Apple watch keeps asking for passcode

Had the same issue when my apple watch updated to 11.1, as have a number of my co-workers. The issue is that the apple watch is paired with an iOS device that requires a complex password (special character or letter) and the watch does not support that. You get stuck in a perpetual "enter new password" loop, and there is nothing you can do. Hopefully Apple comes out with a fix for a complex password and not just a numeric one.

Same problem with my apple watch 7(updated to 11.3). Originally the pass code for my apple watch and iPhone were the same and even with Wrist Detection ON the pass code screen was always coming up.

I changed the pass code on my apple watch to something different than my iPhone and it has stopped asking for a pass code and functions exactly as it should. And it's also a better security practice from what I understand.

If you go to the Watch app, then head over to "Passcode", do you have "Wrist Detection" on?

I have tattoos on my left wrist, switched arms and it worked. Crazy.

ProdigyofPeace wrote:

I have tattoos on my left wrist, switched arms and it worked. Crazy.

No it is simple physics, subcutaneous ink blocks light. Apple designed them for all the range of human skin tones, not blue or green.

I have tattoos, switched to my less tattooed wrist....it works...

Wearing the Apple Watch on my less tattooed arm solved the issue — but now the band covers a small, deeply meaningful tattoo on the underside of my wrist 😣

Please, Apple, fix this! I’d really love to wear the Watch on my tattooed arm, especially for sleep tracking.

The heart rate sensor actually works fine during the day and workouts, even on the tattooed area — the issue is just that the Watch thinks it’s not being worn.

It’s a minor bug, but it has a big impact. Hope there’s a way to improve wrist detection for those of us with ink.

Try powering the Apple Watch down and powering it back on again. To do this, press and hold the side button, then tap the power button the top right, then slide to power it off. To turn it back on, press and hold the side button till you see the Apple logo.

Oh, well. I’d recommend contacting apple support as there is much we can do from our end. It could be a hardware defect or software glitch. The other thing you could do prior to taking it in, is to reset the watch and repair it to your iPhone.

If wrist detection is on, then the Watch shouldn't ask for a password unless it is taken off. Since it will know when it is on your wrist. If you're still having the issue, make sure you updated to watchOS 11.2 as that is newest version of watchOS. If the issue still persist, I'd take your Watch into a Apple Store to get checked.

Me too!! I have tried using the keyboard on iPhone option to enter and even though I know I am 100% definitely entering to correct password it says it’s wrong.

The option to enter on the watch itself doesn’t work as when I try to write 1 it always puts an l

come on Apple get this fixed please!!

nickschick wrote:

Me too!! I have tried using the keyboard on iPhone option to enter and even though I know I am 100% definitely entering to correct password it says it’s wrong.

The option to enter on the watch itself doesn’t work as when I try to write 1 it always puts an l

come on Apple get this fixed please!!

If you are being asked to enter a password using scribble then this is NOT the watch passcode, it probably relates to a third party app or complication that is no longer supported by OS11. Find and remove the app.

If you go to iphone, settings, notifications, turn on Apple Watch Keyboard, then any complex passwords can be entered using the iphine keyboard, butbit should nit happen very often.

Psejjy wrote:

Issue resolved on my end through our IT department. Setting was missing on the server side for the wrist detection, and allowing the watch to unlock the phone, vs the other way around.

Great, but that only applies to apple devices controlled by your employer or school and is a special case.

Just did this after confirming all of the previous suggestions. Phone and watch continuously ask for Apple ID and password. Assume it’s a glitch because I have special characters in the password. Updated both devices. Restarted both. Turned wrist detection off and back on. We’ll see….

Well, I’m using the passwords feature and it creates a long password and now I cannot get that password to be read by the Apple Watch. It’s insane to try to tap it out on the keyboard on the watch. When I copy and paste it into the keyboard that appears on the phone and supposedly connected to the watch it appears in that window on tge phone, but it never gets transferred over to the watch.

This is extremely annoying and I will add that it just started happening. I’ve been using the passwords app for a lot of things. It doesn’t work very well, but it’s OK. But in this case, it totally doesn’t work and it’s because I’m using it with my Apple account ? I guess it’s gonna get me to call Apple tomorrow.