day when this occurred so I concluded the battery chemistry wasn't able to provide enough juice to power the watch display, GPS tracking, streaming over LTE, and Bluetooth connectivity to AirPods and a chest heart rate monitor.

The Series 5 would randomly shutdown and show the red recharge indicator. After a couple of minutes, I was able to power it back up and the battery charge level would also jump back up to around what I expected it to be ~60-70% (run started with 100%).

Speaking with Apple, they were largely dismissive and ran me through the usual unpair and re-pair exercise. They also wanted me to repeat the scenario multiple times - a 10 mile run each time! I declined and tried to ensure my podcasts were always pre-loaded to avoid LTE use whilst running.

I have since moved over to a Series 6 stainless steel. I've run several times whilst streaming over LTE in cold temperatures (less than 5°C) and have yet to experience any shutdowns. I suspect Apple's use of a more efficient processor and a more powerful battery have had a positive effect.
 
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who continues to post here. I’m still on Watch OS 6 & won’t upgrade until this bug gets resolved as wearing my watch while running & cycling is my main use of it.

I’m curious if any of the original posters who had issues have seen them resolved with some of the newer software updates.
 
I began experiencing this issue on my S4 last summer after I suddenly had more time to get back into running.

I experienced the issue beginning around version 6.2, however it’s only after 6.2 that I engaged in the use case of workout + LTE streaming music to Bluetooth headphones. Much as others have described, the issue tended to happen around 40 minutes into the activity that I would begin with 90% plus remaining. The watch would power down and give a battery depleted warning. I could reboot the watch and it would display 10% battery remaining. The workout would continue to be tracked, and if I didn’t start streaming music again I could complete the run (maybe another 20 minutes) without issue. If I attempted to stream music again the watch would quickly die again.

It seemed resetting and setting up the watch as new with no 3rd party apps installed resolved the issue for a while. It did begin again later, and I’ve had the issue continue through WatchOS 7.x releases.

AppleCare support has been a disappointment, and I’ll note that my watch is covered by AppleCare+. No one ever acknowledged this was a known problem, but from some of the questioning I got the feeling they were working off notes that it relates to charging and the battery meter. I was asked if I charged the watch multiple times a day and how long I left it on the charger.

I actually had begun charging the watch in the morning while getting ready for work. I noticed that the watch seemed to go to 100% very quickly and then stay in the 90-100% range much longer than usual on days I didn’t run.

I’m back to being a sloth, so I won’t be making any more observations for a while. I do hope this issue gets resolved, because the main point of the Watch, for many of us, is to track workouts while listening to music and having the LTE feature there in case of emergency.
 
Crazy, it has been a bit over 3 months since this issue popped up with watchOS7 jacked all this up, and they still don't have a solution.

I do miss my Apple Watch and wish it worked for what I needed it to do. I have gone back to Garmin and bringing my phone with me, maybe in 3 years I will come back to the Apple Watch again.
 
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Hi all

Apple have decided to change the watch. So watch changed, then first workout yesterday --> no problem
 
I've been having the same issue. Running with a S4 LTE. Usually don't stream while running. I listen to downloaded podcasts or downloaded music. Wasn't sure what was happening, but it was always the same time during a run. Started with 90% to 100% battery, only to have the watch reboot about 30 minutes in. First time it happened was in December. Now it happens randomly. I'd say about half of my runs from then until this past Saturday when it happened again.

After reading this thread, I believe like others, this is a LTE issue. I associated the reboot, from almost full battery to 10% and losing the run data, to a battery drain of some sort. Thought my watch was just getting old. After thinking about my runs and where it happens in the same location every time, and knowing how this happens to other people in this thread, it's in a "cell signal deadzone" in front of an elementary school on my run path. When my kids went to school there, you would loose cell service. When driving by the school, cell signal drops and cuts off calls. This is where the watch reboots happen, so like others, I believe it's a software bug with low cell signal that drains the battery and/or forces the reboot. While it pisses me off when it happens, it makes me hopeful that it's just a software bug and not a hardware issue. Let's hope it gets fixed soon.
 
After not having this happen in over three weeks, my watch rebooted again during a run. Very disappointing. Almost full battery to start the run, then reboot to 10%. Wish Apple would fix this.
 
goat5570 said:
After not having this happen in over three weeks, my watch rebooted again during a run. Very disappointing. Almost full battery to start the run, then reboot to 10%. Wish Apple would fix this.
Click to expand...
I have exactly the same issue with my S4 Cellular (7.3.2) for the past year, are we saying it happens when the cellular signal is low/zero? Do Peeps with S6 models have same problem? my S4 has 83% battery health, could be an issue? today i'm removing all 3rd party apps from AW and giving it a try, will update... oh and I forgot to say, I have turned off cellular for all my runs/rides for the past 6 months and no reboots, very annoying!

***UPDATE*** Removed all 3rd party apps, Started road run with 79% battery, 10k 48mins, AirPods Pro connected listening to downloaded (not streaming) music, various cellular signal quality during run, phone call after run for 15mins, ended up with 10% battery and no reboots, will see if this continues over next month guys.
 
Last edited:
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logib said:
Do Peeps with S6 models have same problem?
Click to expand...
I used to have this problem with the Series 5, but I've never experienced this with my current Series 6 cellular.

I run most days - 3 miles to 10 miles - and always with a podcast (Overcast; both downloaded and streamed episodes) or music playing to my AirPods Pro.

I wonder if it's a combination of the lower powered S4/S5 processor spiking on battery power draw, whereas the more powerful and power efficient S6 processors are better suited to the usage scenario?
 
mrandyyu said:
I used to have this problem with the Series 5, but I've never experienced this with my current Series 6 cellular.

I run most days - 3 miles to 10 miles - and always with a podcast (Overcast; both downloaded and streamed episodes) or music playing to my AirPods Pro.

I wonder if it's a combination of the lower powered S4/S5 processor spiking on battery power draw, whereas the more powerful and power efficient S6 processors are better suited to the usage scenario?
Click to expand...
What kind of battery % do you normally have after a long run, streaming music etc at the end of the day with the AW6 Cellular mate?
 
logib said:
What kind of battery % do you normally have after a long run, streaming music etc at the end of the day with the AW6 Cellular mate?
Click to expand...
After a 10 mile run, streaming a podcast to my AirPods Pro, I'm normally seeing 75-80% battery life from 100% at the start of my run.

I have the always on display active and I have a Bluetooth chest heart rate monitor connected.

Couldn't tell you what my end of day battery life is as I top my Series 6 off whilst I'm having a shower or working at my desk.
 
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Hello everybody on this thread. I have nothing to contribute other than another story of a rebooting Apple Watch Series 3. I have a 3 1/2 year old S3 and just last month put together that my "sporadic" reboot problem during workouts is not related to the age of the battery but to LTE usage: During a non-workout walk in our neighborhood with spotty LTE reception, the Watch rebooted twice in a row.

I have had this problem for probably around two years during workouts. When I reached out to Apple Support over the last 6 months on this, the guidance has been to
  1. Un-pair and re-pair (Restore from backup),
  2. Un-pair and setup as new Watch, or
  3. Reset (Digital crown plus side button).
Surprisingly, the problem did disappear for weeks after following the guidance de jour; but that's probably due a lack of persistence to reproduce the problem as other have demonstrated on this thread. Also, the workaround that other have mentioned here and have unknowingly applied, maybe have had something to do with it: Mostly listen to content downloaded onto the Watch while working out.

I have not paid enough attention to narrow the occurrence to a specific watchOS release or app. The problem has occurred in Outcast, Apple Podcast and Apple Music for me.
 
Had the reboot to 10% battery happen again last night. Running data lost. Series 4, listening to downloaded to watch podcast with airpod pros. Started the run with 93% battery, and about half an hour in it rebooted.

Happened in the same stretch it always happens in; a spot in front of a school that has almost no cell/LTE signal. This is what makes me think its some kind of bug caused by lack of LTE to the watch that causes a power drain. Once the watch sees the relatively large drain, it reboots as it sees the drain as a major issue that a reboot can solve. I worry its a series 4 watch issue after someone posted above about getting a series 6 and not having this problem. Must have something to do with the watch freaking out over lack of signal, and the older watch just can't handle it. Whatever it is, it's disappointing and frustrating.
 
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