I used to be able to find my iPhone by asking my Apple Watch to find it. This no longer works. Now I get this message “I can’t tell if your iPhone is nearby. You can check it’s most recent location in the Find My app on iPhone.”
All software is up to date and I cannot find a solution on Apples support site.
Apple Watch SE, watchOS 9
I’m having this same issue and it arose as soon as iOS 17 was released.
since then if I misplace my phone in the house and try and ping it from my watch I get nothing now, both watch and phone are running latest updated firmware’s but it just doesn’t work anymore.
I can ping my watch from my phone if I need to but no longer my phone from my watch, the button indicates I’ve pushed it on the watch and turns blue for a few seconds but absolutely nada from the phone.
this has been a recurring issue on and off for people going by Google search results that go back the last good while.
so what has Apple broken now and how do we fix this so our expensive products actually work like they used to, this is getting ridiculous, something always gets messed up with every update and I’m starting to reconsider my long time apple product love of things don’t get better.
I’m having this same issue and it arose as soon as iOS 17 was released.
since then if I misplace my phone in the house and try and ping it from my watch I get nothing now, both watch and phone are running latest updated firmware’s but it just doesn’t work anymore.
I can ping my watch from my phone if I need to but no longer my phone from my watch, the button indicates I’ve pushed it on the watch and turns blue for a few seconds but absolutely nada from the phone.
this has been a recurring issue on and off for people going by Google search results that go back the last good while.
so what has Apple broken now and how do we fix this so our expensive products actually work like they used to, this is getting ridiculous, something always gets messed up with every update and I’m starting to reconsider my long time apple product love of things don’t get better.
Re: Watch won't ping iPhone:
Wondering if you can just ring your iPhone's number with the Watch, to hear a ringtone response from the iPhone.
or
whether you may need to update your iPhone and Watch to the latest iOS / watch OS versions to see if that helps.
You could check if your Apple Watch is in Low Power Mode, as several features would be turned off or modified.
or
Maybe something in this article may be helpful: Use your Apple Watch without your iPhone nearby - Apple Support
Eg: see "Find your friends, devices and items"
Thank you kindly for your reply.
You may want to send feedback to those who work behind-the-scenes at Apple.
The more feedback received on an issue, the more likely we'll see an update that addresses it, eg: Apple can see which watches / Watch OS versions are affected.
Web-form for feedback:
Nope it’s not in low power mode, I don’t physically put it in that mode ever, it only goes automatically in that when battery is waaaay low, if it was in low power mode then that is something that is immediately obvious to any watch user going to use their watch.
Did you check if your Apple Watch is in Low Power Mode ?
Watch won’t ping iPhone
