Crashes and restarts?

[imwjl]

I did use the search tool first! I found threads about Facebook Messenger and third party apps.

In 4 days of ownership I've had two restarts. One was responding to alerts where the apps were Apple's own mail and messages apps. How common are crashes and restarts? My Apple phone, tablet and computers are more stable. My watch has a pretty simple software load. I deleted many apps it copied with initial setup. I believe third party apps I'm using are very popular across all Apple users for the watch that's really just Dark Sky, Weather Underground (not used more than 3x), and I've opened OneNote a few times.

I did check and all my software is up to date.

Stability is important to me because I am evaluating the watch for business use as much as for personal use.

Thx.

 

[rangerdeyo]

In my 12 months with an original version and 3+ months with a series 2, I can honestly say I've only had 3 times where one of the watches locked up. I've havent had an actual crash/restart.

 

[imwjl]

In my 12 months with an original version and 3+ months with a series 2, I can honestly say I've only had 3 times where one of the watches locked up. I've havent had an actual crash/restart.

That I got was the Apple logo just like a phone starting. I can't say what caused the first one. Today's way turning the wheel for email messages that arrived overnight.

 

[rangerdeyo]

That I got was the Apple logo just like a phone starting. I can't say what caused the first one. Today's way turning the wheel for email messages that arrived overnight.

Wish I had a suggestion. I've had really good luck (knock on wood) with the watch as I said. And I am one of those idiots who upgrades the OS right after it gets released.

 

[Mac Guy]

Among four Watches (3 AWs, 1AWS2) I have had one freeze and one restart on it's own. I have no idea what caused the restart but the freeze occurred when I tried to access the same app on my phone after starting to access it on my Watch.

Maybe un-pairing and re-paring the Watch might help. Something I read somewhere about somebody how always restarted their phone after adding an app to prevent problems stuck with me and I do the same. Maybe restarting the Watch after adding an app would help.

Not to forget- an app could be slightly buggy. Not everybody has the same problem with the same app. If it continues to be a problem then I'd contact Apple.

 

[tcuprof]

The first few months of the watch I had a few freezes that I had to fix with a force restart. Since OS2 I haven't had one on my original AW and I haven't had one on my Nike+. Despite the fact you're running only very popular 3rd party apps, a 3rd party app would be my primary suspect.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I've had my Nike+ model for 2 and a half months now and can remember the Watch restarting itself twice, one being in the middle of a run using the Nike Run Club app (the big clue was the music I had on my wireless headphones stopped or I might not have noticed for a while) and the other was just in general use (can't remember what happened exactly).

I think the biggest issue is the restart time - if the phone did the same you'd be back to where you were inside 30 seconds it with the watch it's a couple of minutes - ok, trying to keep a little perspective that's a first world problem, but I'd have been severely peeved if I'd been on for a personal best when it bombed whilst running

 

[imwjl]

I had a third restart in 7 days of ownership first thing this morning. In this instance it was right after it was off the nightstand and passcode unlocked. That made me wonder if it was about phone to watch sync and email or messages. It's very common for me to wake up with lots of html formatted email messages from my IT management consoles and systems.

The watch has been reliable when using it for exercise.

 

[tcuprof]

I had a third restart in 7 days of ownership first thing this morning. In this instance it was right after it was off the nightstand and passcode unlocked. That made me wonder if it was about phone to watch sync and email or messages. It's very common for me to wake up with lots of html formatted email messages from my IT management consoles and systems.

The watch has been reliable when using it for exercise.

Are you by chance using a 3rd party mail app? Maybe its watch app is the problem.

 

[imwjl]

Are you by chance using a 3rd party mail app? Maybe its watch app is the problem.

Thank you. No, Apple client with accounts Exchange, G Suite and IMAP servers.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

After a period of reliability (after 2 restarts I mentioned earlier in this thread) mine bombed again yesterday. Was in the gym using the stock workouts app recording a "strength workout" and about half an hour in I was left looking at the Apple logo. The restart took ages, not impressed. I suppose the irony is that I can't say for sure how long the restart took given that it was my watch that had crashed - it was definitely several minutes though

 

[tcuprof]

After a period of reliability (after 2 restarts I mentioned earlier in this thread) mine bombed again yesterday. Was in the gym using the stock workouts app recording a "strength workout" and about half an hour in I was left looking at the Apple logo. The restart took ages, not impressed. I suppose the irony is that I can't say for sure how long the restart took given that it was my watch that had crashed - it was definitely several minutes though

So 2 of the 3 crashes you've experienced were while running a workout app? Hmmm. I wonder if there could be anything physical causing it, like something loose inside the watch.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

So 2 of the 3 crashes you've experienced were while running a workout app? Hmmm. I wonder if there could be anything physical causing it, like something loose inside the watch.

Yeah possible, could be the HR monitor getting confused also. I do think it's probably software (could be the OS or the apps) rather than hardware though because there's been a long gap of many weeks between the crashes and maybe. If the hardware was going bad it would happen more often given that I wear the watch most of the hours that I'm awake

 

[eyecrispy]

I haven't had total resets but many app lockups. Unimpressed in general with reliability of 3rd party apps on AW. I use the workout app daily and haven't had it crash on me (yet).

 

[StraightlineBoy]

I haven't had total resets but many app lockups. Unimpressed in general with reliability of 3rd party apps on AW. I use the workout app daily and haven't had it crash on me (yet).

That's a big assumption that it's not the OS that's causing the issues. If the OS isn't stable then all of the apps are like building houses on sand. I guess we'll never truly know. I suppose unlike a phone there's the extra level of variability because with a phone app, the phone goes to fetch the data and it may fail or succeed which is relatively straightforward to deal with. With a watch app there's an extra line of communication that can fail, either because the watch and the phone aren't getting along or they might be talking fine, but the phone isn't getting anything back from the internet.

 

[eyecrispy]

That's a big assumption that it's not the OS that's causing the issues. If the OS isn't stable then all of the apps are like building houses on sand. I guess we'll never truly know. I suppose unlike a phone there's the extra level of variability because with a phone app, the phone goes to fetch the data and it may fail or succeed which is relatively straightforward to deal with. With a watch app there's an extra line of communication that can fail, either because the watch and the phone aren't getting along or they might be talking fine, but the phone isn't getting anything back from the internet.

I make no assumptions. Was merely stating that 3rd party apps are not reliable. Not sure what the root cause is but the end result is me being annoyed.

 

[StraightlineBoy]

Funny that cos I ended up annoyed too. As I see it the problem is Apple's problem because it will become seen as a weakness in their platform. I for one don't trust my AW to record outdoor runs at present and have reverted to using a Garmin because it doesn't crash.

 

[imwjl]

I will do the watch software update this AM and hope it improves reliability because I've had some more crashes.

 

[JustinVV]

I tried the update, not much has changed. Messages still doesn't work, maps may be a little quicker, and I havent got the grid issue tonight, but I havent moved from home either, I will test on the road, it may even be partly usable. But you can still crash it. Answering the phone and transferring it to the phone will often crash it.

Not sure about battery life, but I can easily get 2 days (late into the second night) with moderate the heavy usage, so I am OK with that. More the better though.

 

[JustinVV]

After the last Facebook update messages on the watch started working, and has kept working for a couple of days.