Hello, I’m developing an Apple Watch companion app for my swimming application and the app keeps uninstalling/disappearing from Apple Watch. I have a specific Scheme to install it to my watches, it appears there, I can debug but after a while it disappears. It’s my first app for this device but it doesn’t seem normal to me. any idea?

Hi, I have a problem with watchOS widget configuration intents. It turns out that watchOS is unable to load text for localization keys. This is how I set configuration parameter in WidgetConfigurationIntent: @Parameter( title: LocalizedStringResource( "watchWidgetConfig.showSymbols", defaultValue: "Symbole", table: "WidgetLocalizable", bundle: widgetBundle ), default: true ) var showSymbols: Bool Unfortunately, on a device always the defaultValue is used. I tried everything and nothing works. What's weird, it correctly works on watchOS simulator and if you configure widgets in iOS "Watch" app. On real Apple Watch, the "defaultValue" is displayed. I'm not sure if it's important but both: the Swift file with WidgetConfigurationIntent and WidgetLocalizable.xcstring are included in two targets: Watch Widget Extension and Watch App. I tried so far: All variants of LocalizableStringResource init. With/without "table", with/without "bundle". Previously I had texts in Localizable.strings, I migrated it to WidgetLocalizable.xcstrings and it didn't work either. Setting only one target for WidgetLocalizable.xcstring and WidgetConfigurationIntent. I checked inside xcarchive to see if WidgetLocalizable.xcstring is copied correctly. Seems like watchOS bug, but I would be happy to know if someone figured out any workaround. Xcode: Version 26.4 (17E192) iOS 26.4.1 watchOS 26.4 I already created a ticket: FB22509406

I already have a working iOS React Native app and I’m planning to add a watchOS companion app. Is it possible to keep the iOS app and the watchOS app in separate repositories? If so, will WatchConnectivity still work properly between them? Or is it recommended to keep both in a single Xcode project/repository?

I wonder if there is way to switch the view that the digital crown controls. Like if have a list and a vertical tab view, when the tab displays, I want the crown control the scrolling in the tab. I dont want to use sheet, cause I have some special UX design, and also dont want to use if else to toggle between the two views. I have tried with resetFocus and other focus related functions, not working

On watchOS, the Developer Mode entry under Settings -> Privacy & Security is hidden by default and only appears after Xcode has attempted to connect to the watch as a development device. In my case, once Xcode triggers that surfacing, opening Settings -> Privacy & Security on the watch prompts for a 4-digit Screen Time passcode before granting access. No Screen Time passcode I set on the paired iPhone is accepted at this prompt, which prevents me from reaching the Developer Mode toggle to enable it. The passcode prompt only appears in this specific state. With no Xcode connection attempt (and therefore no Developer Mode entry surfaced in the menu), Settings → Privacy & Security opens normally on the watch with no prompt at all. Environment macOS: Tahoe 26.4.1 (Build 25E253) Xcode: 26.4.1 (24909.0.3) (Build 17E202) iPhone: iOS 26.4.2 Apple Watch: Ultra 3 running watchOS 26.4 All devices on release software (no betas). Xcode error Developer Mode disabled Domain: com.apple.dt.deviceprep Code: -28 Recovery Suggestion: To use [Watch Name] for development, enable Developer Mode in Settings → Privacy & Security. User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2026-04-30 09:38:57 +0000"; "com.apple.dt.DVTCoreDevice.operationName" = checkDeveloperMode; } Reproduction Pair Apple Watch to iPhone (paired fresh, set up as new, not restored from backup). Connect iPhone to Mac running Xcode 26.4.1. Before any Xcode connection attempt, open Settings -> Privacy & Security on the watch. The menu opens normally with no passcode prompt. There is no Developer Mode entry visible. In Xcode, attempt to use the Apple Watch as a run destination. Xcode returns the -28 / Developer Mode disabled error above and instructs me to enable Developer Mode in Settings -> Privacy & Security on the watch. After this attempt, the Developer Mode entry is surfaced in Settings -> Privacy & Security on the watch. Open Settings -> Privacy & Security on the watch in this surfaced state. The menu now prompts for a 4-digit Screen Time passcode before allowing access. The passcodes I have set on the paired iPhone are rejected. The passcode prompt is therefore conditional on the Developer Mode entry having been surfaced by a recent Xcode connection attempt. In step 3 (no surfacing) the menu opens freely; in step 6 (surfacing in effect) the menu is gated. What I have already tried Confirmed Screen Time is disabled on the paired iPhone. Confirmed Share Across Devices is enabled. Confirmed Content & Privacy Restrictions is off on the iPhone. Confirmed I am an adult in my Family Sharing group (not a managed/child account). Confirmed there are no configuration profiles installed (Settings -> General -> VPN & Device Management is empty). Set a fresh Screen Time passcode on the iPhone. Not accepted by the watch prompt. Used Forgot Passcode? → Apple ID authentication to reset the Screen Time passcode and set a new one. Not accepted by the watch prompt. Turned the Screen Time passcode off entirely on the iPhone. The watch still prompts for one when Xcode is connecting. Unpaired the Apple Watch and re-paired as new (not restored from backup). Issue persists. Tried entering the watch's own device passcode at the prompt. Not accepted. Question What credential is the watch's Privacy & Security menu actually checking against once the Developer Mode entry has been surfaced, and how can it be reset or cleared from a paired iPhone? Is anyone else seeing this conditional gating where the menu is only locked in the post-surfacing state? Any pointers from the Xcode / watchOS tools team would be appreciated. Happy to provide sysdiagnose or further details on request.

In the last few weeks 5 users have reported my workout watch app being unable to read health data despite the permissions being enabled in the iPhone Settings app. This has been a common complaint over the years and is usually fixed by disabling the permissions; rebooting both devices; and then enabling them again. This usually nudges iOS into sending the permissions to watchOS. However that procedure doesn't work for these users, all of whom are using watchOS 10.6.2. They are using various versions of iOS 18 or 26 so it seems to be a problem with that version of watchOS, which users are usually limited to because their hardware won't support anything more up to date. It seems that unpairing and re-pairing the watch can fix the problem but not always. I looked around and it seems that other apps are having the same problem: https://www.reddit.com/r/runna/comments/1rhhs2n/runna_wont_start_an_outdoor_run_on_apple_watch/ Does anyone know a way to fix this? My current advice is to repeatedly unpair / re-pair until it works, which isn't really practical! Thanks in advance.

When I chose a watchOS Test and set the watch with latest watchOS on Xcode Cloud, I could not pass the CI because it showed "xcodebuild: error: Unable to find a destination matching the provided destination specifier: { platform:watchOS Simulator, id:9863C79E-3793-483E-BAA1-F96A0BD34005 }" I've change some destination, but it's not worked. Is there any idea what I can do? The watch app is along with the mobile, not standalone.

I'm seeing a timestamp display issue on Apple Watch Notification Center, and I'd like to confirm whether this is a known watchOS behavior or whether there's a setup mistake on our side. Symptom The same APNs notification displays the correct time on iPhone Notification Center and on the initial Apple Watch banner. After the Watch screen turns off and the user later opens Notification Center on Apple Watch, the same notification may show an incorrect relative timestamp such as "3 hours ago" or even "yesterday". The drift is per-notification and persists for that notification until it's dismissed. iPhone NC always shows the correct time. WhatsApp tested side-by-side on the same iPhone/Watch pair does not show this drift. Setup iOS 26.4.2 on iPhone 16 Pro watchOS 26.4 on Apple Watch Series 10 App with paired Apple Watch A UNNotificationServiceExtension that decrypts E2EE message previews and applies Communication Notification enrichment via INSendMessageIntent and content.updating(from:) Production APNs environment, TestFlight builds No beta software Isolation tests already performed Test mutable-content NSE invoked Drift on Watch NC Minimal APNs (alert + sound only) no no no drift NSE skips content.updating(from:), INInteraction.donate/delete (still calls them as no-op via diagnostic build) yes yes — modifies content drift NSE bypasses ALL Intents/Communication Notification APIs (no INPerson, no INSendMessageIntent, no avatar, no updating(from:)); just modifies title/body/sound/category and returns the mutable copy yes yes — modifies content drift Production-like APNs payload (thread-id, target-content-id, category, sound, badge, custom userInfo) but WITHOUT mutable-content no no no drift Eliminated as causes: content.updating(from:), INSendMessageIntent, INInteraction.donate, INInteraction.delete(with:), INPerson/INPersonHandle (not even constructed in test 3), avatar fetching, thread-id, target-content-id, category, sound, badge, custom userInfo, custom createdAt timestamp, stale Siri/Apple Intelligence history (cleared manually on iPhone and Watch). The pattern The only consistent variable distinguishing the no-drift cases from the drift cases is whether mutable-content: 1 is set on the APNs payload (i.e. whether the UNNotificationServiceExtension is invoked). Once invoked, the extension's behavior with respect to Communication Notifications does not seem to affect the outcome — the drift reproduces even when the NSE only modifies title/body/sound and returns. Questions Is there a known watchOS behavior where notifications processed by a UNNotificationServiceExtension use a different timestamp source on Apple Watch Notification Center after the Watch screen has been turned off and reopened, while the initial Watch banner and iPhone Notification Center show the correct delivery time? Are there specific UNMutableNotificationContent properties or APNs payload flags that should be preserved (or avoided) when returning content from an NSE to keep the Watch NC timestamp consistent with the delivery time? For E2EE messaging apps, is there a recommended pattern to decrypt and return content from an NSE that avoids this drift on watchOS? Happy to provide an anonymized snippet of NotificationService.swift and the APNs payload format if useful. Thanks.

forum-post-v2-evidence.log MCRestrictionsPayload (allowListedAppBundleIDs) breaks Apple Watch app enumeration — nanotimekitcompaniond reports "Missing .app from directory: /Watch/" Summary Installing a Configuration Profile with com.apple.applicationaccess payload containing allowListedAppBundleIDs causes native Apple Watch apps to disappear from the paired Watch — even when their bundle IDs are explicitly in the whitelist. Log analysis shows this is not a bundle ID matching problem: nanotimekitcompaniond on the iPhone fails to enumerate the <companion>.app/Watch/ subdirectories where native watchOS app stubs live. Follow-up to https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/745585 — community-confirmed but received no official response. Environment iPhone 16 (iPhone17,3), iOS 26.4.2 (23E261), supervised Apple Watch paired via Bridge.app Profile installed locally via Apple Configurator (no MDM server required) Smoking gun Within ~5 seconds of profile install, two processes (nanotimekitcompaniond and NTKFaceSnapshotService) log identical errors for eight companion-app paths: nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: file:///Applications/MobilePhone.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../Calculator.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../Bridge.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../MobileTimer.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../Camera.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../VoiceMemos.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../MobileMail.app/Watch/ nanotimekitcompaniond[1498] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: .../FindMy.app/Watch/ NTKFaceSnapshotService[3758] <Error>: Missing .app from directory: <same 8 paths> The Watch's app icons and face complications both go through these processes, which explains the symptoms users see. iOS itself flags the payload as Watch-incompatible — but applies it anyway profiled[179] <Notice>: Payload class MCRestrictionsPayload (com.apple.applicationaccess) is not supported on any Watch version profiled[179] <Notice>: Payload class MCRestrictionsPayload (com.apple.applicationaccess) is not available on HomePod profiled[179] <Notice>: Beginning profile installation... profiled[179] <Notice>: Profile "...v2..." installed. So profiled knows the payload doesn't target watchOS — yet its side effects clearly manifest there. Tests performed Test Bundle IDs in whitelist Result v1 249 (every installed iOS app: Apple + 3rd party) Walkie-Talkie, Messages, Find My + more disappear from Watch v2 295 (v1 + every Apple extension/Nano* daemon seen in syslog: *.MessagesActionExtension, *.FindMyNotifications*Extension, *.FindMyWidget*, com.apple.NanoBackup, com.apple.NanoMusicSync, com.apple.NanoPreferencesSync, com.apple.NanoTimeKit.face, com.apple.NanoUniverse.AegirProxyApp, com.apple.tursd, com.apple.FaceTime.FTConversationService, com.apple.Bridge.GreenfieldThumbnailExtension, etc.) Identical Missing-.app errors. Same apps disappear. Conclusion: this is not a bundle ID matching issue — adding more IDs doesn't help. The system fails to enumerate <companion-iOS-app>.app/Watch/ regardless of whitelist contents. Many users in my prior thread reported trying 100+ bundle ID combinations without success; this evidence explains why. Reproduction (no MDM required) Pair Apple Watch with iPhone normally. Generate a Configuration Profile with com.apple.applicationaccess + any non-empty allowListedAppBundleIDs array. Install via Apple Configurator's cfgutil install-profile, or AirDrop + Settings → Install. Within ~5 s, nanotimekitcompaniond errors appear (visible via idevicesyslog). Native Watch apps backed by an iOS companion stub disappear from the Watch's app grid and from face complications. Hypothesis MCRestrictionsPayload applies an enumeration filter that does not descend into .app/Watch/ subdirectories when computing visible apps. nanotimekitcompaniond consequently sees those directories as missing, the Watch's Carousel (SpringBoard equivalent) hides the apps, and NTKFaceSnapshotService can't load corresponding complications. Because profiled itself logs the payload as "not supported on any Watch version", this appears to be unintended bleed-through. Questions for Apple Is MCRestrictionsPayload / allowListedAppBundleIDs officially supposed to affect Apple Watch apps? profiled says no. Is there an undocumented bundle ID pattern (e.g. <companion>.watchapp, or a Bridge.app/Watch/ prefix) that needs whitelisting to keep native Watch apps visible? Is the recommended workaround to use blacklistedAppBundleIDs instead? Should the enumeration error (Missing .app from directory: .../Watch/) be tracked as a separate watchOS framework bug? Artifacts Curated evidence log with timestamps, profile installer events, and the eight Missing-.app errors is attached as forum-post-v2-evidence.log. Full idevicesyslog captures (multiple install/remove cycles, ~2M log lines) and the .mobileconfig files are available on request. Thanks — looking forward to guidance.

For some reason since watchOS 26.5 my workout app can no longer receive action button presses during a workout unless the action button is configured to start a specified activity type. If the action button is configured to just open the app but not start an activity then at the start of a workout the app donates a StartWorkoutIntent. The result parameter is set to a 'NextButtonPress' intent so that the app is notified when the action button is pressed. This has been working fine since the action button first appeared back in 2022, but has suddenly stopped working with watchOS 26.5. Now when the app tries to donate the intent then it fails with the following error: The operation couldn’t be completed. (LNTranscriptErrorDomain error 1003.) Does anyone know what has changed and how I can get around it? Thanks.

We have an Apple Watch app and companion iPhone app that we distribute via Enterprise Distribution using OTA manual installation. (We are on an Apple Enterprise Developer Team) With WatchOS 26.4 and earlier, the app would install fine on both the phone and the watch. However, after updating to WatchOS 26.5 (and iOS 26.5), the app will not install on the watch. It will install on the phone and we can trust the developer/run the phone app. However, when we go into the Apple Watch app on the phone and choose "Install" for the app, it tries to install for a minute and then returns an error "The app could not be installed at this time". We have tried the following remedies: Restarting both watch and phone, and reinstalling the app on phone Factory resetting both the watch and the phone, then reinstalling app Generating a new Distribution Certificate and new manual profiles for the app in Apple Developer Looking through console logs from both the phone and the watch Confirmed that we can install other (non-Enterprise) apps on the watch Try installing a basic example app (the default Xcode watch + companion app project) There does not seem to be anything obviously amiss about the app or its packaging, it seems to be something to do with the update to WatchOS 26.5. The closest related errors we have found seems to be these: appconduitd 0x16d43f000 -[ACXInstallQueue _onQueue_deQueueNextOperation]_block_invoke_3: Failed to install app .EnterpriseInstallTest.watchkitapp (p = Y, ui = Y) : Error Domain=ACXErrorDomain Code=8 "Failed to create socket" UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0xcf9138e10 {Error Domain=com.apple.identityservices.error Code=20 "Socket open timed out" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Socket open timed out}}, FunctionName=-[ACXServerInstallOperation _onQueue_prepForTransferAndInstall]_block_invoke, SourceFileLine=370, NSLocalizedDescription=Failed to create socket} appconduitd 0x16d89f000 -[ACXCompanionSyncConnection _installQueuedOrCompletedForWatchBundleID:companionAppBundleID:withName:userInitiated:withError:withCompletion:]_block_invoke: Failed to install app .EnterpriseInstallTest.watchkitapp : Error Domain=ACXErrorDomain Code=8 "Failed to create socket" UserInfo={NSUnderlyingError=0xcf9138e10 {Error Domain=com.apple.identityservices.error Code=20 "Socket open timed out" UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=Socket open timed out}}, FunctionName=-[ACXServerInstallOperation _onQueue_prepForTransferAndInstall]_block_invoke, SourceFileLine=370, NSLocalizedDescription=Failed to create socket}

The process of copying shared cache symbols from my Apple Watch has been horrendous. I cannot even get past 2% complete before this process fails. Every device is on the same network. I have trusted my machine. Developer mode is enabled on the watch. I have successfully paired the phone and watch. I managed to install an Watch app onto the watch. But the shared cache symbols were never copied from the watch. I gathered several commands at the terminal to help me. rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/CoreDevice sudo killall -9 remoted CoreDeviceService 2>/dev/null || true xcrun devicectl manage ddis update xcrun devicectl list devices Clear CoreDevice state. With Xcode quit: rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.Xcode Reset Xcode's Local Network permission. tccutil reset Local-Network com.apple.dt.Xcode tccutil reset Bluetooth com.apple.dt.Xcode xcrun devicectl device info hardware --device MY_DEVICE_ID xcrun devicectl list devices ping -c 3 MY_IP_ADDRESS Confirm no VPN/proxy/filter is lurking scutil --nwi ifconfig | grep -E "utun|ipsec|tap|tun" xcrun devicectl device info details --device MY_DEVICE_ID xcrun devicectl manage pair --device MY_DEVICE_ID I keep obtain this type of error: Unable to copy shared cache files Domain: com.apple.dt.deviceprep Code: -33 User Info: { DVTErrorCreationDateKey = "2026-05-20 23:41:00 +0000"; NSLocalizedRecoverySuggestion = ""; "com.apple.dt.DVTCoreDevice.operationName" = dtfetchsymbols; } -- The operation couldn’t be completed. No route to host Domain: NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code: 65 Failure Reason: No route to host -- System Information macOS Version 26.5 (Build 25F71) Xcode 26.5 (24943) (Build 17F42) Timestamp: 2026-05-20T16:41:00-07:00 Does anyone have ideas to help me overcome this nightmare?

I was having some trouble installing app to test on my Apple Watch (Series 9) so I removed it and thought to re-add it. However, after removing it, it no longer shows under my iPhone for me to add it as a possible run destination. I have tried numerous actions: Restart all devices Repair my watch Use hotspot so everything is on the same network Delete and reinstall Xcode None of these actions seem to be working. Does anyone have a way to get my watch to show up?