One of the most convenient features of the Apple Watch is its ability to display real-time weather information with just a quick glance. It’s always helpful to know the temperature and current conditions so you can plan your day accordingly. However, there may be times when your Apple Watch stops updating the Weather app, and the information you see on the screen doesn’t match what’s happening outside. If you’re facing this issue, don’t worry! You’re not alone, and we’re here to help you get your weather updating in real-time on your Apple Watch.
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Check Your Watch’s Connection
To update the weather on your Apple Watch, it needs to be connected to the internet. Make sure your watch has an active connection via WiFi or cellular data. You can check this by swiping up on the Control Center and looking for an active connection to WiFi or Cellular. If necessary, toggle the WiFi or Cellular data icon to refresh the connection.
If you’re using cellular data on your Apple Watch, make sure you allow the Weather app access to use cellular data. You can do this by opening your iPhone’s Settings app, choosing your Weather app, and ensuring that Cellular Data is toggled on. If you have a GPS+Cellular model, also check the Cellular Data Usage section in the iPhone’s Watch app.
For GPS-only Apple Watches, ensure that your watch is successfully connected to your paired iPhone. Check for the green phone icon at the top of the Control Center. If it’s red, place your watch and phone next to each other, turn off AirPlane mode, and make sure that WiFi and Bluetooth are on. Restart your watch and see if the icon turns green.
Toggle Bluetooth Off and On
If you suspect a connection issue between your watch and phone is causing the weather not to update, try toggling Bluetooth off and on. On your watch, open Settings > Bluetooth, toggle Bluetooth off, wait a few seconds, and then toggle it back on. Repeat these steps on your paired iPhone by going to Settings > Bluetooth.
Open the Weather App on Your Watch
If your Apple Watch face isn’t automatically updating the weather to current conditions, open the Weather app on your watch to see if the weather updates. If you use a different weather app, open that app instead. If the weather is correct in the app but incorrect on your watch face, it’s possible that you’ve turned off background app refresh for the Weather app. You can enable it by going to the Watch app > My Watch tab > General > Background App Refresh or the watch’s Settings app > General > Background App Refresh. Make sure that Background App Refresh is on, and scroll down to the Weather app (or your preferred third-party weather app) and toggle it on if necessary.
Check Your Watch Face Weather Complication Settings
Your weather app complication on your watch face may be set to display something other than the temperature or your preferred weather metric. Edit your watch face using the Watch app or press and hold on the watch face on your Apple Watch to open the watch face editor. Choose the Weather app complication and review what weather metric you’ve selected. Change it to your preferred measurement, such as temperature.
Additional Tips for Showing the Weather on Your Apple Watch Face
If you’re still experiencing issues with the weather not updating on your watch face, try the following tips:
- Try removing the weather complication from your watch face and adding it back.
- Temporarily change your watch face to another one and add the weather complication to see if a different watch face makes a difference.
Open the Weather App on Your Paired iPhone
If the Weather app on your paired iPhone works correctly, close the Weather app on your Apple Watch and relaunch it to see if the weather updates and matches what’s on your iPhone.
Check Your Watch’s and Paired iPhone’s Location
Accurate weather data depends on your watch and iPhone having the correct location information. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, navigate to the My Watch tab > Weather > Default City, and choose “Current Location.” Then, open the Weather app on your watch or check the Weather app complication on your watch face to see if it now shows the weather for your current location.
If it doesn’t, make sure you’ve allowed your iPhone’s Weather app access to your location by going to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Weather and setting the location permission to “Always.” Also, go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Apple Watch Faces and set it to “While Using” with “Precise Location” toggled on. Finally, check the System Services in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and make sure “Setting Time Zone” is toggled on.
Try Restarting Your Watch and iPhone
Sometimes, a simple restart can fix various issues. Power off and on your iPhone first, and then power off and on your Apple Watch. If a regular restart doesn’t work, you can try a forced restart. To force restart your iPhone, press the volume up button once, press the volume down button once, and then press and hold the side button until the Apple logo appears. To force restart your Apple Watch, press and hold the crown and side buttons simultaneously until the Apple logo appears.
Check Background App Refresh for Your Weather Apps
To ensure that the weather updates continually on your Watch and iPhone, enable the Background App Refresh for the Weather app and any other third-party weather apps you use. You can do this by navigating to General > Background App Refresh in your iPhone’s Watch app or via the Settings app on your watch. Make sure the Weather app is toggled on, or if it’s already on, toggle it off and then back on.
Resync Your Watch’s Data to Your iPhone
If none of the previous steps work, it’s possible that your watch is out of sync with your paired iPhone. To fix this, open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to General > Reset, and tap “Reset Sync Data.” When you reset your Apple Watch’s sync data, it automatically fetches new data, including weather data.
If Nothing Works
If none of the solutions provided above work for you, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the weather app on your watch. For third-party weather apps, open the Watch app, go to the My Watch tab > Installed on Apple Watch, choose your preferred weather app, and toggle Show App on Apple Watch off to uninstall it. Then, scroll down to Available Apps and tap the weather app’s Install button to reinstall it on your watch. For Apple apps like the Weather app, uninstall and reinstall the app on your paired iPhone.
If nothing works at all, we suggest unpairing and re-pairing your Apple Watch to your iPhone. You can try restoring from a backup first, but if problems persist, unpair and re-pair it again, and this time set up your watch as new.
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