Apple Watch Missing Developer Mode Option

I had the same issue, and that's how I manage to make it work: go to the settings on the iPhone -> Developer -> check " WidgetKit Developer Mode" Now if you go to your watch -> Settings -> Privacy & Security -> you scroll all the way down, you will find Developer Mode waiting to be activated

I hope this will help you

No mater what I tried, the option to enable the developer mode on my watch just wouldn't show up.

What made the difference for me, is connecting the phone to the Mac via the cable. After that my watch showed up in the Devices window in Xcode and I was able to enable developer mode on the watch itself.

iOS18 watchOS11 macOS15 Xcode 16RC1 - Issue persists

iOS18 watchOS11 macOS14 Xcode 15.4 - Issue persists

I can install the app on to the phone but get an error when trying to install the app from the phone to the watch "This app could not be installed at this time".

The app does appear on the watch, when I try to open the app, I get the error:

Unable to Install "APPNAME" This app cannot be installed because its integrity cannot be verified

I purchased the watch in June '24 to do watchOS development, I figured they'd sort this out with the release of iOS18 and watchOS11. I've performed every step in this thread multiple times.

In my case, i using cable to connect the device is work, and the developer mode is show in applewatch. but through wifi is no show

To clarify for all its the settings in the watch that's on the wrist on the watch app or settings on the iPhone but settings physically acquired through the watch to turn on developer mode, and "hello world" it works! took me two hours to figure this out and wanted to contribute and save the headaches I've encountered. Hope this helps

All wrong, unpair on Xcode, connect the cable on iPhone and trust computer on both - make sure they are in the same network.

I was missing the options in my Apple Watch on watchOS 11.2 Dev Beta. I had to unpair my phone with Xcode, repair it, retrust the computer, then the Developer Mode option showed up on the watch about a minute later.

In my case, iPhone can open developer mode but watch can't find the option.

After one day of trying, I find out only let the xcode show "⚠️ open developer mode......" then the watch will show developer mode option.

For me it was the confusion between two Settings with the same name:

Settings--> Developer Mode WRONG

Settings--> Privacy & Security --> Developer Mode RIGHT

Here's every step on how I managed to do it

Prerequisites:

• Modern Mac (WatchOS needs a newer bluetooth module to communicate with the Mac, I used an M1 MB Air)
• WIFI Router

Steps

1. Plug in iPhone that has watch paired
2. Trust the computer
3. Add phone to Devices in Xcode
4. Ensure WIFI for Mac, iPhone, and Watch are all joined to the same SSID and band (not a mix of 5g & 2.7ghz)
5. Reboot watch, and unlock
6. Unplug iPhone from computer and plug back in
7. Accept the trust PC dialog on the watch.
8. After 10s unplug and replug iPhone in for a second time, watch should now appear in Xcode devices.
9. Wait for the provisioning, a yellow banner will eventually appear saying "Developer mode not enabled"

1. On watch go to Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Developer Mode -> Enable. The watch will reboot, and then ask again to turn on Developer Mode, Accept. Then ensure the WIFI is reconnected before continuing.
2. In Xcode Right click the watch and click reconnect. And wait for debug symbols to copy across.
3. I had to right click and reconnect in Xcode one last time before the watch was fully provisioned.