I'm building a freediving app for Apple Watch Ultra using the shallow depth entitlement (com.apple.developer.submerged-shallow-depth-and-pressure).
My app uses WKExtendedRuntimeSession with the underwater-depth background mode, and it works correctly — the session starts, Water Lock activates automatically, and Crown hold water ejection ends the session as expected.
However, the app does not appear in Settings > General > Auto-Launch > When Submerged on the watch. Other third-party apps (including one that hasn't been updated in ~2 years and presumably only has the shallow entitlement) do appear in this list.
My configuration:
- WKBackgroundModes: ["underwater-depth", "workout-processing"]
- WKSupportsAutomaticDepthLaunch: true (Boolean, in watch app Info.plist)
- Entitlement verified in both the signed binary and provisioning profile
- watchOS 26.3, Apple Watch Ultra 2
Tested with: development build, TestFlight, and direct Xcode deploy. Watch restarted after each. The app does not appear in any case.
The documentation at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coremotion/accessing-submersion-data states: "Adding the underwater-depth Background Mode capability also adds your app to the list of apps that the system can autolaunch when the wearer submerges the watch."
Does auto-depth-launch require the full depth entitlement (com.apple.developer.submerged-depth-and-pressure), or should the shallow entitlement be sufficient? Is there an additional step required for the app to appear in the When Submerged list?
Any guidance appreciated.