Help keeping iPhone Air and Apple Watch connected and synced

Question

Level 1

4 points

Help keeping iPhone Air and Apple Watch connected and synced

I’m having trouble with my Apple Watch SE syncing with new iPhone 17 Air. They are paired and connected. I have also deleted and repaired a couple of times, it doesn’t make a difference.

An example: my exercise info isn’t making it back to my phone. I can’t update the watch face from the phone to the watch.

if I’m on wifi at home I will sporadically receive messages and notifications to my watch. As soon as I leave home, the watch and iPhone are no longer connected. Paired, but not connected.

Over the last 2-3 days I have tried restarting both, resetting sync data, unpairing, re-pairing - multiple times. Both devices’ software is up to date.

Please help - it’s driving me mad!

Posted on Dec 25, 2025 10:04 PM

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Answer 1

Ingo2711

Level 10

80,229 points

Dec 26, 2025 8:19 AM in response to Kat_Hicks

Did you also try to erase the watch and pair it again, setting it up as a new device?

You will only lose your created Watch faces and may have to activate the cards in your Wallet app again.

In case this does not work either, and an iPhone Air is being used, this might also be iOS related and you should let Apple Techs know directly about it by using the feedback link:

Feedback - Apple Watch - Apple

Feedback - iPhone - Apple

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Answer 2

Kat_Hicks Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 26, 2025 4:26 PM in response to Kat_Hicks

For anyone else with this problem who comes upon the thread, I worked it out. I’m in NZ so had to set up my phone to US region etc to enable Apple Intelligence properly. On watch if I mirror iPhone the complications are different, wrong or not available so I did custom and set to NZ. This seems to be what had confused the connection. I went back to NZ in my Phone and back to mirror phone in watch and it seems to have sorted it’s self out.

It seems sadly it’s a compromise either way - working intelligence with no watch connection, or no intelligence for watch connection :0(

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Answer 3

Kat_Hicks Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 26, 2025 3:16 PM in response to Ingo2711

Thank you, yeah I have done that a couple times now. I will follow the links you provided. Thank you very much!

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