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Using phone to unlock watch much slower since updates

iPhone 11 Pro IOS 14.7.1 - Unlock with with Watch ON
WatchOS 7.5 - unlocking phone using Face ID, no swipe, unlocks watch quickly.
WatchOS 7.6.1 - unlocking phone using Face ID, must swipe up before watch will unlock - slow and somewhat unreliable.

Turn off unlocking phone with watch allows WatchOS 7.6.1 to revert to the behavior of WatchOS 7.5.

Conclusion - it's either a bug or a new security feature in WatchOS 7.6/7.6.1 to require the swipe up after unlocking the phone to unlock the watch when Unlock with Watch (mask setting) is set to ON.
 
namenotfound said:
Conclusion - it's either a bug or a new security feature in WatchOS 7.6/7.6.1 to require the swipe up after unlocking the phone to unlock the watch when Unlock with Watch (mask setting) is set to ON.
Click to expand...
When I disabled “Unlock with watch” after a while turned itself ON again
It happened to someone else too.
Does your stay off?

Update: I restarted my iPhone immediately after setting it on OFF
and now it's a pleasure to unlock the watch
If I need to use the mask I will put it back ON
 
Last edited:
willdude said:
Since upgrading to iOS 14.7 and WatchOS 7.6, the functionality of unlocking your watch with your phone has changed a bit and gotten slower. Before, when I put on my watch, all I had to do was glance at my phone to do a FaceID unlock, and the watch would unlock pretty much instantly. Since the update, a FaceID unlock alone will no longer do it - now, you have to actually swipe up to go to the home screen, and a little notification will pop up at the top of the screen saying "Watch unlocking". And even then, you have to wait 5 seconds til it finally says "Watch unlocked", and if you lock the phone screen before those 5 seconds are up, the watch will stay locked.

Anyone else seeing this? Kind of annoying.
Click to expand...
A solution:
I was fed up with the unlocking length , I deactivated but as many other times when you switch off something, after sometime came back and I switched it off again. I restarted the iPhone and this time worked like a charm
Then I needed to use the mask and turned on again and restarted.
Well, now the unlocking is shorter than before : 1 sec ~
 
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katbel said:
A solution:
I was fed up with the unlocking length , I deactivated but as many other times when you switch off something, after sometime came back and I switched it off again. I restarted the iPhone and this time worked like a charm
Then I needed to use the mask and turned on again and restarted.
Well, now the unlocking is shorter than before : 1 sec ~
Click to expand...
Interesting, I’ll go and give that a try… did you reboot the watch too or just the phone?
 
katbel said:
Just the phone
Click to expand...
Thanks, I just went through this process and there is no change, still takes about 3 or 4 seconds to unlock the watch… maybe need a day or two in between…
But definitely without the mask unlock AW unlocks immediately
 
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jz0309 said:
Thanks, I just went through this process and there is no change, still takes about 3 or 4 seconds to unlock the watch… maybe need a day or two in between…
But definitely without the mask unlock AW unlocks immediately
Click to expand...
Update:
In the morning when I put the watch on my wrist I wait till there is no password prompt on the watch,
then I use the iPhone to unlock it and it goes "fast" and smoothly
If, for any reason, I need to take the watch off my wrist and then unlock it again, then even waiting for the password prompt to go away, the unlocking is a nightmare, 3, 4 times the iPhone unlocks but it's not unlocking the watch 😠
DEFINITELY we need and Apple fix
 
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Unlocking Apple Watch with iPhone works perfectly for me now and I’m on the latest OS on both. The unlock while wearing a mask setting is off though.
 
Oh yeah, good catch, all - disabling “unlock phone with watch” seems to revert to the prior behavior. I don’t need to wear a mask often enough to leave that setting on, so I’ll just keep it off.
 
willdude said:
Oh yeah, good catch, all - disabling “unlock phone with watch” seems to revert to the prior behavior. I don’t need to wear a mask often enough to leave that setting on, so I’ll just keep it off.
Click to expand...
I think is the best solution so far, plus iPhone is asking randomly for the password when I wear a mask
Apple has really missed this one😡
 
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Based upon some trial and error it seems like my watch doesn’t unlock if the screen is not awake when I first unlock my phone. Anyone else seeing this? Super annoying.
 
sixtydashone said:
This is so frustrating. Took me three attempts on two separate occasions this morning!
Click to expand...
I found another way: in the morning
I put the watch on my wrist, forget the unlocking for few seconds , go get a glass of water..or open the window
Go back to the iPhone, turn “ do not disturb” from on to off on the Lock Screen , then slowly unlock the iPhone and right away there is the watch unlocking . Remember to don’t look at the watch meanwhile 👀, not because it will transform you into stone …but because it will prompt to password unlock on the watch and you don’t want that.
I guess the watch needs those eternal seconds, too many , to connect to the iPhone.
But if you don’t rush it will do it and you’ll be less frustrated, I even stopped to check if apple had an update.
 
Turning off the mask unlock on the iphone helps a bit but unlocking the watch with the iphone still is inconsistent. Definite software problem somewhere
 
Go to watch app on iPhone & open accessibility. Go to side button click speed & reduce to slowest. This will solve the problem. I worked with Apple engineers for a month before they were able to come up with the solution.
 
micky021 said:
Go to watch app on iPhone & open accessibility. Go to side button click speed & reduce to slowest. This will solve the problem. I worked with Apple engineers for a month before they were able to come up with the solution.
Click to expand...
Not for me.
 
micky021 said:
Go to watch app on iPhone & open accessibility. Go to side button click speed & reduce to slowest. This will solve the problem. I worked with Apple engineers for a month before they were able to come up with the solution.
Click to expand...
This setting is related to the speed of double-clicking the side button, such as when doing Apple Pay.
It is not clear what this has to do with the subject of this thread, as the side button is not involved at all.
Is this getting conflated with something else, or can you clarify why? Thanks
 
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micky021 said:
Go to watch app on iPhone & open accessibility. Go to side button click speed & reduce to slowest. This will solve the problem. I worked with Apple engineers for a month before they were able to come up with the solution.
Click to expand...
This didn’t work for me either.

Today I loaded IOS 15 beta 7 on my iPhone to see if the problem persisted. Both unlock modes discussed above seem to work fast and properly now. So the problem is likely with IOS 14 on the iPhone.
 
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willdude said:
Since upgrading to iOS 14.7 and WatchOS 7.6, the functionality of unlocking your watch with your phone has changed a bit and gotten slower. Before, when I put on my watch, all I had to do was glance at my phone to do a FaceID unlock, and the watch would unlock pretty much instantly. Since the update, a FaceID unlock alone will no longer do it - now, you have to actually swipe up to go to the home screen, and a little notification will pop up at the top of the screen saying "Watch unlocking". And even then, you have to wait 5 seconds til it finally says "Watch unlocked", and if you lock the phone screen before those 5 seconds are up, the watch will stay locked.

Anyone else seeing this? Kind of annoying.
Click to expand...
Often, I have to press the button on the side to darken my phone, once or twice before it will unlock my watch.
 
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