Some Apple Watch Users Experiencing 'Sticky' Digital Crown, Apple Suggests Water Rinse to Fix

[pee jay bee]

The real problem is the very bad design of the totally hyped watch! Any engineer will agree that moving parts in any machine do wear out and will eventually break first – it's that simple!

I don't understand why Apple, namely Ive, decided to go with a physical crown, while we have touch technology almost everywhere nowdays. The next design iteration should get rig of any moving interface parts = problem(s) solved.

Watches have being doing pretty well with crowns for a long time now.

Do you really 'not understand' the utility of the digital crown?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I'd just like to know how many people actually have this issue. "Some" is not a number. If it's a small number of people it doesn't deserve a front page story. Not until/if it's determined it's a much bigger issue.

I remember when the original TiBook came out there were online cries how the keyboard would leave an imprint on the screen. Lots of the usual wah, wah, wah, and accusations that Apple made the screen fit too tightly against the keyboard. Of course the real problem was... dirty hands leaving residue on the keyboard which then transferred to the screen when the lid was shut. Some people just didn't practice good hygiene.

So, something tells me it's a similar story here. Sweat or food residue laden hands makes the crown get sticky and attracts dust. Dust build up then hampers crown mobility. That's probably why Apple recommends rinsing w/ water as a fix. Of course if one regularly washes their hands and wipes their watch down w/ a damp towel it probably would avoid the situation all together.

 

[AppleFan360]

I know everyone is excited about having the Apple Watch but some of you really need to stop having sex with your watch.

 

[Jbusick7944]

This issue would be a deal breaker...

As the crown is the main interface for much of the watch functionalities.. if it breaks after a few days how is the watch even going to last a year or longer?

It breaks? Dramatic. A couple crowns get sticky and people are like "The crowns are falling off and killing babies. Tim is taking too long to release the watch. Tim released the watch too soon."
There is literally no pleasing anyone behind a keyboard nowadays.

 

[transpo1]

SS 42mm Experiencing the issue

I did notice some stickiness in my SS model which just arrived yesterday. 42mm SS BSB version. It's not a big deal but was a little annoying when adding complications because the minute adjustments got to be difficult in some cases. When I have a chance, I'll maybe have the Apple Store take a look.

This issue is not that big deal though, believe me.

 

[acblue94]

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


With any new Apple product launch, there are always several issues that pop up in the days following release, and the Apple Watch is no exception. Thus far we've seen sensor issues with customers who have dark wrist tattoos and problems with bands that don't lock. It appears there's another minor problem Apple Watch users are encountering -- malfunctioning digital crowns. The digital crown is located on the side of the watch and is used as the primary input method on the Apple Watch, aside from touch.

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A number of users on both the MacRumors forums and Apple's own support communities are reporting issues with the digital crown of the Apple Watch becoming stuck or difficult to turn. Some users have said the stickiness causes the crown to feel stuck for a moment before loosening when turned, while others say the digital crown feels consistently difficult to turn.On Apple's support communities, some users are speculating that the issue is perhaps caused by sweat getting into the digital crown resulting in crystallized particles that block movement, but there are reports of problems from users who have not used their devices while exercising. Many of the Apple Watches affected are the Sport model, but stainless steel Apple Watch owners have also reported issues.

Several users have taken their Apple Watches in to be assessed by Apple employees and were told that the stickiness of the digital crown is not normal.Some users have discovered that the problem is resolved by a quick rinse in water, a fix that Apple recommends in a support document. According to Apple, if the digital crown gets stuck or won't move, it could have dust or debris underneath, fixable by running the Apple Watch under fresh water from a faucet for 10 to 15 seconds.

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Some affected users have said that a water rinse does not solve the problem, or solves it only temporarily, while others have expressed dissatisfaction at potentially needing to rinse the Apple Watch after every workout. Customers who have gone to Apple Stores for a fix for their malfunctioning digital crowns have received either repairs or replacement devices, with Apple quoting week-long wait times for a fix.

Article Link: Some Apple Watch Users Experiencing 'Sticky' Digital Crown, Apple Suggests Water Rinse to Fix

Want to get this straight. What's the point of this watch. Your iPhone has to be within Bluetooth range. So if I'm it mistaken, the watch is a clone of your phone and the only point is for people that are to lazy to get their phone out they can see a screen on the watch? So if I go running I still have to carry around my massive iPhone 6 plus with me in my shorts as I run?

 

[leroypants]

It just works....

 

[farewelwilliams]

I feel like every time someone uses the word "gate" in reference to an Apple article, they need to have a piano dropped on them.

come at me bro.

 

[Rodster]

Want to get this straight. What's the point of this watch. Your iPhone has to be within Bluetooth range. So if I'm it mistaken, the watch is a clone of your phone and the only point is for people that are to lazy to get their phone out they can see a screen on the watch? So if I go running I still have to carry around my massive iPhone 6 plus with me in my shorts as I run?

It's just Apple running out of ideas so they have to convince you, you need an updated 1970's Casio watch. Gotta love the mindless who are dropping $17K on the gold version.

"Man's first day of wearing Apple Watch to work not going as hoped"

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...atch-to-work-not-going-as-hoped-2015042797777

 

[pee jay bee]

To many Yes Sir Bots.

Learn to spell 'too'

 

[iLLUMI]

Try KY Gel. That always works in sticky situations....

 

[D.T.]

I still don't get why the watch is so thick.

After a week of access to one (including wearing it a few times and seeing it worn pretty consistently), it doesn't seem thick at all - including comparing it to [several] traditional watches we own. At least in terms of the Sport band, it really tapers the entire package.

The band of my old Rolex needed washing in fresh water after snorkeling while wearing it, or inside the clasp would get crusty and gum up. Same thing.

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It's hard to run on a hot muggy day without sweating all over my old GPS watch and Bluetooth heart rate strap. (The combo of which cost more than my iPad, BTW.) The heart monitor chest strap definitely needs a good rinse after every run, or else it will smell really rank the next day, with salt grime on the battery compartment door.

Yeah, pretty much anything I do and wear any kind of personal electronics: GPS, watches, BT earbuds, get a regular rinse (I even do the same for glasses, not electronics, but the same difference: personal "accessories" you wear.

 

[cjbryce]

Expected after how long though, I sure as hell wouldn’t expect it after a few days.

Surely that depends on your individual circumstances - working environment, how much you sweat, type of work you do, your pastimes?

For example, I work in a fairly tidy office and I'm not particularly prone to perspiration, my home is tidy and I don't do much at all in the way of DIY or gardening. Perhaps I might reasonably expect no trouble at all from this device.

The chap over the road works in a flour mill, shifting 50kg bags of flour all day and he happens to perspire heavily. He then goes to his tidy home but relaxes by digging over his flower bed and planting seeds. Chances are his watch is going to be a little more exposed to grime and sweat than mine.

This isn't a "he's less clean" than me thing we probably both take two showers a day - it's simply that his environment is more exposed to contaminants than mine.

 

[technopimp]

Can you start warning/banning people for making the lame "xxxx-gate" joke on every single problem article yet? I think its much worse than the "Safari is snappier" comment which gets marked as spam and you get infractions/warnings for.

And while we're at it, the snide too-cool-for-the-room "as expected".

 

[pdqgp]

So if I go running I still have to carry around my massive iPhone 6 plus with me in my shorts as I run?

I don't know you but thanks for the bad visual

 

[iMacmatician]

-Week-long outages and data loss for MobileMe (something people were paying for, unlike iCloud)
-OS X updates that killed networking on Macs (10.2.8)
-Snow Leopard wiping out user folders
-iPhone 4 power adapter prongs breaking off

These were not "minor in-between flaws."

Also the original iTunes 2 installer erasing some hard drives.

 

[RickInHouston]

I don't see a single one. In fact, the Apple Watch is so far ahead of any other smartwatch to the point of defining a class of its own, it feels like Apple have been sitting and developing this since forever. If anything it should've come earlier to the market.

Wow. Ives should use that line. Its awesome. "To the point of defining a class of its own."

And what set of features does that, exactly.

 

[ryanasimov]

I'm baffled why they chose a physical crown. It seems to me that Apple should have made both sides of the bezel touch-sensitive and the user could define one side to be active.

Maybe the crown gave legitimacy to the image of the watch as jewelry and priced accordingly.

 

[CE3]

you know what? given how insanely hard apple works on things, how much they actually care to give the world something great, and how incomparably far ahead of every other company in their sectors they are.... the above is either a comment of immense stupidity, or of deep ignorance. either way, i actually find it insulting.

you people are all children. there's not a single ****** thread on this forum with the possibility of being an actual discussion of anything with thoughtful ideas and debate; every single one devolves into absolute and utter ignorant ranting and whining -- like a bunch of 7 year olds on temporary brain boost drugs from some cheesy sci-fi movie. worthless.

cya.

Believe it or not there's a lot of actual discussion, thoughtful ideas and intelligent debate on this forum.

Your, "you people are all children" comment is ironic analogy to make, since your post reads like a child having a temper tantrum.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

I've heard about Tattoogate and Crowngate, but I can't seem to find anybody experiencing the same problem I'm having--I can't get my Apple iWatch to pair with my Android phone. This is a huge problem!

 

[Gasu E.]

What about us lefties? We DO exist, you know

Are you on "auto-I-am-persecuted mode"? The crown is on the left side for lefties. It sounds as though the sentence actually was written from lefty's perspective!

We righties exist too, and we demand a re-write from our perspective as well!

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I remember when the original TiBook came out there were online cries how the keyboard would leave an imprint on the screen. Lots of the usual wah, wah, wah, and accusations that Apple made the screen fit too tightly against the keyboard. Of course the real problem was... dirty hands leaving residue on the keyboard which then transferred to the screen when the lid was shut. Some people just didn't practice good hygiene.

So people were sweating more when using the TiBook? Okay...

 

[imageWIS]

Clearly, you're turning it wrong.

 

[yourtoys7]

The biggest problem Apple will have is the Sport watch geared towards active lifestyle people, (activities outdoor) which will create problems getting dirty etc.
Other manufactures been doing for decades and are good at this, Apple just starting and has a lot to learn
Sport watch has to be durable

 

[Razeus]

This is why I don't by Gen. 1 products.