"Now Playing" No Longer Shows Up Automatically

Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Apple Watch 2, Watch OS 6.1
iPhone 6s, iOS 13.2.3

As long as I've had my Apple Watch it automatically displays Now Playing when I raise my wrist and am playing music on my iPhone. This morning that stopped working.

I still have Settings > General > Wake Screen > Auto-launch Audio Apps set to ON.

I liked having Now Playing readily available as I frequently have to adjust the volume because Apple's Sound Check does such a poor job.

It's a real PITA to have to manually start Now Playing every time I need to adjust the volume. (Yeah, I know, I could adjust the volume on my phone, but why should I have to?)

I have tried force rebooting both the watch and iPhone. That didn't work.

I just installed iOS 13.2.3 this morning. I wonder if that's the culprit.

Any ideas?
 

IWT


Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
10,218
Reaction score
2,175
Points
113
Location
Born Scotland. Worked all over UK. Live in Wales
Your Mac's Specs
M2 Max Studio Extra, 32GB memory, 4TB, Sonoma 14.4 Apple 5K Retina Studio Monitor
I don't have the Apple Watch, Mike; but in general, the first thing I do in situations like yours is to go into Settings and switch OFF the misbehaving feature. Then Power Down the device (Not force shutdown), restart, then switch ON again in settings.

I think it's a good first principle. I know you rebooted both devices, but try that with the setting OFF. In fact, sometimes, just switching OFF then ON will do the trick.

Ian
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
I never used that function, but just turned it on and it works fine on my AW4. The first time I raised my wrist, the screen immediately showed what was playing. The second time it didn't but there was an icon top middle of my watch face (Infograph), that showed that my iPhone was playing music and when I tapped it the app opened and I could see what was playing. Again, I don't know if that is a change because I have not used the app before, but that's how it worked for me just now.
 
OP
R
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Thanks Ian.

What worked was turning the feature off, force rebooting the device and turning it on again.

Jake, normally Now Playing shows up when I lift my wrist. But, sometimes the watch face shows up with the Now Playing icon top center.

If you look on the watch at Settings > General > Wake Screen and scroll all the way down you'll see a section entitled "RETURN TO LAST SESSION APP". That's supposed to control this behavior, but I find it to be unreliable.
 

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
I just checked my iPhone 7 and I find the playing display has changed on my watch. There was an Apple Watch OS update last week so that may have been responsible. The volume control is now on the crown.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums
 
OP
R
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
I just checked my iPhone 7 and I find the playing display has changed on my watch. There was an Apple Watch OS update last week so that may have been responsible. The volume control is now on the crown.

The display is quite different. you could always adjust the volume with the crown, but now the volume slider is up next to the crown and, as far as I can tell, you can only use the crown to adjust.
 

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
Okay, there you go. I guess I don't do that much so I want sure but the display did look different.
 
OP
R
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Okay, there you go. I guess I don't do that much so I want sure but the display did look different.

Yeah. But I have to admit that with the original display it took me quite some time to discover that I could adjust the volume with the crown and didn't have to deal with the tiny little plus and minus signs on the display.
 

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,627
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
I dont have a car here much but when I return to Australia I will have Bluetooth in our car sound system. I like that I can adjust the sound volume without having to look at the watch. The Devices icon is now a lot bigger which I like too.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top