Having problems with your Activity GPS on your Apple Watch?
Headlines all over the internet have mentioned Apple’s new iOS 14 and watchOS 7 operating systems. These new updates bring a lot to the table, with features like the App Library, widget customizations, camera software upgrades, and more for the iPhone and iPad.
The Apple Watch isn’t exempted from this and has also been ramped up with new fitness options, the Sleep App, the Handwashing feature, and more! Unfortunately, the update also came with a lot of problems and bugs.
In this article, we will guide through several methods to fix your Activity GPS issue so you can get back to working out.
Let’s get started!
- 1. Restart Your Devices.
- 2. Check Your Privacy Settings And Enable Fitness Tracking.
- 3. Unpair and Re-Pair Your Apple Watch.
1. Restart Your Devices.
Restarting your devices is a great way to troubleshoot and fix software issues. This is because restarting your iPhone and Apple Watch will terminate all running programs as well as your device’s operating system.
This will clear any bugs running in your phone’s RAM. Once your device powers back on, the software should run and boot like normal. Now contrary to a lot of articles, doing a force restart is not the ‘ultimate fix’ for your problems.
A conventional restart will reboot your entire device on a software level. And for anything related to software issues, this is all you need. A force restart actually functions as a hardware-level reset since this process will directly cut off your phone’s power from the battery, forcing it to shut down.
You can think of this similarly to unplugging your computer to turn it off, which is impractical and potentially hazardous. Force restarting your phone is a feature that Apple added so you can still restart your phone even if it freezes or hangs.
Here’s how you can restart your iPhone:
- First, press and hold on the power button for a couple of seconds. You can find this located on the right side of your iPhone.
- Next, a slider that says ‘Slide to power off’ should appear. Drag this to the right to turn off your device.
- Finally, after a couple of seconds press on the power button again to turn your iPhone back on.
Next, follow these steps to restart your Apple Watch:
- Just like the iPhone, press and hold on the power button for a couple of seconds. This too is on the right side of your Apple Watch.
- Now, a list of different sliders should appear, but for this method just drag the Power Off slider to the right.
- After your device has been powered off, hold down the power button again to turn it back on.
Now both your devices should be reset. Try to check the Activity GPS on your Apple Watch to see if the issue persists.
2. Check Your Privacy Settings And Enable Fitness Tracking.
Apple allowed its users to retain their default settings and preferences during the operating system update. This is a much thoughtful move on their part. However, there have been cases where settings and options were either reset or corrupted during the transition.
In this case, it would be best to check your privacy settings to troubleshoot your problem. This way, you can double-check and make sure all your necessary settings are in order.
Here’s how you can check your Privacy and Fitness Tracking settings:
- Start by opening up the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Next, locate and proceed to Privacy.
- Now, make sure Location Services is enabled.
- After that, navigate and proceed to Motion & Fitness.
- Once you’re there, make sure that Fitness Tracking is enabled.
3. Unpair and Re-Pair Your Apple Watch.
It’s entirely possible for your Apple Watch and iPhone to have a malfunctioning connection after both operating systems were updated. To fix this, the best solution you can try to do is to re-pair your devices.
In doing so, the cache files responsible for keeping the preferences and default connectivity settings between your Apple Watch and your iPhone should be deleted. Since these files are erased, when you pair your two devices again, they should connect like they did the first time.
Here’s how you can unpair your Apple Watch and your iPhone:
- First, make sure both of your devices are within close proximity to each other.
- Next, go ahead and open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and navigate to the My Watch tab at the bottom-left corner of your screen.
- Now, tap on the watch at the top part of your screen. This should direct you to a list of Apple Watches your iPhone has a history of pairing with.
- Then, locate the Apple Watch you’re having a problem with and tap on the info button ( i ).
- Select the Unpair Apple Watch. A prompt might ask you if you want to keep or discard your data plan, for this method, go ahead and keep it.
- Finally, go ahead and Confirm to fully unpair your Apple Watch and your iPhone. Restart your devices for good measure before we start to pair them.
Next, follow these steps to pair your devices again:
- Open up the Apple Watch app again and tap on Start Pairing.
- Now, your back camera should be activated. Position your Apple Watch underneath your camera and make sure your watch fits comfortably inside the square viewfinder.
- Once you’re done with that, both your devices should be paired again! Revert any settings back to how you prefer them and try the Activity GPS one more time.
Try the Activity GPS once again to see if the issue still persists.
The issue with the Activity GPS has been a recurring problem in Apple’s forums. According to one comment,
“Okay – I have just got off the phone with a (very helpful) Apple Health technician.
It IS a known bug, and they are currently working on a fix. They are confident that no pre-upgrade data has been lost (even where it’s not currently showing), but aren’t sure if the stuff recorded since upgrade will contain the GPS track once the bug is squished.
No timeline for a fix currently, as the fix is in active development, but hopefully very soon.
He added that his phone/watch is having exactly the same issue…”
Seems like not even Apple’s employees are immune from the operating system’s bugs and glitches. Other notable methods you can try would be to reset your Apple Watch back to its factory settings as well as performing a reformat on your iPhone.
However, we completely understand if you don’t feel like going through all that trouble. iOS 14 and watchOS 7 are new operating systems that have yet to be stabilized as bug-free operating systems. Waiting for a new patch with bug fixes might be in your best interest.
As of September 30, 2020, Apple’s latest releases are iOS 14.0.1 and watchOS 7.0.1.
Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, we hope that this fixed your ‘Activity GPS issue on watchOS 7 and iOS 14’. If you have any other questions relating to the article, you can leave a comment down below or discuss your concerns with our other readers.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
