I added an Apple Watch app target for an iOS app. If I install it directly through Xcode it runs, however it seems to be able to communicate with iphone through Watch Connectivity framework and once I close the app it seems to uninstall itself from the watch. When I installed the iphone app frist, the app does not show up on the available apps on the iphone Watch application, what could be the issue ? The iphone app was created using react native through expo. Testing Devices Iphone 13 pro max IOS 26.0.1 --- Apple Watch Series 4 WatchOS 10.6

Description: I’m encountering an issue where the Apple Watch’s watchOS version is lower than the deployment target specified in my Xcode project. For example, my Watch device is running watchOS 10.6, but my app’s deployment target is set to watchOS 9.6 or 10.6, and Xcode shows an error stating: Error: “watchOS version doesn’t match the app’s deployment target.” Could someone clarify how to properly handle this version mismatch? Environment: Xcode 26 iPhone: iOS 18 Apple Watch: watchOS 10.6 Any guidance or best practices would be appreciated.

Apple Watch app closes when changing photo permissions in the iPhone app. App A is installed simultaneously on both the paired iPhone and Apple Watch. I'm running App A on both my iPhone and Apple Watch. When I change the photo permissions on App A installed on my iPhone, App A running on my Apple Watch automatically closes. At first, I assumed App A on my iPhone was abnormally closing, causing App A on my Apple Watch to also close. However, I've determined that changing the photo permissions is the cause of the app closing. I don't think this behavior existed before WatchOS/iOS 26. Is this behavior a natural addition to WatchOS/iOS 26? If I go to the home screen while running app A on my iPhone and change its photo permissions in the Settings app, app A running on my Apple Watch automatically closes.

I’ve developed an Apple Watch extension for an existing iOS app. When I run the app on the watch via Xcode using the simulator, everything works fine. However, when I try to install it on my iPhone, the Watch app doesn’t show it in the "Available Apps" list, so I can't install it on the watch. The Apple Watch is connected to my iPhone, and I can see other apps available for installation without any issues. I also created a brand new project with watchOS support to troubleshoot, but the same problem occurred. Any ideas on how to resolve this?

The WatchOS app and view lifecycles for WatchKit and SwiftUI are documented in https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchkit/working-with-the-watchos-app-life-cycle and https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/migrating-to-the-swiftui-life-cycle. WatchOS 26 appears to change the app & view lifecycle from the behavior in WatchOS 11, and no longer matches the documented lifecycles. On WatchOS 11, with a @WKApplicationDelegateAdaptor set, the following sequence of events would occur on app launch: WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching in WKApplicationState .inactive. WKApplicationDelegate applicationWillEnterForeground in WKApplicationState .inactive. View .onAppear @Environment(.scenePhase) .inactive App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): .active WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive in WKApplicationState .active. App onReceive(.didBecomeActiveNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 0) View .onChange of: .@Environment(.scenePhase) .active In WatchOS 26, this is now: WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidFinishLaunching in WKApplicationState .inactive. WKApplicationDelegate applicationWillEnterForeground in WKApplicationState .inactive. App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): .active WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive in WKApplicationState .active. View .onAppear @Environment(.scenePhase) .active When resuming from the background in WatchOS 11: App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): inactive WKApplicationDelegate applicationWillEnterForeground in WKApplicationState .background. App onReceive(.willEnterForegroundNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 2) View .onChange of: .@Environment(.scenePhase) inactive App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): active WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive in WKApplicationState .active. App onReceive(.didBecomeActiveNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 0) View .onChange of: .@Environment(.scenePhase) active The resume from background process in WatchOS 26 is baffling and seems like it must be a bug: App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): inactive WKApplicationDelegate applicationWillEnterForeground in WKApplicationState .background. App onReceive(.willEnterForegroundNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 2) App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): active WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive in WKApplicationState .active. App onReceive(.didBecomeActiveNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 0) View .onChange of: @Environment(.scenePhase) active App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): inactive WKApplicationDelegate applicationWillResignActive in WKApplicationState .active. App onReceive(.willResignActiveNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 0) View .onChange of: @Environment(.scenePhase) inactive App onChange(of: @Environment(.scenePhase)): active WKApplicationDelegate applicationDidBecomeActive in WKApplicationState .active. App onReceive(.didBecomeActiveNotification): WKApplicationState(rawValue: 0) View .onChange of: @Environment(.scenePhase) active The app becomes active, then inactive, then active again. The issues with these undocumented changes are: It is undocumented. If you relied on the previous process, this change can break your app. A view no longer receives .onChange of: .@Environment(.scenePhase) .active state change during the launch process. This bizarre applicationWillEnterForeground - applicationDidBecomeActive - applicationWillResignActive - applicationDidBecomeActive process on app resume does not match the documented process and is just...strange. Is this new process what is intended? Is it a bug? Can an Apple engineer explain this new App resume from background process and why the View is created slightly later in the App launch process, so it does not receive the .onChange of @Environment(.scenePhase) message? In contrast, the iOS 26 app lifecycle has not changed, and the iOS 18/26 app lifecycle closely follows the watchOS 11 app lifecycle (or watchOS 11 closely mimics iOS 18/26 with the exception that watchOS does not have a SceneDelegate).

Hi all. Does anyone know if there's a way to get a list of watch faces for a paired Apple Watch or to set the current face? Or is this just not allowed? I've taken a look at the WatchOS, WatchKit, and WatchConnectivity documentation and no luck there.

We are having an issue with our app after upgrading to WatchOS 26. After some time our complication disappears from the watch face. If you go to add it back, our app shows up with an empty icon placeholder and you are unable to tap it to add it back. Sometimes restarting the watch will bring it back, sometimes it does not. Has anyone experienced this? What should we be looking at to figure out why this is happening? Or could this be a bug in WatchOS 26?

After upgrading to watchOS 26, users report that when playing music on Apple Watch, if a fitness reminder is received, the music automatically pauses and users need to manually tap the play button to resume music playback. This phenomenon occurs with multiple music and podcast apps. This issue did not exist before the upgrade. We would like to know if this is an Apple bug or if there are any special development configurations needed?"

Hi, so here's my situation: I am currently building an app of which I want to have an Apple Watch standalone version / companion (idk yet, also doesn't matter). For it to be compatible with basically every Watch except for the original (Series 0) I want support for down to watchOS 6, as many models ended there. I also don't need the newest features for basic functionality and I can still add more for newer versions while keeping the basic functionality for watchOS 6, so that is not a concern, I'd rather have the compatibility. However, watchOS 6 is the last version to require the Storyboard architecture with an app bundle and extension target. I did some research and found out that you can create that and set the development target to 6.0 while also having a SwiftUI target with a development target of 7.0. That would have the benefit of being able to use SwiftUI for modern features to give a nice experience while building a basic but functional version for 6.0 in Storyboard architecture. And it would figure out what to install on its own based on the watchOS version. Now the problem is, in Xcode 26 I can't create a watchOS target with the Storyboard architecture anymore, the option is just not there. So to solve that, I installed Xcode 12 on Big Sur and created one from the template in a new project. That project can be opened and edited with no problems in Xcode 26 as long as it is already configured, you just can't create a watchOS target with that architecture anymore, it has to be there already to work with it. Now I just need to copy the app and extension target with the corresponding files and configuration to my other project, and that is the problem. I can't seem to find proper way to copy that over, and that is where I need your help. Or maybe someone has a way to create that in Xcode 26, but from my understanding the template is gone. Thanks so much in advance

Hello everyone, I’m a new developer still learning as I go. I’m building a simple watchOS app that tracks Apple Watch battery consumption, records hourly usage data, and uses that information to predict battery life in hours. I’ve run into an issue where background refresh completely stalls after charging and never recovers, regardless of what I do. The only way to restore normal behavior is to restart the watch. Background refresh can work fine for days, but if the watch is charging and a scheduled background refresh tries to run during that period, it appears to be deferred—and then remains in that deferred state indefinitely. Even reopening the app or scheduling new refreshes doesn’t recover it. Has anyone else encountered this behavior? Is there a reliable workaround? I’ve seen a few reports suggesting that there may be a regression in scheduleBackgroundRefresh() on watchOS 26, where tasks are never delivered after certain states. Any insights or confirmations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi everyone! My Apple Watch app has relied for years on the WKApplication.scheduleBackgroundRefresh(...) method to keep the app updated in the background. The system would reliably trigger WKApplicationDelegate.handle(_:), where I would then schedule the next refresh task (usually 15 minutes later). As stated in the documentation, as long as there is a complication on the watch face, these background tasks should run at a relatively stable frequency. However, this approach seems to have stopped working on watchOS 26. I no longer receive any WKApplicationRefreshBackgroundTask at all. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Create a static widget kit based widget for watchKit. Use swiftUI and an image. IE on 42mm you can import a 141x141 image at 2x. Import a 141x141 image in the widget and load it in swiftUI. In watchOS 11.x simulator the image will allow up to the size for X Large circles, and on os26, it will not load and complain the image is too large and report the area for the smaller circle, IE 89x89 @ 2x for 41mm Also submitted a "feedback" ticket FB20506200 This is a big issue b/c the size difference for X large circles v the smaller circles is really large. To get existing images to load I am having to resize them down 75-80% on OS26 in the X Large complication.

I'm having problems with my released app with iOS & WatchOS 26 support. I've added AppIntentConfiguration support in the WatchOS app such that users can configure the complication. My complications also support multiple families and so I have slightly different configuration options available if its in the .accessoryRectangular slot or the .accessoryCircular one. This works fine on Apple Watch when editing the Watch face. Here you can then select the configuration options fine and they are correct for the different variants. However on iOS when configuring in the Apple Watch app on iPhone, the different complication size is ignored and the same configuration options are offered meaning they are wrong for one of them. I created a sample project, here is the app intent code: struct TestWidgetConfigurationIntent: AppIntent, WidgetConfigurationIntent { static var title: LocalizedStringResource = "New Widgets with Configuration" static var description = IntentDescription("Lots of stuff.") static var isDiscoverable: Bool { return false} init() {} func perform() async throws -> some IntentResult { return .result() } @Parameter(title: "Enable More Detail", default: true) var moreDetail: Bool @Parameter(title: "Enable Other Parameter", default: true) var otherParameter: Bool static var parameterSummary: some ParameterSummary { When(widgetFamily: .equalTo, .accessoryRectangular) { Summary("Test Info") { \.$moreDetail \.$otherParameter } } otherwise : { Summary("Test Info") { \.$moreDetail } } } } In WatchOS you get the correct configuration options: In iOS you do not, you get the same configuration option regardless of which family size you select: This could be a bug so I've filed feedback FB20328319. Otherwise if anyone has insights, it would be very appreciated. This is all tested on the current iOS 26.0 and WatchOS 26.0 versions. Thanks!

Are there any HealthKit related changes to be aware of in the new update that enables SPO2 / Blood Oxygen Saturation measurements on certain Apple Watch models within the US? I’m aware of processing happening on the phone…. But beyond that: Does this mean values are then saved to Apple Health? Do these models still take background SPO2 measurements in the same way as other models do? Are these values then visible in third party iOS apps as normal through HealthKit? Do these values sync back to the paired Apple Watch HealthKit store for third party apps to access on the Watch? For reference I have an iOS and WatchOS app that, amongst other features, provides the ability to see your SPO2 values in the Watch app, complications and in the iOS app.

Hi everyone, I’m a student developer currently building a watchOS app that uses HealthKit and HKWorkoutSession to estimate core body temperature from real-time heart rate data. The app runs well in the simulator, but testing on a physical Apple Watch has been extremely difficult. Each time I try to run the app from Xcode (Version 16.3), the build gets stuck on: “Copying shared cache symbols from MyWatchName (0% completed)” Sometimes it just stops stating connection failure. However, more often no errors are shown, but the sync never finishes. I’ve tried the following without success: Restarting the watch, iPhone, and Xcode Switching networks (Wi-Fi and hotspot) USB wired pairing Resetting developer settings and trust prompts Deleting derived data Rebuilding the project This is especially limiting for a real-time health tracking app where I need to monitor HKLiveWorkoutBuilder data while the screen sleeps — which can’t be tested effectively in the simulator.

Hi there, I'm using WCSession to communicate watchOS companion with its iOS app. Every time watch app becomes "active", it needs to fetch data from iOS app, which works e.g. turning my hand back and forth. But only when the app is opened after it was minimised by pressing digital crown, it didn't fetch data. My assumption is that scenePhase doesn't emit a change on reopen. Here is the ContentView of watch app: import SwiftUI struct ContentView: View { @EnvironmentObject private var iOSAppConnector: IOSAppConnector @Environment(\.scenePhase) private var scenePhase @State private var showOpenCategories = true var body: some View { NavigationStack { VStack { if iOSAppConnector.items.isEmpty { WelcomeView() } else { ScrollView { VStack(spacing: 10) { ForEach(iOSAppConnector.items, id: \.self.name) { item in ItemView(item: item) } } } .task { DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.5) { loadItems() } } .onChange(of: scenePhase, initial: true) { newPhase, _ in if newPhase == .active { loadItems() } } } fileprivate func loadItems() -> Void { if iOSAppConnector.items.isEmpty { iOSAppConnector.loadItems() } } } What could be the issue? Thanks. Best regards Sanjeev

I added a watchkit extension to an existing app. I get this error when uploading to App Store Connect. Building the archive itself is fine: Prepared archive for uploading Upload failed error: Validation failed Missing Info.plist value. A value for the key “WKApplication”, or “WKWatchKitApp” if your project has a WatchKit App Extension target, is required in “Runner.app/Watch/watch_Watch_App.app” bundle. For details, see: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/watchkit/creating_independent_watchos_apps/setting_up_a_watchos_project have the exact same issue when bundling. I added the flag manually in a additional plist fields entry with WKApplication=1 because my Info.Plist is generated and it didn't help. I wrote a custom Run Script Phase that added the flag and that didn't help as well. I need a reply from someone from Apple here. This needs to be fixed.

Hello, I am experiencing an issue when trying to open the browser on my Apple Watch SE 2 running the latest version, watchOS 11.6. When I attempt to visit any website, the browser opens and displays the URL at the top as if it is loading, but the screen remains black and no content is displayed. The internet connection is available, and all other apps on the watch work normally. This issue occurs only with the browser. I would appreciate any guidance or solution to resolve this problem. Thank you for your assistance.

I updated my watch to take advantage of the reactivated blood oxygen/O2 function, but with my iPhone on public beta 3, it still shows unavailable. Will there be an update to beta three to allow this newly reactivated Apple Watch feature to function?

I’m developing a smart alarm app that makes use of the extended runtime session. I’ve looked at the docs, and one of the background modes for Apple watch is smart alarm. The docs also say that an extended runtime session can only be scheduled one at a time, and while the app is open, which isn’t very intuitive for an alarm app that runs on schedules. I’ve seen other apps do something similar, but I’m trying to make this fully automated, without the user having to do too much manually to reschedule the smart alarm. Is there no way to do this? I would’ve thought the smart alarm background modes would allow to schedule more than 1/a repeating extended runtime session.