"Now playing" keeps defaulting to "on watch"

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Level 1

21 points

"Now playing" keeps defaulting to "on watch"

I listen to a lot of podcasts on my phone. I love being able to control them via "now playing" on my Apple Watch. But after a while (maybe a minute or so?) my watch defaults from "on iPhone" to "on Watch". I'm not playing the podcasts on my watch, only controlling them on there, so why does it keep doing that, & how do I make it stop? I want it to stay on "on iPhone".

I have an iPhone 12 Mini, updated to 16.4.1, & an Apple Watch series 7 (updated to 9.4.

I have "return to clock" set for 1 hour, which is the longest it will let you do. There's another setting regarding this that I can't remember now, but I have it set to the way that should make this work for me. Please help!

-Alicia

Apple Watch Series 7, watchOS 9

Posted on Apr 28, 2023 08:50 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

JAVA1018

Level 1

8 points

Dec 26, 2023 07:32 PM in response to mario49

it used to be like AliciaWag says,I also been having the same problem with podcasts why did apple added that in the last big update and why haven’t they changed it, it makes it so difficult that whenever I stop the podcast for any reason it goes back to on watch then I have to click back and select phone again and again and again if I have that my watch has to mirror my phone why is it NOT doing it I understand maybe that to be an option for people that have the LTE Apple Watch and are far from their phones but come on for people that have their phones at all times just makes it to have an extra 2 steps to just continue playing your podcast normally

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Answer 2

hc1111

Community Specialist

May 1, 2023 12:10 PM in response to AliciaWag

Hey there AliciaWag,

Whenever you use your Apple Watch to control your iPhone audio, it might change to the default device being controlled. You can change this, however, by using these steps:

If more than one device is available to play audio—an Apple Watch, iPhone, and HomePod for example—the name of the device you currently control appears in the top-left corner.

Tap < to see a list of devices, then tap one to control it.

Learn more here: Use Now Playing on Apple Watch

Take care!

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Answer 3

AliciaWag Author

Level 1

21 points

May 1, 2023 12:34 PM in response to hc1111

Hi hc1111 -

That's exactly what's happening. I'm using my Apple Watch to control my iPhone audio, & it's changing (after a short) time to the Watch being the default device. I know that I can change that back on my Watch by tapping the device (in this case, my Watch) that appears in the upper left hand corner & changing it to the device I want, which is my iPhone (but thank you for the suggestion). I've had to do that many times, but I don't think I should have to. It should stay on whatever device I'm currently listening to (my iPhone) & it's not. So my question is, how can I make it STAY on my iPhone, & not default back to my Watch after about 30 seconds or so? Thank you.

-Alicia

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Answer 4

mario49

Community Specialist

May 1, 2023 12:50 PM in response to AliciaWag

Hey AliciaWag,

We see you would like a specific feature change. We can point you in the right direction. If that’s something you would like to see in the future, please provide feedback using the following link: http://apple.co/Feedback

Please don't hesitate to let us know if you need additional assistance.

Take care.

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Answer 5

AliciaWag Author

Level 1

21 points

May 2, 2023 02:15 PM in response to mario49

Hi Mario49 -

I appreciate that, but I don't think it's a feature that I need changed. I think it's a bug that Apple needs to fix.

-Alicia

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"Now playing" keeps defaulting to "on watch"

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