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joshuakrey

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 2, 2010
49
7
I have the space gray 42mm Apple Watch Series 2. It works great, but sometimes it will randomly turn off or restart. I haven't found a common thread for it yet and was wondering if anyone here has experienced that or may know what the issue is?
 
What battery level does it shut off at? Are you up to date on your OS Software? How long has the Watch been shutting off randomly?

Do you have third party applications installed? Also, sometimes third party party applications can be problematic to the Watch and they can cause the Watch to experience issues.
 
What battery level does it shut off at? Are you up to date on your OS Software? How long has the Watch been shutting off randomly?

Do you have third party applications installed? Also, sometimes third party party applications can be problematic to the Watch and they can cause the Watch to experience issues.

It shuts off at random battery levels, but I don't think I have ever seen my watch at under 50 percent. For example, today it is at 93 percent and shut off.

Yes I am up to date on the software. Just installed the new one last week. It has been happening since I got it in October of last year. Maybe 5-10 times. I do not have any third-party applications installed.
 
It shuts off at random battery levels, but I don't think I have ever seen my watch at under 50 percent. For example, today it is at 93 percent and shut off.

Yes I am up to date on the software. Just installed the new one last week. It has been happening since I got it in October of last year. Maybe 5-10 times. I do not have any third-party applications installed.

If you haven't, I would try a hard reset by holding the power button and Digital Crown at the same time, which will power cycle The Watch. Report back and see if this might repair the issue.
 
If you haven't, I would try a hard reset by holding the power button and Digital Crown at the same time, which will power cycle The Watch. Report back and see if this might repair the issue.

It doesn't. My edition has been doing random restarts since I got it back when it was released. Hard reset does nothing to help.
 
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It doesn't. Mine edition as been doing random restarts since got it back when it was released. Hard reset does nothing to help.

Yea, I have tried that too and it has done it since. It doesn't happen that often, but probably at least once a month since I got it last October.
 
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My guess is that there is some third party app/complication that is written wrong that is crashing your watch.

Try removing all third party apps for a month and see if your watch crashes anymore. Then by trial and error you can find which third party app is doing this.

If it still crashes with all third party apps gone, maybe there is a hardware issue with your watch, like bad memory. You would then have to take it back to Apple.
 
It doesn't. Mine edition as been doing random restarts since got it back when it was released. Hard reset does nothing to help.

Yea, I have tried that too and it has done it since. It doesn't happen that often, but probably at least once a month since I got it last October.

@joshuakrey. Since you have no third-party applications installed and you're up-to-date on your software, you might be experiencing some sort of a hardware issue then. If you've already attempted a hard reset/Un-pair, then you're watch appears it very well could be hardware related. Especially being it's intermittent and it didn't just happen once.

@bmac4. The hard reset process HAS worked for other forum members in the past. If I didn't work for you, that doesn't mean it doesn't work for others, as there could be other persistent problems. But clearly there is something more affecting the Watch aside from what you're aware of. If you have third party applications installed, I would remove them for process of elimination. Sometimes third-party applications are not fully optimized for the Apple Watch and can cause crashes/random reboots.
 
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@joshuakrey. Since you have no third-party applications installed and you're up-to-date on your software, you might be experiencing some sort of a hardware issue then. If you've already attempted a hard reset/Un-pair, then you're watch appears it very well could be hardware related. Especially being it's intermittent and it didn't just happen once.

@bmac4. The hard reset process HAS worked for other forum members in the past. If I didn't work for you, that doesn't mean it doesn't work for others, as there could be other persistent problems. But clearly there is something more affecting the Watch aside from what you're aware of. If you have third party applications installed, I would remove them for process of elimination. Sometimes third-party applications are not fully optimized for the Apple Watch and can cause crashes/random reboots.

This has been happening since I got the Watch. It has nothing to do with the 3rd party apps. I am running the same 3rd party apps I run on my 1st gen AW, and it has no issues what so ever.
 
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This has been happening since I got the Watch. It has nothing to do with the 3rd party apps. I am running the same 3rd party apps I run on my 1st gen AW, and it has no issues what so ever.

Which is your opinion. Also, Which doesn't speak to others experiences on here repeatedly. Another forum member reported the SAME issue. They determined it was an ESPN application causing random shut downs and once they removed it, the issue was resolved. But they had narrow it down by eliminating each third party Application one by one to determine the issue. I'm not claiming it's ALL third party applications, but it's one of the suggestions even Apple recommends doing, because of how these third party applications perform on the Watch.

Again....it very could be a hardware issue as well. Or you are experiencing another issue you're not aware of. Obviously there are other contributors.
 
Which is your opinion. Also, Which doesn't speak to others experiences on here repeatedly. Another forum member reported the SAME issue. They determined it was an ESPN application causing random shut downs and once they removed it, the issue was resolved. But they had narrow it down by eliminating each third party Application one by one to determine the issue. I'm not claiming it's ALL third party applications, but it's one of the suggestions even Apple recommends doing, because of how these third party applications perform on the Watch.

Again....it very could be a hardware issue as well. Or you are experiencing another issue you're not aware of. Obviously there are other contributors.

It's my opinion that this has been happening since I received the Watch?

Also never said I was speaking for everyone, but said I tried the hard reset, unparing paring, and setting up as new. That is what I have done, but that is just me.
 
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It's my opinion that this has been happening since I received the Watch?

Also never said I was speaking for everyone, but said I tried the hard reset, unparing paring, and setting up as new. That is what I have done, but that is just me.

Then perhaps you should contact Apple regarding your issue. Regardless, I have a decent amount of troubleshooting with the Watch and the methods I suggested have resolved issues in the past. Which leads me to believe yours is hardware related. But that doesn't mean the suggested techniques "Don't work." When in fact they do, just not in your situation. That was my point.
 
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Then perhaps you should contact Apple regarding your issue. Regardless, I have a decent amount of troubleshooting with the Watch and the methods I suggested have resolved issues in the past. Which leads me to believe yours is hardware related. But that doesn't mean "They don't work." When in fact they do, just not in your situation is your interpretation.

I have no idea what your going after me about. When did I say they don't work? I said it did not work for me in my first post. Well just that a hard reset did not work. I believe the OP stated he tried it as well with no luck. Your troubleshooting may have work in the past, but in my and the OP's case it did not. Not saying they don't work ever, just not here.
 
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I have no idea what your going after me about. When did I say they don't work? I said it did not work for me in my first post. Well just that a hard reset did not work. I believe the OP stated he tried it as well with no luck. Your troubleshooting may have work in the past, but in my and the OP's case it did not. Not saying they don't work ever, just not here.

You Seem confused. I understand the methods I suggested are not working in your situation or the OP's. However, my point was, that doesn't mean that they had not worked for other forum members as suggested. For a second time, it could be hardware related based on what you're telling me. Regardless, I already made a suggestion you should contact Apple if those methods are not working, which are the most common ones suggested. Even Apple support will use the same troubleshooting techniques used by other forum members on here. But in your situation, it's something more.

Good luck with the Watch.
 
I've had periodic restarts of my S2 SS as well. Have an open bug report with Apple about it. I've sent a few crash reports to them in the process.
 
You Seem confused. I understand the methods I suggested are not working in your situation or the OP's. However, my point was, that doesn't mean that they had not worked for other forum members as suggested. For a second time, it could be hardware related based on what you're telling me. Regardless, I already made a suggestion you should contact Apple if those methods are not working, which are the most common ones suggested. Even Apple support will use the same troubleshooting techniques used by other forum members on here. But in your situation, it's something more.

Good luck with the Watch.

I am confused as to why you even quoted me in the first place. Myself and the OP both said we had tried some of the troubleshooting and it did not work. I am confused as to why you told me just because it did not work for me, does not mean it won't work. The OP was the one asking the question, so if those don't work then who cares in this particular thread if they work for others. That is what I am confused about.
 
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Happened to me once yesterday where it just shut off out of nowhere. I have no apps installed on my SBSS Series 2 either. And I'm on the latest watch os installed. Mind you, it was around 75% when this happen. I turned it on without plugging it in and seems to be fine afterwards.
 
I am confused as to why you even quoted me in the first place. Myself and the OP both said we had tried some of the troubleshooting and it did not work. I am confused as to why you told me just because it did not work for me, does not mean it won't work. The OP was the one asking the question, so if those don't work then who cares in this particular thread if they work for others. That is what I am confused about.

Umm..You quoted ME in the "First place", Where you responded in post #5 to begin with. But For the sake of relevant discussion and Pertinency of this thread to the OP, let's drop the frivolous Semantics and move on from these exhausted non-related points. It's not productive.

On topic: My thoughts are it's something software related if If others are stating they're having random restarts, with no third-party applications installed and they are up-to-date on the latest watchOS software. Another forum member mentioned that they reported it to Apple, which hopefully the next version of watchOS could rectify any unknown/unaware bugs in the OS software.

If it was hardware related, I think the numbers would actually be more minimal, but now that more watch owners are speaking ou with the exact same reported issues of random reboots with a healthy battery, then I don't see how this could be hardware related. I think it's one of those issues that there really won't be an answer to, unless it just applies to a specific model Apple Watch.

What I would find interesting, if somebody started a poll reporting the issue, what and when its happening during the reboot and which model Apple Watch do they have. It would at least help narrow it down.

For example, I have both the first generation Apple Watch and Series 2, but I have yet to experience any random restarts or shut off's with a healthy or semi- depleted battery. I have no third-party applications, I am up-to-date on my watchOS, and I am never install any Beta's.
 
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Umm..You quoted ME in the "First place", Where you responded in post #5 to begin with. But For the sake of relevant discussion and Pertinency of this thread to the OP, let's drop the frivolous Semantics and move on from these exhausted non-related points. It's not productive.

On topic: My thoughts are it's something software related if If others are stating they're having random restarts, with no third-party applications installed and they are up-to-date on the latest watchOS software. Another forum member mentioned that they reported it to Apple, which hopefully the next version of watchOS could rectify any unknown/unaware bugs in the OS software.

If it was hardware related, I think the numbers would actually be more minimal, but now that more watch owners are speaking ou with the exact same reported issues of random reboots with a healthy battery, then I don't see how this could be hardware related. I think it's one of those issues that there really won't be an answer to, unless it just applies to a specific model Apple Watch.

What I would find interesting, if somebody started a poll reporting the issue, what and when its happening during the reboot and which model Apple Watch do they have. It would at least help narrow it down.

For example, I have both the first generation Apple Watch and Series 2, but I have yet to experience any random restarts or shut off's with a healthy or semi- depleted battery. I have no third-party applications, I am up-to-date on my watchOS, and I am never install any Beta's.

Sorry I did not realize it was your post that I quoted, but just to clarify that my response was only saying the hard reset did not work for me. Not that is would work for some. Again that was my bad for being unclear.

In terms of hardware/software. I lean more toward software. Like you said, I have seen this issue pop up on here a lot since Watch OS 3 was released. I don't think it effects everyone, but I think it has had a large impact. I am not so concerned about mine because it does not effect my daily use, but I know some people would want it taken care ASAP.
 
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Sorry I did not realize it was your post that I quoted, but just to clarify that my response was only saying the hard reset did not work for me. Not that is would work for some. Again that was my bad for being unclear.

In terms of hardware/software. I lean more toward software. Like you said, I have seen this issue pop up on here a lot since Watch OS 3 was released. I don't think it effects everyone, but I think it has had a large impact. I am not so concerned about mine because it does not effect my daily use, but I know some people would want it taken care ASAP.

No problem. I thought there was some confusion somewhere in there. I agree with you that this issue is plaguing some watch owners and it's unclear as to why. Hopefully this next watchOS update will rectify the issue.
 
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No problem. I thought there was some confusion somewhere in there. I agree with you that this issue is plaguing some watch owners and it's unclear as to why. Hopefully this next watchOS update will rectify the issue.

Agreed! It's not a big enough issue for me, but I am sure others really hate it. With every new OS, there are always bugs. But in this case, Apple has done nothing to fix the issue if this is really a software issue. Who knows, it could be hardware too.
 
Apple has done nothing to fix the issue if this is really a software issue.

I'm not so sure. As stated in a previous post, they have been working with me to try to find out what is going on and how to fix it. They thought they had it with the last dot release but I had to advise they didn't. Issue still open.

If others experiencing the issue could go to bugreport.apple.com and open a case, perhaps they will get enough data to finally figure out the issue causing reboots and develop a resolution.
 
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