Whenever I try to build on my Apple Watch using Xcode, I often encounter connection issues. It typically takes about an hour of troubleshooting, including restarting devices, restarting Xcode, erasing the Apple Watch, and other steps. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced similar problems and if there are any effective solutions.

I have an iOS app, watchOS app, and iOS Widget that shows the most recent data in the database. The watch app sends data to the iOS app over the WCSession and is received in session(didReceiveMessage, replyHandler). After that data is processed, reloadAllTimelines() is called. When running in Simulator or on device plugged in to debugger, it works, the widget updates when the app is closed (in background, even if force quit). But when running TestFlight or App Store build, the data is still processed and saved to Core Data (I open the app and it's there), but the widget doesn't update. It seems that reloadAllTimelines only works when the app is in foreground (at least in non debug builds). I dont have an iOS 17 device to check but I think this is a recent bug with iOS 18.

When launching the SimpleWatchConnectivity sample in a simulator (iOS 18.2 + watchOS 11.2), almost all the functionality works, but TransferFile does not work. The error is the following: -[WCFileStorage persistOutgoingFileTransfer:] error serializing file transfer <WCSessionFileTransfer: ...> due to Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=4866 "Caught exception during archival: This object may only be encoded by an NSXPCCoder." How can it be fixed or worked around?

I'm encountering an issue with HealthKit permissions and would appreciate some guidance: In my app's previous version, I granted write permissions for HKObjectType.workoutType() via the WatchKitExtension. Now, in the upcoming version, I'm trying to request read permissions for both HKObjectType.workoutType() and HKSeriesType.workoutRoute() via the iOS app. However, after granting access: The read permissions for Workout and Workout Route don't show up under Settings -> Health -> Data and Access -> [My App]. The Workout Route permission status remains notDetermined, even though I selected "Allow" when prompted. Interestingly, if I request the same permissions via the WatchKitExtension, everything works as expected, and the issue doesn't occur. Has anyone experienced a similar issue or have insights into why this might be happening? Could it be related to requesting permissions from the iOS app instead of the WatchKitExtension?

I'm encountering an issue with HealthKit permissions and would appreciate some guidance: In my app's previous version, I granted write permissions for HKObjectType.workoutType() via the WatchKitExtension. Now, in the upcoming version, I'm trying to request read permissions for both HKObjectType.workoutType() and HKSeriesType.workoutRoute() via the iOS app. However, after granting access: The read permissions for Workout and Workout Route don't show up under Settings -> Health -> Data and Access -> [My App]. The Workout Route permission status remains notDetermined, even though I selected "Allow" when prompted. Interestingly, if I request the same permissions via the WatchKitExtension, everything works as expected, and the issue doesn't occur. Has anyone experienced a similar issue or have insights into why this might be happening? Could it be related to requesting permissions from the iOS app instead of the WatchKitExtension?

support destinations have no Apple Watch, I tried delete the watch App target and recreate watch App for Existing app, but if is unuseful

Hi, I am new to swift and IOS development, I was developing an app which can be used to communicating between Apple Watch and iPhone. Something strange occurred when I was trying to observe the status of the message(UserInfo) sent by func transferUserInfo(_ userInfo: [String : Any] = [:]) -> WCSessionUserInfoTransfer. I was trying to observe isTransferring(a boolean value) in WCSessionUserInfoTransfer which was returned by the function mentioned above, but it seems cannot be updated even if the message queue was empty, it seems to always be True. Here is my sample code: let transfer = session.transferUserInfo(message) if transfer.isTransferring { Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 0.5, repeats: true) { timer in print("Queued message count: \(self.session.outstandingUserInfoTransfers.count), isTransferring:\(transfer.isTransferring)") if !transfer.isTransferring { timer.invalidate() // irrelevant codes... } } } else { // other irrelevant codes... } Appreciate if anyone can help me out of this problem. Best wishes.

I recently added a new target for Apple Watch, which works fine on the simulator. However, I wasn't able to run it on real Apple watches. First, I don't see it in the list of devices, even after I click "trust" and connect to my Mac over charging cable. Second, I've always used automatic code signing, and everything seems OK here. Third, I also tried distributing it over TestFlight, but that build doesn't appear in the TF. I restarted my phone and relaunched the TF app. So, when I install the app to my iPhone over the cable, the watch app doesn't appear on Apple watches. Then, If I go to watch app and install my app manual (I see it at the bottom with the "install" button), it fails with the error "This app cannot be installed because its integrity could not be verified.". Also, there's an icon on the Apple watch, but it shows the same error when I click it. I unpaired and paired it again, but it didn't help. Also, I tried another pair of phones, and the same thing happened. I use an AppStore account (not enterprise), and the main app works fine. Is there a way how to fix it?

Exploring Live Activity feature for Apple Watch right now and found that it has this default view with "Open on iPhone" button when you tap Live Activity. That button perfectly brings iOS app to foreground as if you tapped iOS's Live Activity. Is there a way to mimic that behavior from inside Watch app code? From inside WKApplicationDelegate, for example Tried openSystemURL but it seems lile it's only available for tel or sms links

I developed a watchOS app to capture gyro data, save it in real-time as a CSV file, and send it to an iOS app. However, when I start writing with the watch on, the screen dims, and it stops working. It only resumes operation when I tap the screen again. Is there a way to let it run in the background and transmit files in real-time, even when the screen is off?

I get this error with xcode 16.1 uploading to app store: Asset validation failed Invalid Info.plist key. The key 'UIBackgroundModes' in bundle new3bmeteo.app/Watch/new3bmeteowatch.app/PlugIns/new3bmeteowatch Extension.appex is invalid. (ID: a1e48ae9-5b51-4252-99e7-116b6359cb39) info.plist: // some other things UIBackgroundModes location

Hi, I'm making a WatchKit game app with SpriteKit and Objective-C, and I'm encountering an annoyance where system gestures, namely long-pressing the top and bottom edges to pull Notification/Control Center, interfere with the controls of the game. In iOS, this can be mitigated by using overriding preferredScreenEdgesDeferringSystemGestures in UIViewController, but I couldn't find any equivalent API in any WatchKit class, and searching for similar symbols only yielded a single private API (-[_UISystemAppearanceManager screenEdgesDeferringSystemGestures]) that isn't ever called on watchOS. Any idea how to achieve a similar effect on watchOS?

Our company has developed a product available, which measures body composition. During the measurement process, lasting 40 seconds, we require the device screen to remain illuminated. We are actively using the "Always On" feature and have set the timer on the watch to 70 minutes to prevent the screen from dimming. However, we are encountering issues where the screen may still turn off during the measurement. Could you please provide guidance on how to keep the screen active with backlighting across all Apple Watch models during measurements?

On iPhone, we can use iBeacon to wake up the APP in the background for Bluetooth scanning connection, now we want to port the function to AppleWatch APP, but the API related to iBeacon is not applicable on watchOS, does watchOS have a similar wake up mechanism?

I have an app that uses Storyboard (not SwiftUI). Is there a way to define that a particular WKInterfaceButton should receive the "sent action" (as if the user tapped the button on screen) when the user uses the double-tap gesture with their fingers?

I have an iOS and watchOS app where both can run independently, I am not using WatchConnectivity to send data back and fourth. The issue I'm having is that if I schedule a local notification on the watch and the phone is unlocked, it will not show on the watch for about 10-15 seconds. If I uninstall the iOS app or have the phone locked, it will show immediately on the watch. To my understanding, this is somewhat the expected functionality but is there a way to bypass it? My app is a timer app and it really should not have a delay.

WatchOS app is running in the foreground and can wake up the iOS app, but it can't trigger didReceiveMessage in the iOS app. iOS and Watch apps in the foreground can communicate with each other without any issues. However, when my app is closed, even though it wakes up, it cannot communicate. Any ideas? Should I be using a background task ios app side?

I'm using Text(date, style: .timer) to display a timer in a WatchOS widget, which works great. The problem is that when the watchface goes dim the time goes from showing the time as "MM:SS" to showing "M minutes". Why is this occuring and how can I change the behavior? I understand it needs to remove seconds to preseve battery life, but why it is putting the word "minutes" at the end, this is messing up my layout. Thanks.

Dear all, i am a music conductor and developer, and to fulfill my joy with music i recently developed a WatchFace and some apps for a non-apple watch called "PineTime". My whole development is done in c++ and is available at https://github.com/luto65/PineConductor/ Since I am aswell an apple developer, and most of my friends have apple watches, i am now porting those c++ apps to the apple watch. I just finished the very first one, that is actually a watch Face I now ported it to appleWatch and it looks pretty similar too (here a screenshot from the simulator) I would like to now remove the annoying digital hour on the top right corner, and then sell it as new custom face, together with my other swift-ports of my original c++ applications. Looking forward any feedback.

Can you initiate a live activity from a Watch app? From what I can tell you can only do it from an iOS app and then have the Watch mirror it, is that true? If you were builiding a standalone timer app for WatchOS for instance and wanted the timer to show up automatically in Smart Stacks when the app is in the background, is this possible? Thanks