Why does “Verifying….” take soooooo long? Esp for just a dot release?

[MareLuce]

Update: After 3 hours, I saw, “Installation of this update failed”. (Or maybe it was “This update could not be installed.”

I hard reset my phone. I power cycled the watch.
Watch app —> General —> Software update
The install auto-started without me prompting it to.
Eventually, the install completed

. . . Original Post

It’s been at least 30 min so far. EDIT: 2 hours
What exactly is happening in the “Verifying…” part of the 26.2 install?

It sounds like a security check. To be clear, I’m appreciative of the massive amount of work Apple puts into not letting installs be hacked. But I really really wish this part didn’t take so long

FAST reports my WiFi speed at 250Mbps.

 

[kitKAC]

I think verifiying is making sure the update downloaded intact and wasn't corrupted in anyway, but that taking 2 hours sounds like the process got stuck along the way.

 

[!!!]

On macOS you can see some of what's actually happening during updates. From what I last saw it appears to read the entire update multiple times. This is entirely dependent on SSD read speeds and CPU speed, it doesn't have anything to do with internet speeds after download.

The verifying process is indeed checking the downloaded update files to ensure they have not been corrupted/tampered with and that its signature is intact.

Apple Watches have fairly weak CPUs and they presumably throttle quite quickly, it wouldn't surprise me if the update doesn't run at "full speed" on any i-Device (I'm lumping the watch in there too). Personally I just let the watch update overnight on its charger.

 

[Howard2k]

It’s been at least 30 min so far. EDIT: 2 hours
What exactly is happening in the “Verifying…” part of the 26.2 install?

It sounds like a security check. To be clear, I’m appreciative of the massive amount of work Apple puts into not letting installs be hacked. But I really really wish this part didn’t take so long

FAST reports my WiFi speed at 250Mbps.

Your watch is almost certainly not using your Wifi, it's using your bluetooth.

When I do a software update I usually turn off BT on the Watch, then download and install the update, then turn BT back on when done. Turning off BT will force it to use Wifi.

 

[TheIntruder]

Was your installation successful?

The verification stage during my update seemed be overly lengthy until I determined that the Watch was waiting for input, despite both the phone and watch screens giving no indication that it was expecting the passcode to be entered.

Verification was actually complete, but it needed authorization to proceed with the final step, installation.

But the brief indication on the phone app that it wanted the passcode vanished quickly, leaving "Verifying" as the status.

The watch, which was on the charger as recommended, was displaying the clock as usual, and not the passcode number pad until the screen was tapped a second time.

I'd hate to think such a poor UX, like a bad onboarding sequence, was by design, so it must be some kind of bug that causes the watch display to revert to the clock too quickly if it is on the charger.

Unlike local Mac device backups, and other OS updates, which demand the passcode authorization to start the entire process, the watch update asks for it in the middle of the process. Whether by necessity, or design, that is an example of less than stellar UX, as well as inconsistent with how other Apple updates work.

In general, turning off Bluetooth does quickly speed up the process, and is a good tip, but this pitfall is not related to transfer speeds, or the processing speed on the watch.

To me, Apple Watch administration has never been a particularly good, nor transparent process, from my first experience with the OG S0, all the way to a U2 with 26.

 

[MareLuce]

Was your installation successful?

The verification stage during my update seemed be overly lengthy until I determined that the Watch was waiting for input, despite both the phone and watch screens giving no indication that it was expecting the passcode to be entered.

Verification was actually complete, but it needed authorization to proceed with the final step, installation.

But the brief indication on the phone app that it wanted the passcode vanished quickly, leaving "Verifying" as the status.

The watch, which was on the charger as recommended, was displaying the clock as usual, and not the passcode number pad until the screen was tapped a second time.

I'd hate to think such a poor UX, like a bad onboarding sequence, was by design, so it must be some kind of bug that causes the watch display to revert to the clock too quickly if it is on the charger.

Unlike local Mac device backups, and other OS updates, which demand the passcode authorization to start the entire process, the watch update asks for it in the middle of the process. Whether by necessity, or design, that is an example of less than stellar UX, as well as inconsistent with how other Apple updates work.

In general, turning off Bluetooth does quickly speed up the process, and is a good tip, but this pitfall is not related to transfer speeds, or the processing speed on the watch.

To me, Apple Watch administration has never been a particularly good, nor transparent process, from my first experience with the OG S0, all the way to a U2 with 26.

Yes, thanks. I updated the base note with the data.

Doesn’t turning off bluetooth sever the connection between watch and phone?

 

[Howard2k]

Yes, thanks. I updated the base note with the data.

Doesn’t turning off bluetooth sever the connection between watch and phone?

Yes, but if you're doing an OS install the watch can install the OS from the cloud, using your home Internet and wifi, as opposed to using a BT connection (much slower) to the phone.


Hence, turn it off, update, turn it on.

 

[MareLuce]

Yes, but if you're doing an OS install the watch can install the OS from the cloud, using your home Internet and wifi, as opposed to using a BT connection (much slower) to the phone.


Hence, turn it off, update, turn it on.

Oh! So start the install from the watch menu?

 

[jz0309]

Oh! So start the install from the watch menu?

yes. start on the watch, then turn BT off (I do that on the phone vs the watch), then once the update is done, just don't forget to turn BT back on