It can be frustrating when your Apple Watch unexpectedly enters Downtime, restricting access to the apps you need. In such situations, knowing how to turn off Downtime on your Apple Watch is essential.
This guide will walk you through the steps to turn off Downtime, ensuring your apps remain accessible when you need them most. But, before that, we recommend you clean your Apple Watch band.
How to Turn Off Downtime on Apple Watch
To turn off Downtime on your Apple Watch, open Settings on your iPhone, then go to Screen Time > Downtime and disable it. This should turn off Downtime. If the issue persists, please follow the troubleshooting steps below:
- Ensure your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone.
- Navigate to Settings > Screen Time on your iPhone and confirm that “Share Across Devices” is enabled.
- Consider unpairing and then re-pairing your iPhone and Apple Watch.
As a last resort, reset the sync data between your watch and iPhone. To do this, open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to General > Reset and choose "Reset Sync Data." Allow some time for the devices to resync.
The Final Measure
If the issue persists, your ultimate solution is to permit all apps you use on your Apple Watch during Downtime. This means you can still access essential apps while limiting others that might distract you.
To do this, open Settings on your iPhone, navigate to Screen Time > Always Allowed and select the apps you use on your Apple Watch. This will ensure you have access to all these apps even when Downtime is enabled.
With that, we are wrapping up our guide on how to turn off Downtime on Apple Watch. We hope you found our guide informational. Before heading off, be sure to explore our other guides, including how to connect Apple Watch to Strava.