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Unlock apps on Mac with Watch is broken

richard13

richard13

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 1, 2008
985
681
Odessa, FL
So, I love that my Apple Watch can unlock my iMac. I have a very complex password that's annoying to type over and over again. Similarly, I have been enjoying the functionality of unlocking passwords when I go to Safari > Preferences > Passwords I will get a prompt on my watch to double-click to open the password list.

Unfortunately, I find lately that this doesn't always work. And today it is completely broken. I either don't get any indication on my Watch at all, the little sound and rumble but no notification, or everything but when I double-click the passwords are still not unlocked.

I have tried rebooting my iMac, my Watch, quit and restarted Safari, toggled the check box in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" several times now and nothing resolves it. I even went so far as to unpair/re-pair my watch with my phone (which was a major pain). Same broken state.

Unlocking my iMac with the phone still works by the way, just not opening the passwords in Safari.

Anyone else have this problem? Have a solution?

Thanks!
 
Yes, I have this issue too. I’ve also tried rebooting devices at different times to get it working again.

Running the latest non-beta versions of everything on my 2019 Mac Mini, iPhone 11 Pro Max and S5 Watch.

I’m kind of hoping it gets fixed in the next release, but I must admit I haven’t raised a bug.
 
Last edited:
danmart said:
Yes, I have this issue too. I’ve also tried rebooting devices at different times to get it working again.

Running the latest non-beta versions of everything on my 2019 Mac Mini, iPhone 11 Pro Max and S5 Watch.

I’m kind of hoping it gets fixed in the next release, but I must admit I haven’t raised a bug.
Click to expand...

Thank goodness I'm not the only one. I'll file a bug, do you know how?
 
This morning I found something interesting. I wanted to test unlocking Safari > Preferences > Passwords one more time so I rebooted my Watch. Sure enough, it's still not working. So I went to System Preferences > Security & Privacy to toggle the "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" checkbox. But when I landed there my Watch prompted me to double-click to unlock the settings. I did and it worked. I don't recall ever having this feature before in this area.

I also turned this feature on for my MacBook Pro (something I hadn't done before). And my Watch is prompting me to double-click to open Passwords in Safari. So it seems like something is not right on my iMac.

I do have AppleCare for my Watch so I wonder if I could get technical support for this issue.
 
Same issue only affects my apple watch series 5 with iMac Pro works fine with Amy series 4. Anyone find a solution it is getting old. Works well with my MacBook pro. Seems to only be iMac Pro
 
I'm now finding this to be more reliable with my Watch and Mini. Running the latest public releases of all the OSes.
 
smf72 said:
Same issue only affects my apple watch series 5 with iMac Pro works fine with Amy series 4. Anyone find a solution it is getting old. Works well with my MacBook pro. Seems to only be iMac Pro
Click to expand...

I notice this is very glitchy on my Late 2013 iMac. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I typically use Touch ID on my Late 2016 MBP so I don't have "Allow Apple Watch to unlock your Mac" turned on there. I think I'll turn it on for a while to see if it is more consistent there.
 
It worked perfectly well for me 100% of the time, and now it works for me 0% of the time. So confused. Tried turning the system preference toggle box off and back on, restarting, etc.
 
Same for me. Doesn't work.

It recognizes the watch, tries to unlock, but after it tries the password prompt comes and I have to enter the PW :(
 
buddyspencer said:
Same for me. Doesn't work.

It recognizes the watch, tries to unlock, but after it tries the password prompt comes and I have to enter the PW :(
Click to expand...

Well, I restarted my watch and now it works again! So I guess the watch was the problem, not the Mac.
 
I gave up and paid for an App.
I'm trying one now IS there any interest in a thread on this alternative course of solution?
Like this this to Fork a thread.
 
The solution is to uncheck
System Preferences > Security & Privacy > "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" and reboot both mac and watch. Then you can activate it and it will work a again.
 
Significant1 said:
The solution is to uncheck
System Preferences > Security & Privacy > "Use your Apple Watch to unlock apps and your Mac" and reboot both mac and watch. Then you can activate it and it will work a again.
Click to expand...
Thanks
I've got a Mojave cMP 5,1 so thats not my answer but thanks for offering.I've got to do a whole bunch of SIP and HAnd over fixes to get it to work and so I thought other Newbies might want a thread for some help on that.
 
Sean__Wong said:
Thanks
I've got a Mojave cMP 5,1 so thats not my answer but thanks for offering.I've got to do a whole bunch of SIP and HAnd over fixes to get it to work and so I thought other Newbies might want a thread for some help on that.
Click to expand...
Ok. But think the solution for Mojave itself is the same, since this article is from october 2018
www.macobserver.com

Apple Watch Stopped Unlocking Your Mac? Here's the Fix - The Mac Observer

If you set your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac, but it stops working, there's a fix. Read on to learn the trick.
www.macobserver.com www.macobserver.com
So it is more about whatever upgrades and tricks you have running to make it work on cMP.

It is is still a bug though. Mine came after booting into bootcamp. Don't know if that was the trigger.
 
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