watchOS 10.4 Issues Mount for Apple Watch Users

Apple hasn’t released a new version of watchOS 10 in over a month and watchOS 10.4 issues impacting the Apple Watch continue to grow.

The latest version of watchOS 10, watchOS 10.4, was released on March 7th. In the weeks since, Apple’s pushed bug fix updates to iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but the company hasn’t released new firmware for Apple Watch. And users are becoming restless.

Complaints about watchOS 10.4 problems started as a whimper, but in the weeks since the software’s release, we’ve seen social media and forums light up with criticism about the software’s bugs and performance.

Many of these issues are minor bugs, but others are far more problematic and many Apple Watch users are desperate for fixes from Apple.

We aren’t going to list every single problem plaguing watchOS 10.4 users here, there are far too many, but here are some of the more prominent ones from users on Apple’s Community forums.

• Abnormal battery drain
• Installation trouble
• Issues with charging
• Problems with the Fitness app
• Ongoing ghost touch issues
• Pairing issues
• HomeKit problems
• Overheating
• Problems with the microphone
• Issues with Sleep Mode

And that just scratches the surface. There are pages upon pages of complaints about watchOS 10.4 on Apple’s forums and we’ve also seen Watch users report bugs on sites like X and Reddit.

While some Apple Watch users have found solutions for their issues, ghost touches in particular, others can’t seem to find a solution.

Apple Watch users who haven’t made the transition to watchOS 10.4 yet are encouraged to dig into feedback before making the move. Remember, there’s no way to downgrade back to older watchOS software is problems popup.

We’ve been using watchOS 10.4 on multiple Apple Watch models, including Series 4 and Series 7, and we haven’t run into any noticeable bugs or performance problems. That could change, but performance is holding up on our devices.

Apple’s currently working on new watchOS software. watchOS 10.5 is in beta testing, but its expected to stay there through the month of April.

Like watchOS 10.4, watchOS 10.5 is a milestone release which means it should be larger than a standard upgrade. We expect it to deliver bug fixes for lingering issues impacting the operating system.

Those that can’t wait until May will need to find a manual fix for their issue(s) or get in touch with Apple support.

In many cases, restarting the Apple Watch and/or iPhone will fix an issue. This can also iron out performance issues like UI lag. Apple Watch users can also try performing a hard reset.