I don't mean for this to be an overtly negative or hyperbole-filled post, but since the Series 0 my Apple Watch has been my favourite Apple product and I genuinely feel that watchOS 7 has ruined almost everything I liked about my watch. I'm interested in whether anybody else shares a similar sentiment. Some of these changes are small nit-picks which add up to affect my overall experience/impressions, while others are more fundamental.
For the record these points continue to be true on watchOS 7.3, so updating my watch will not resolve these problems. I also recently wiped my Watch and set it up from scratch (which only caused more problems, as I explain below) so that is not a solution to my issues either.
For context I have a Series 4.
I would love to know if anybody else is also facing these issues or have any suggestions for how I can fix them. Please don't suggest resetting and reinstalling watchOS because that has only made my issues worse. The inaccurate health and fitness tracking is what bothers me the most since that was my primary motivation behind buying an Apple Watch in the first place.
For the record these points continue to be true on watchOS 7.3, so updating my watch will not resolve these problems. I also recently wiped my Watch and set it up from scratch (which only caused more problems, as I explain below) so that is not a solution to my issues either.
For context I have a Series 4.
- The arbitrary removal of force touch continues to frustrate me. I understand it's a hardware change for the Series 6 and this change was most likely applied retroactively to older models for the sake of consistency, but it has been one of the Watch's best features from the beginning and I'm still bothered by the decision to remove it. For older models with the associated force touch hardware I would have preferred for it's software functionality to be disabled by default under watchOS 7 with the option to re-enable it.
- The delay in adjusting media volume feels arbitrary and unnecessary. watchOS 7 introduced a deliberate delay when changing media volume (you have to turn the crown for several 'ticks' before it's input begins to adjust the volume). I frequently use my Watch to control the volume of music and podcasts, particularly when I'm in the shower or have messy hands while I'm cooking etc, and the delay makes it more difficult to make finer adjustments. Like my previous point I wish this was treated as an option (default or not) which could be changed, but this would particularly make more sense as an accessibility option in my view.
- Switching between Apple Pay cards is more difficult now than before. I have 2 cards setup on my Watch - my default debit card and a secondary credit card. Previously I could switch to my secondary card after double-clicking the side button with a simple horizontal swipe, but now I need to be more deliberate and precise otherwise I'll swipe to a wallet pass instead. Something which used to be so simple and frictionless is now more complicated.
- Native sleep tracking is lacklustre and disappointing. This is a personal preference I'm sure not everybody will agree with, and thankfully it's manageable by sticking with the sleep tracking methods I used prior to watchOS 7, but I'm disappointed with watchOS' native sleep tracking functionality. The feature itself is strangely complex and clunky to setup, while the functionality it offers is too basic compared to third party apps. I had expected Apple's own implementation to offer features and insights third party apps could not, especially considering how long they waited to include it in watchOS, but they went in another direction.
- The GPS tracking and health data bug. The above 4 points are small nit-picks, but my remaining issues began with the GPS tracking bug in the early releases of watchOS 7. After a few weeks of lost sleep tracking data and workouts with no GPS data I followed their support article to reset my watch - the reset did fix that bug (which was also fixed about a month or 2 later with an update) but all of my remaining issues began after that reset.
- Inaccurate fitness and calorie tracking. Since the reset my Watch has been recording "exercise" and "burnt calories" at a much higher rate than normal. My previous activity goal was 600 calories a day, which I was usually close at the end of a normal day with about an hour's light exercise. I've since had to increase that goal to 900 calories but I still close my activity ring around mid-afternoon, even on days with barely any exercise at all. I've also noticed my watch counting driving as exercise and my elevation levels are dramatically incorrect. I've tried calibrating my watch as per Apple's support articles but it has not helped.
- Inaccurate stand detection. I purchased a standing desk a few weeks after upgrading to watchOS 7 and initially my number of stand minutes increased as I expected it to. Since the reset my watch records the same level of stand minutes as it did before I purchased the standing desk despite the amount of time I stand while I use my desk increasing during that time.
- Inaccurate wrist detection and/or automatic locking. Sometimes I will look at my Watch and it will ask me for a passcode, despite me not having removed it from my wrist since I last entered my passcode, and in some cases only a few minutes after the previous time.
- Activating 'Do Not Disturb' fails half the time. When activating DND on my Watch sometimes nothing happens. I open Control Centre, tap the DND icon, select 'On' or one of the other options... and nothing happens. I close and re-open control centre and the DND icon is still blank (indicating it's off); I check my iPhone and it's off there too; repeat the same steps on my Watch and suddenly it works. This bug is still present in 7.3.
- A blank watch face when my watch is locked. If I remove my watch from my wrist the watch face remains blank (black) until I re-enter my passcode, so I cannot tell time without wearing my watch. This was not the case with watchOS 6 and earlier versions, and I'm certain it wasn't true before I reset my watch either.
I would love to know if anybody else is also facing these issues or have any suggestions for how I can fix them. Please don't suggest resetting and reinstalling watchOS because that has only made my issues worse. The inaccurate health and fitness tracking is what bothers me the most since that was my primary motivation behind buying an Apple Watch in the first place.
