Messages bug in watch 11 or iOS 18 or both?

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Level 1

87 points

Messages bug in watch 11 or iOS 18 or both?

I think a bug has popped up under watchOS 11 or iOS 18 or both. At least I can't figure out how to stop this behavior. Here is the issue.

When I delete a single message on my Apple Watch running watch 11, it is deleting the ENTIRE conversation on my phone. For example, if I delete a message from John Smith on the watch that says, for example, I'm on my way, on the phone (running 18) all messages from John Smith (the entire "conversation") are deleted. Everything. The entire conversation is in the deleted folder. Yikes.

Also, I just noticed the confirmation warning on the watch that pops up when you are deleting a message says "Would you like to delete this conversation"? This makes it sound like a deliberate design by Apple. but it can't be a deliberate change by Apple, can it? I just want to clear some individual messages from my watch. Not the entire conversation from my phone.

This wasn't the behavior on iOS 17 or watch 9 (which I had before 11). I am not syncing messages with iCloud. Has anyone seen this? Does anyone know how to fix this? Thanks.

Apple Watch Series 8

Posted on Sep 18, 2024 01:48 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Hockey_bod

Level 1

26 points

Sep 19, 2024 06:49 AM in response to Gator5000e

They have opened a case they will have an update for me on Friday. They did confirm they were seeing the same issue after I called to report it.

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Answer 2

Gator5000e Author

Level 1

87 points

Sep 19, 2024 05:54 AM in response to Gator5000e

Well, I did some investigation last evening and it seemed this has been implemented since the early beta versions of either watch11 or iOS 18. And some people really like how this works. Hopefully, I am wrong and misread the info.

For myself, I hate this it as I usually keep around 10-15 messages/conversations on my phone at any time but like to clear out the messages/conversations on my watch. If this is a new designed feature, I really wish Apple would at least give us the option to turn this behavior off. But Apple is not really about giving it's users choice all the time, is it.

Hockey_ bod, please let us know what you learned from support, if anything.

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Answer 3

jqueefy

Level 1

20 points

Sep 18, 2024 09:49 PM in response to Gator5000e

experiencing the same issue and I hate it.

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Answer 4

jqueefy

Level 1

20 points

Sep 18, 2024 11:02 PM in response to jqueefy

Hoping it’s a bug, but it’s driving my crazy.

I like to delete all my messages from my watch, but now it’s deleting my messages on phone as well, not cool

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Answer 5

Sep 18, 2024 11:13 PM in response to Gator5000e

Having the same issue spent 2 hours on the phone with Apple support. Really hope they fix this quickly

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Answer 6

Gator5000e Author

Level 1

87 points

Oct 3, 2024 06:56 AM in response to jqueefy

Nothing that I have heard of as of yet. But I fear this may be an intentional move by Apple so I suggest that we all leave feedback on how much we dislike this at the Apple Watch feedback page which I have pasted below. Also, if setting up a support ticket through the support app on your phone will also let them know this is a problem. They might have to escalate you to the next tech level. They told me they have no knowledge of this change.

When chatting or speaking with them, let them know that is this IS a new way of handling messages on the watch and phone that we should get the option to turn this automatic deleting of messages from the phone when deleting message from the watch. Note the feedback link below is NOT the same as opening a support ticket through the support app.

Feedback - Watch - Apple

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