Apple Watch Missing Developer Mode Option

Developer Mode is at the bottom of Settings > Privacy & Security. The cell is tappable; once you tap it, you'll see the switch.

I have exactly the same issue. If I go to the bottom of Privacy & Security on the watch there is an option to go into the App privacy report but no option to switch on Developer mode Please advice

Same issue here, I have the ultra, and everything is updated but no developer mode setting available on the watch...

The developer mode button is missing for me too. There's nothing below App Privacy Report on my new Apple Watch.

I had Xcode playing nice with my older Apple Watch, and was able to load apps that I wrote onto it. Since I got a new watch, I can no longer test apps on my watch. It is listed as "waiting for first unlock" in the simulator list despite it and my phone both being unlocked... I thought the solution might be that I needed to turn on developer mode--that's when I discovered the option is missing).

After a while and quitting/restarting Xcode while my phone was connected, the message changed to say developer mode was disabled on my watch. Then the developer mode setting magically appeared and I could enable it. Then the Xcode message changed back to waiting for first unlock. Then I had to trust the computer (again - I already did this on the new watch while trying to debug this problem). It still wasn't working until I quit and restarted Xcode yet one more time. Then it finally worked.

I had to have my phone plugged in to access developer mode on my Apple Watch. I didn't need to restart Xcode tho

For me it took un-pairing and re-pairing the phone to Xcode, which then decided it didn't know my watch's metadata anymore for a bit... (Device was called for a while) But once Xcode re-fetched the device metadata, and got into a state where it said developer mode was disabled, only at THAT point did the option of enabling Developer mode appear in Settings > Privacy & Security for me. (Way at the bottom, so you know where it ISN'T, and know where to look once it DOES show up.)

No Apple documentation on this anywhere that I could find.

I was able to get Developer Mode option in Privacy&Settings following these steps (watchOS 9.3):

0.) I turned on developer mode on my iPhone 1.) I tried to run watchOS app from Xcode on my watch although it said its unavailable 2.) I turned off developer mode on my iPhone and they turned it back on 3.) Tried to run app watchOS app from Xcode again on my watch, this time I got error massage that I need to turn on developer mode 4.) I went back to Privacy&Settings on my watch I Developer Mode appeared on the bottom

Hope this helps!

I see the same issue with a Watch Series 9. There is no switch to enable developer mode in the Privacy & Security menu (WatchOS 10.0.1), and the Watch also does not show up in Xcode. Developer mode works as expected on iPhone.

I was also struggling with this problem for a week and tried nearly every link I found on Google...

So I had a perfectly working setup where I could run and debug my app on the Watch. Then I got a new Watch, but could not enable developer mode and hence did not see the Watch in Xcode. The setup: Xcode 15.0, WatchOS 10.0.2, iOS 17.0.2, macOS 14.0, iPhone 15 Pro, Watch Series 9.

Here is what worked in the end:

• Unpair Watch from iPhone.
• Unpair the iPhone in Xcode.
• Switch off development mode on iPhone.
• Turn off iPhone.
• Delete all Xcode settings as described in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/705846.
• Delete Xcode, empty trash.
• Restart Mac.
• Restart iPhone.
• Download Xcode 15.0.
• Unpack, open Xcode 15.0.
• Open project (no elegible devices connected to My Mac).
• Connect iPhone to Mac via USB cable.
• Select "Trust computer" on iPhone. iPhone shows up in Xcode, but asks that developer mode to be enabled.
• Enable developer mode on iPhone.
• Restart iPhone.
• iPhone shows up in Xcode as development device.
• App starts successfully on iPhone.
• Close Xcode.
• Disconnect iPhone from USB cable.
• Pair Watch to iPhone as new watch (no restore from backup).
• Wait until all Watch apps have been installed.
• Open Xcode.
• Connect iPhone with USB cable.
• Watch shows up in device overview in Xcode, but asks that developer mode to be enabled.
• Developer mode finally appears on the Watch.
• Enable developer mode on Watch.
• Restart Watch.
• Start Watch app in Xcode. Prompt to register device appears.
• Register device.
• The app starts on the Watch.

I wish there was a less invasive way to solve the problem, but I found none and this worked for me.

After looking for quite a bit... watch --> settings --> Scroll to the very bottom, below all of the apps --> HERE is developer

It is not under privacy & security on watch

At the top of the settings app on my watch was a notice to sign in to my AppleID. This made the developer setting appear again

In my case, my Watch even doesn't appear on devices list on Xcode and the developer mode was hidden.

The steps below made the device appear on the list and the "Developer Mode" option appears to on Settings -> Privacy & Security.

1 - Unplug the iPhone from Mac. 2 - Unpair the iPhone on Xcode 3 - Disable developer mode on iPhone 4 - Enable developer mode on iPhone (here, in my case, the devices list already appears the watch) 4.1 - Restart the iPhone.... 5 - Enable developer mode on Watch.

In my case, my Watch even doesn't appear on devices list on Xcode and the developer mode was hidden.

The steps below made the device appear on the list and the "Developer Mode" option appears to on Settings -> Privacy & Security.

1. Unplug the iPhone from Mac
2. Unpair the iPhone on Xcode
3. Disable developer mode on iPhone
4. Enable developer mode on iPhone (here, in my case, the devices list already appears the watch)
5. Restart the iPhone....
6. Enable developer mode on Watch.

With Watch OS 10.1 and Xcode 15.0.1 I was facing the same issue, Developer Mode was missing. After spending the whole night the issue was my Mac's Bluetooth, it was turned off and I spent all night finding the fix. Turning Bluetooth on solved the problem. Developer Mode showes up in Privacy & Security and everything worked fine.

So what worked is, turn off your iPhone > turn on > plug iPhone into MacBook > Trust > On Watch: Settings > Developer > Enable all

nvm I still have issues, I'm trying to unpair to see

So, I've fixed it by unpairing and repairing but it isn't straight forward. It takes time, random even.

I was also having the issue where my watch was not showing up in the list of devices, nor did I have an option to enable developer mode. I followed @Igor-ribeiro-dev's advice, but with some modifications:

1. Unplug the iPhone from Mac
2. Unpair the iPhone from Xcode
3. **On iPhone, clear all trusted computers (Settings > Developer > Clear Trusted Computers)
4. Disable developer mode on iPhone
5. Enable developer mode and restart the iPhone
6. **Quit out of Xcode
7. Plug in iPhone via USB cable, and Trust computer
8. **Open Xcode, and try to run app on iPhone, at which point iPhone will prompt you to trust computer again, so do it.
9. Xcode should also detect your watch
10. Enable developer mode on watch
11. Run app on the watch.

I think the issue I was having was when I was plugging my iPhone into my Mac, I also had Xcode open, and so both "trust" messages weren't getting through, because I didn't have time to respond to the first one (entering my PIN) before the second one would pop up. By waiting to open Xcode until after I trusted the computer initially, things seemed to work fine for me. Hope that's helpful for anyone else that might be struggling with this.

My solution was to make an IOS->watch app, install it on the iPhone and from the iPhone watch app install the application on the watch, when I run it on the watch it tells me that to do this I need to have developer mode and now is when Appreciate the developer button on the watch.

-- Develop and hello worlds IOS with watch target -- Install on Iphone -- Open watch app on iphone -- Install watch app on list of watch app (iphone app) -- Execute app on watch -- Appear message... you need to be a dev mode on watch 8'''( -- NOW you can SEE a new button dev mode on watch on setting-> privacy-> DEV MODE!!!

Here is my path to enable developer mode on the Watch, inspired by @tyxop's reply.

My specific issue: Xcode Version 15.3 did not show Apple Watch in Devices and Simulators. It only showed my iPhone 14 Pro, running iOS 17.4.1, but not my Apple Watch Series 9 with watchOS 10.4. This was on a MacBook Air M3 with macOS 14.4.1.

After trying many options listed in this thread, the watch finally showed up in Xcode. Still, I never reinstalled Xcode or unpaired Watch from Phone. Below is what I did and it might be related to the Watch finally showing up:

What did not work: I connected phone via USB, disconnected USB and then unpaired from XCode Devices and paired it again. It did so several times with restarts of Xcode and also switching Developer Mode on iPhone off and on, rebooting MacOS as well. Watch did not show up, nor did I get any trust-this-device query on the Watch, only on the phone. I also dis/enable bluetooth on the Phone, but again, this did not solve my issue. The Watch did not offer the Developer Mode setting in Privacy & Security, also rebooting the Watch in between had no effect.

Finally I created an SampleApp in Xcode with > new Project >Watch Companion App. As the Watch was not shown, I could only target the iPhone 14 Pro as device. As this was the first dev cycle with the iPhone, Xcode promoted to add it to the Developer account Device List and created automatically provisioning profile and execute that SampleApp on the Phone.

What worked: The SampleApp's Watch companion App was shown on the Watch itself (on the Phone Watch App, it was listed under the available apps section). When starting it on the Watch, a message was shown reading "app cannot be installed because its integrity could not be verified" (text my be a bit different, I did not reproduce it an noted it incompletely). I rebooted the Watch, which took quite long (Xcode still open).

When it came back, I could enable Developer Mode on the Watch (I do not remember Xcode's messages, but I think, the Watch was already shown in the Devices list by that time). After enabling Developer Mode on the Watch, I could target the Apple Watch for running the App and Xcode prompted to also add the Watch to the Developer Account Device List before the App finally executed on the Watch.

I tried everything mentioned on this thread and nothing worked. What worked for me was the following steps:

1. Shutdown Xcode.
2. Disconnect iPhone from your Mac.
3. On your iPhone, go to Developer and tap on Clear Trusted Computers.
4. Power down iPhone.
5. Power down Apple Watch.
6. Restart iPhone.
7. Restart Apple Watch.
8. Start up Xcode. Don't open your project just yet.
9. Attach phone to your Mac.
10. Xcode -> Windows -> Devices & Simulators.
11. There should be a banner across the top of the D&S window indicating that the phone and/or phone and watch is/are getting ready for development. Wait for that to complete.
12. When complete, open your project and run on the watch.

I hope this helps and happy coding!

I tried many of the solutions here. What worked for me was unpairing the watch from iPhone and pairing it again, before connect iPhone to Xcode fresh new with a cable.

I tried literally EVERYTHING listed here and nothing worked. Apple PLEASE do something with it, this is ridiculous. Why on earth do you have such complicated and NOT documented logic for this. Its quite logical that i might want to turn on dev mode on apple watch if my iphone already has dev mode

Im really getting annoyed, ive tried basically every sequence in this thread. Pairing and unpairing the watch and phone, restarting, resetting the watch and setting it up as a new watch but nothing works and I cannot continue working on a pretty important project because of it