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Apple Watch Series 9 Flickering when Raising to Wake on 10.0.2

synv

synv

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 10, 2023
7
13
Quebec, Canada
My Apple Watch Series 9 on watchOS 10.0.2 is experiencing this bug where my screen flickers for a split second after raising to wake from AOD on random occasion. This is happening alongside the flickering of the complications that other people in these forums are talking about. This only happens with AOD turned on, and does not happen with it turned off.

To replicate:

  1. Series 9/Ultra 2 on 10.0.2
  2. AOD turned on
  3. Raise to wake from AOD and look for a fraction of a second flickering.

This doesn't seem to be talked about nearly as much as the complication flickering.

I am also wondering if these bugs are related in any way, given that they’re both different types of flickering and this never happened on my Series 7.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue? I’ve attached a video here:

 
Yes. It's not flickering but rather a transition of brightness on the watch face. Have you tried other faces?

On my S9 I can see with, for example, the Snoopy watch face where it will fade out from the AOD brightness level, switch to the active face, and then fade back up to the active brightness level. So from a dark background to a black face to a white background.

Your watch seems to be doing that but since your AOD face and active face have the same colors it is more apparent.

Edit to add that this does not happen with the Metropolitan watch face.
 
onenorth said:
Yes. It's not flickering but rather a transition of brightness on the watch face. Have you tried other faces?

On my S9 I can see with, for example, the Snoopy watch face where it will fade out from the AOD brightness level, switch to the active face, and then fade back up to the active brightness level. So from a dark background to a black face to a white background.

Your watch seems to be doing that but since your AOD face and active face have the same colors it is more apparent.
Click to expand...
It happens regardless of the watchface or whatever is on screen. Even the now playing app, and it’s definitely an abnormality because my Series 7 never did this and the expected smooth fade-in from raise to wake works just fine sometimes as well.

That’s one way to put it; it’s more of a harsh transition but if you watch the video attached in slow-mo you can see the digital time complication completely disappear and the screen turn dark as opposed to fading in like normal.
 
I am seeing a fade out, fade in transition with some displays but not others. Sometimes it is so fast and smooth that I can barely detect it, other times it "stumbles" more noticeably. For instance, if I cover my watch with my sleeve so the AOD is dimmer (watch thinks the room is dark), then remove my sleeve and wake the watch, I can see it. But if the AOD is brighter to begin with, then it is smooth.

Maybe a future update will cure this or maybe it is just the new normal.
 
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onenorth said:
I am seeing a fade out, fade in transition with some displays but not others. Sometimes it is so fast and smooth that I can barely detect it, other times it "stumbles" more noticeably. For instance, if I cover my watch with my sleeve so the AOD is dimmer (watch thinks the room is dark), then remove my sleeve and wake the watch, I can see it. But if the AOD is brighter to begin with, then it is smooth.

Maybe a future update will cure this or maybe it is just the new normal.
Click to expand...

That’s exactly what I’m experiencing. It irks me as it’s not very consistent and ruins the smooth experience I love so much about the Apple Watch. The sleeve trick works to replicate it nearly every time.

I’m hoping a fix comes soon.
 
brendin said:
That’s exactly what I’m experiencing. It irks me as it’s not very consistent and ruins the smooth experience I love so much about the Apple Watch. The sleeve trick works to replicate it nearly every time.

I’m hoping a fix comes soon.
Click to expand...
I just submitted feedback to Apple on this issue.
 
I've seen these odd transitions happen sporadically on my series 9 with 10.0.2 too, though I wasn't able to replicate it with your sleeve trick. Also have had it happen to me when I put the watch on the charging puck -- occasionally I get a quick white flash as it transitions from the watch face to the green-on-black charging display. Be interested to hear from S9/Ultra2 owners running the 10.1 betas to see if it has been fixed.
 
Bichon said:
I've seen these odd transitions happen sporadically on my series 9 with 10.0.2 too, though I wasn't able to replicate it with your sleeve trick. Also have had it happen to me when I put the watch on the charging puck -- occasionally I get a quick white flash as it transitions from the watch face to the green-on-black charging display. Be interested to hear from S9/Ultra2 owners running the 10.1 betas to see if it has been fixed.
Click to expand...

Yes, can attest to the white flash as well. I’m thinking (hoping) all of these flashing/dimming/flickering issues are all related and just a software bug. I would be interested to hear from 10.1 b3 users too.
 
On 10.1 beta, can confirm that the issue is still present. Really hoping Apple pays attention to this.

Edit: 10.1 RC Beta appears to have addressed the issue.
 
Last edited:
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richard371 said:
What about the release candidate that came out this am?
Click to expand...
After using 10.1 RC for a bit, happy to say that it appears to have been fixed. I'll need some more time to confirm, but aside from the odd anomaly when raising to wake here & there, the frequency in which it happens has greatly reduced which makes me think Apple addressed the issue. I also have not noticed any issues with widgets.
 
Yeah welcome to the club. My series 5 stutters and flickers like crazy on wrist raise since watchOS 10. Pathetic new ones do the same.

 
brendin said:
After using 10.1 RC for a bit, happy to say that it appears to have been fixed. I'll need some more time to confirm, but aside from the odd anomaly when raising to wake here & there, the frequency in which it happens has greatly reduced which makes me think Apple addressed the issue. I also have not noticed any issues with widgets.
Click to expand...
So far it appears the wonky display issues have been resolved.
 
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