Battery or GPS problems since iOS 14 and watchOS 7? That’s how you solve them

Since the arrival of watchOS 7 and iOS 14, many people have been facing problems with their iPhone or Apple Watch. Apple has now explained how to fix these.

Every year when a major update comes out for Apple devices, bugs and other issues are always popping up. That is no different in 2020: shortly after iOS 14 and watchOS 7 were available for download, the first complaints appeared on the internet.

Two problems stand out: iPhone and Apple Watch batteries that drain very quickly and missing GPS and health data after a workout. The latter seems to occur mainly in people who exercise with their Apple Watch and leave their iPhone at home. Apple has published a list of related issues that can be resolved with the steps below.

You can fix these iOS 14 and watchOS 7 bugs:

• Shorter battery life of iPhone and / or Apple Watch;
• Your workout cards are missing from the Fitness app on your iPhone;
• Your activity rings, heart rate, or other health apps cannot load data from your Apple Watch;
• The Fitness or Health app on your iPhone does not start;
• The Fitness or Health app takes up a lot of storage on your iPhone;
• The Activities app takes up a lot of storage space on your Apple Watch;
• The Sound level information is missing from the Health app on your iPhone.

Fix these iOS 14 and watchOS 7 bugs in four steps

Do you have both an iPhone and an Apple Watch? Then there seems to be a relatively simple fix for these bugs. Apple today released a support document. Do you have one (or more) of the above problems? Then follow the steps below.

1. Disconnect your Apple Watch from your iPhone

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone;
2. Tap on ‘My Watch’ and then on ‘All Watches’;
3. Press the i-button next to the Watch you want to disconnect;
4. Tap on ‘Unplug’;
5. Your iPhone will now automatically back up all your Apple Watch data. You need this to restore your Apple Watch later.

2. Make a backup

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone;
2. Tap your name and ‘iCloud’;
3. Check if the switch behind the Health app is green, if it is not, you can turn it on now;
4. Tap iCloud Backup;
5. Turn on iCloud Backup;
6. Tap on Create Backup and wait for it to complete;
7. Check if your backup was successful by checking when your last backup was made. That should have been a few minutes ago.

3. Erase all settings from your iPhone

1. Open the Settings app;
2. Tap General and Reset;
3. Tap Erase All Content and Settings.

4. Restore your iPhone and Apple Watch from the backup

1. Boot your iPhone and restore the iCloud backup you just made;
2. Once your iPhone has been restored, open the Watch app;
3. Pair your Apple Watch again;
4. Choose the iCloud backup to restore your Apple Watch as well.

After the steps above, the problems with iOS 14 and watchOS 7 should be resolved. Apple will likely release an update that does the same in the near future. If you don’t want to wait for this, you can use the steps above to ensure that all your devices work as they should.