Apple launched a wonderful new feature earlier this year that couldn’t have come at a better time: Unlock with Apple Watch. However, iPhone 13 owners are claiming that it isn’t working, which Apple has acknowledged and promised to fix as soon as possible.
If you were wearing a mask—a scenario we’re all too acquainted with—you didn’t have to take it off to unlock your iPhone if you were wearing an Apple Watch.
To check your latest communications, for example, you would no longer have to remove your mask in public (risking intolerance from others and lowering overall safety).
Instead of simply claiming it didn’t recognize your face, the iPhone’s ingenious software would check in with your Apple Watch in a split second, instead of simply stating it didn’t recognize your face. It would unlock the iPhone if it received the desired response from the Watch.
All of this happened in less than a second. It was quite convenient, and it maintained the closeness that Face ID establishes with the iPhone.
Unlock with Apple Watch, on the other hand, isn’t functioning for some iPhone 13 owners.
I believe I owe you an apology for not informing you sooner. I’ve been reviewing the new iPhones for about two weeks and haven’t noticed anything. In my defense, mask-wearing regulations have decreased in recent months in the United Kingdom, so I haven’t used the feature much. However, things can and will change when the northern hemisphere enters winter, so it’s a useful talent to have.
No, I didn’t notice until I went to the theater on Friday night. (To answer your question, it was The Normal Heart at the National Theater in London, and while this isn’t a comprehensive review, let’s just say it’s fantastic, with Ben Daniels giving an outstanding central performance, and you should go.)
Anyway, like a good theatergoer, I needed to switch off my iPhone shortly before curtain-up, and when I tried to check a new message before doing so, I found the Apple Watch hadn’t done its job in unlocking the iPhone. The remainder of the audience was safe from telephonic incursions from me after one passcode and power down.
The simple line is that Unlock with Apple Watch isn’t working for me, and many others are having similar issues.
Apple released a support page today titled “If Unlock with Apple Watch isn’t Working on Your iPhone 13.” It describes the problem I faced and confirms that others who tried to switch on the function (it’s under Settings, then Face ID & Passcode) were met with a warning saying “Unable to communicate with Apple Watch.” It said this despite the fact that all other communications were working correctly. For example, if I couldn’t recall where I’d set my Watch, I could still send an audio alert to my iPhone.
Apple released a support page today titled “If Unlock with Apple Watch isn’t Working on Your iPhone 13.” It describes the problem I faced and confirms that others who tried to switch on the function (it’s under Settings, then Face ID & Passcode) were met with a warning saying “Unable to communicate with Apple Watch.” It said this despite the fact that all other communications were working correctly. For example, if I couldn’t recall where I’d set my Watch, I could still send an audio alert to my iPhone.
Apple claims that it will fix this in a future software update (which I believe it will). Until then, Apple informs us that you can still use your passcode to unlock your iPhone. That, on the other hand, feels very 2020.
Anyway, iOS 15.1 is already in public beta, although it could be a few weeks before it is released. I’m hoping for something before then, possibly iOS 15.0.1. To put things in perspective, this is a feature that only impacts iPhone 13 owners who also have an Apple Watch and are trying to unlock the phone while wearing a mask. Nonetheless, I am hopeful that a solution will be found shortly.
