Apple Watch not showing incoming calls when iPhone is in Lockdown Mode

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Level 1

8 points

Apple Watch not showing incoming calls when iPhone is in Lockdown Mode

Hello,

I have an iPhone 13 Pro with iOS 17.0.3 and an Apple Watch 5 with watchOS 10.0.1. Half a year ago I noticed a bug: when my iPhone is in lockdown mode, I do not receive incoming phone call notifications on my watch, I usually get a notification about a missed call on my watch as soon as the caller hangs up. But it does not vibrate during the incoming call. It does not depend whether the iPhone and/or the watch are locked or not, and it immediately works again as soon as I turn off the lockdown mode.

My question is: how can I get this to work with newer iPhone/Watch models? This is a crucial feature for me and I would be willing to upgrade the hardware if it solves the issue.

I already brought this up with the support. This behavior was considered unexpected by them and they mentioned that they heard about this happen before. I spent hours with the support to install debug profiles, reproduce the issue, but they couldn't send the debugging info from the watch and the phone to their servers, and at some point they just gave up. I'd be really greatful if someone had this issue before and has any suggestions how to fix it, or can confirm that it might work with different/newer hardware.

[Edited by Moderator]

Apple Watch Series 5, watchOS 10

Posted on Oct 10, 2023 03:22 PM

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Answer 1

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,706 points

Oct 10, 2023 03:58 PM in response to colrado

I am absolutely certain, and the reported working when not in Lockdown mode indicates the hardware is not physically defective or broken. If we were physically close enough I would even offer a beer bet that when using the same software, new hardware will have exactly the same characteristics and behavior. However, with distant working one of us would have to try pouring beer over the internet link, and iPhones don't like the taste.

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Answer 2

colrado Author

Level 1

8 points

Oct 10, 2023 03:42 PM in response to Branta_uk

Thanks for your reply. BT is definitely working, all other notifications are still working.

I also suspect that newer hardware won't solve the issue. But maybe someone got this feature working on newer hardware before I start ordering a new iPhone and Apple Watch, just to send it back a day later after testing.

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Answer 3

Branta_uk

Level 7

32,706 points

Oct 10, 2023 03:38 PM in response to colrado

The functionality changes in Lockdown mode are all in the software. Upgrading hardware is very unlikely to provide any changes to behavior while using the same software version. However a software update might bring some functional changes.

With regard to the lack of notifications you have noticed, I suspect this is a consequence of Lockdown mode, probably because Lockdown restricts or shuts down the Bluetooth link between the iPhone and the Apple Watch. I couldn't see any explicit mention of Bluetooth in the notes about Lockdown mode, but BT is the kind of function which I would expect to be restricted. You might be able to go into Settings/Bluetooth on your iPhone and see if the watch still shows as an active connection.

About Lockdown Mode - Apple Support

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Apple Watch not showing incoming calls when iPhone is in Lockdown Mode

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