Despite its small size, the Apple Watch is a very complex device on a technical level and sometimes a small failure can render the device unusable. May your nerves not be able to with you if your Apple watch does not finish turning on and has stayed in the apple logo, since it could have a simple solution at your fingertips to make it work normally again. In this article we give you a series of tips to get out of that loop and, incidentally, so that it does not happen again.
If it happens during an update
This failure is extremely common when updating the software. A new version of watchOS is installing on your device and suddenly, when you thought that the installation had finished and was going to turn on, it was blocked showing the Apple logo. We must tell you that, oddly enough, in many cases it is a normal process. It may be that the watch is still in the software update process even though the classic charging interface does not appear, so we recommend that you have a little patience. If after the passage of time it has turned off, try turning it on manually, maybe it will turn on now normally. If too many minutes and even hours have passed and your watch continues to show the Apple logo, there is probably a problem for which we will advise you in the next section.
Force restart with these steps
A forced restart, unlike manual restarts, is done in situations like these in which an unexpected failure appears and the Apple Watch does not respond to the touch with its screen or the pressing of the buttons. Forcing it will help the watch to get out of that loop and reset completely, again showing a normal power-up process. Of course, it does not always happen and that is why we will tell you more possible solutions in other sections, but first we advise you to try this one by following these steps:
- Press the side button and the digital crown at the same time and hold for ten seconds.
- After time, release the buttons. The screen should be off by now, although after that it has returned to show the Apple logo.
A trick that could work
Discarding the previous method, a trick that can be effective is to play a sound on the Apple Watch. How to do if it is blocked? Well, you just have to follow these steps:
- Open the Search app on the iPhone.
- Go to the Devices tab.
- Select your Apple Watch.
- Click on “Play sound”.
While those are the quickest steps, you could perform the same process from any other device that has the Search app and even from the iCloud website .
After this, the smartwatch should play a sound and emit a vibration that would take it out of that process in which it has been stuck. However, it may not be effective in all occasions, so if your watch remains the same you should continue exploring the following solutions.
Try unlinking it from your iPhone
At this point, you should try to unlink the clock from your iPhone so that in this way both lose communication and the processes that were running between them are paralyzed. Although at this point it may not be the most effective either, there is little more to do. We remind you of the steps to follow for this:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Go to the “My Watch” tab.
- At the top click on “All watches”.
- Tap on the “i” icon of the Apple Watch you want to unlink.
- Now click on “Unlink Apple Watch”.
Make the battery drain
The last solution at your fingertips is this and is that if the Apple Watch is still anchored in showing the apple logo, you probably have no choice but to wait for the battery to drain and therefore the screen turns off. For this it is essential that you disconnect it from the charger. Although the process may vary depending on the battery level you have and the watch model you have, the truth is that it is usually somewhat slower than under normal circumstances. The device is not consuming as much battery as when it is turned on normally, doing workouts, receiving notifications and more. Therefore you must be patient.
When it’s used up and the screen is off, try turning it on normally. You probably can’t turn it on if it doesn’t have a minimum battery level, so you’ll have to connect it to power.
What to do so that it does not happen again
If any of the options shown above has worked for you, the first thing to say is that we are glad that it has. Now we will give you two tips that, although they will not completely prevent a similar problem from reappearing, they will reduce the chances of it happening.
- Keep watchOS at its latest version . If you have not done so, you can go from the clock itself to Settings> General> Software update and download the latest version of the operating system. Also from the iPhone Watch app following a similar route in the “My Watch” tab, going to Settings> Software update.
- Restore the operating system . We know that it is tedious, but it is advisable to do a clean restoration of the device without leaving a trace of previous data, so you should not load any backup copy. Workouts and other health data will stay in sync even if you set it up as new. To do this, you must follow the unlinking steps that we discussed in one of the previous points.
If none of these tips worked
If unfortunately you find yourself without having been able to solve the problems, we are sorry to tell you that there is little more you can do that is within your reach. Watch probably have some sort of hardware failure that only Apple can verify and fix itself. We recommend you contact the technical service and make an appointment to have it reviewed. The cost will depend on whether it is a failure caused by a factory defect, whether the Watch is under warranty or whether it is due to misuse. In any case they will inform you in advance of all this. Remember that if you do not have an Apple Store nearby, you can request that it be collected at your home to take it to technical service or go to an authorized service that you have closer.
