Airplane mode not in sync with apple watch

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Level 1

5 points

Airplane mode not in sync with apple watch

I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 26.0 and an Apple Watch Series 8 with watchOS 26.0.

This is a followup of my previous question, posted in December 2024 (Airplane mode not in sync with apple watch - Apple Community).

After a few phone calls with Apple service, I was told this is a bug that would be fixed with the upcoming updates. Today I updated both the phone and the watch to the latest OS. The problem is still not fixed and this is frustrating.

This is the issue:

When I switch on Airplane Mode on the watch, it activates it on the iPhone. When I switch it off on the watch, it does the same thing on the iPhone. The problem is that the reverse is not possible. When I switch on Airplane Mode on the iPhone, it is not activated on the watch.

Apple Watch Series 8, watchOS 11

Posted on Sep 16, 2025 01:55 AM

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Answer 1

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,838 points

Sep 16, 2025 03:12 AM in response to kretakoa

The Airplane mode sync works perfectly in both directions for me (iPhone 15PM and Watch Series 9). The only way I can make it fail is to deliberately turn off Bluetooth.

I suggest check your Bluetooth is fully enabled and active on both devices. If that doesn’t work you could try unpairing (erasing) your Apple Watch then setup and pair again to force all settings back to default. Dont forget you will need the login credentials for your Apple Account (ID) if you do the re-pairing route.

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Answer 2

kretakoa Author

Level 1

5 points

Sep 16, 2025 04:18 AM in response to Branta_uk

Thank you for your reply. I contacted Apple care and they told me they will report the issue once more to the Apple engineers.

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