It wasn’t long after the watchOS 7 release that some Apple Watch owners started reporting missing GPS data from workouts.
Apple now has a suggested partial fix, but it appears it won’t restore the missing data …
We reported the problem last month.
Some Apple Watch owners are reporting missing GPS data following an update to watchOS 7. When they record a workout, only the start point is stored […]
The reports span the Apple Watch Series 3, 4, and 5 – that is, all existing models which support the update. Some say Apple has told them it’s a Strava issue, but others report the same thing with multiple apps.
Some have been able to fix the problem by un-pairing and re-pairing the Watch, but another user said this made things worse, losing existing data from their apps.
MacRumors spotted a new Apple Support document addressing the issue. It appears the iOS 14 and watchOS 7 updates could cause a whole array of problems, not just missing GPS data.
After updating to iOS 14.0 and watchOS 7.0, you might notice:
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Your workout route maps are missing in the Fitness app on iPhone for previous GPS-enabled workouts from your Apple Watch.
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The Activity, Heart Rate, or other health-related apps fail to launch or load data on your Apple Watch.
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The Fitness app or Health app fail to launch or load data on your iPhone.
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The Health app or Fitness app is reporting an inaccurate amount of data storage on your iPhone.
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The Activity app is reporting an inaccurate amount of data storage on your Apple Watch.
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Your environmental sound levels data or headphone audio levels data from Apple Watch is missing in the Health app on iPhone.
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Increased battery drain on your iPhone or Apple Watch.
Apple’s proposed solution is the rather scary one of erasing and restoring both Watch and iPhone.
- Unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone
- Verify iCloud settings and create a backup
- Erase all content and settings from your iPhone
- Restore your iPhone and Apple Watch from backup
The support document contains detailed instructions for each step. It also contains a warning Apple wouldn’t need if it didn’t limit free iCloud storage to 5GB:
Before creating a backup, make sure that you have enough iCloud storage.
From Apple’s wording, it would appear that these steps won’t restore missing data – that is gone for good. It says that the procedure will only ‘prevent future data loss.’
Note too that you’ll have to re-add payment cards used for Apple Pay on both your iPhone and your watch, as these won’t be restored automatically.
Author: Ben Lovejoy
Source: 9TO5Mac
