why is my apple watch viewfinder not working (SOLVED!)

Having an Apple watch is something that is extremely convenient since it can easily help you manage calls, texts, your fitness, and so much more. However, the Apple Watch is still a piece of technology and is occasionally prone to have some problems, like when your watch viewfinder doesn’t work. So, if this starts happening on your watch, what do you do?

There are four main reasons that an Apple Watch isn’t syncing to Viewfinder. First, the watch is not in Bluetooth range. The second is the watch or phone need to be restarted. Another reason is the app might not be working and needs to be reinstalled. Lastly, the watch may need to be updated.

So, you now know what the four recommended solutions to this problem are and can possibly go and figure out a solution using one of them, but throughout the rest of this article, I will give details on each of the four solutions and give you a step-by-step guide on how to do each one so that you can make Viewfinder on your Apple Watch work again.

Make Sure You Are In Bluetooth Range

One of the most common problems is the Bluetooth range of the watch. The watch will only connect over Bluetooth if it is within 330 feet or 100 meters, and Viewfinder needs to be connected to your iPhone via Bluetooth in order to work properly most of the time. It can possibly work farther out, however, this is only if both the watch and the phone are connected to the same WiFi network.

Restart Both Your Watch and Phone

The first solution that you are going to want to try and do is to restart your phone and watch. If your Apple Watch or your iPhone are frozen in Viewfinder, you are going to have to force restart them, which isn’t recommended in a standard situation, but it will be your only option if the devices aren’t responding.

How to Restart and Force Restart Your Apple Watch

Before I go over how you are going to be able to force restart your Apple watch, I will go over how you typically will be able to restart your watch. This is a fairly simple process and can also be found in the user manual for your watch, but I will still cover it here.

The first thing you are going to want to do is to make sure that your watch is currently not on the charger when you are restarting it, as this can cause some internal problems that you will have to deal with later, so start by unplugging it from the charger. Next, you are going to push and hold onto the side button.

From there, if you have an Apple Watch 9, you will want to look for the power button in the top-right corner. Tap the power button and then slip the power off option.

If you have an Apple Watch 8, when you hold the side button you will see the power off slider. If you slide it, your watch should turn off. With both of these watches, you will then just push the side button again until you see the Apple logo.

If you have to force restart your Apple Watch, you are only going to want to do this as the last resort. To force restart your watch, you are going to want to hold the side button and the Digital Crown for 10 seconds. Once you see the Apple logo, let go of these buttons and wait until it turns on again.

How to Restart and Force Restart Your Phone

When it comes to restarting your phone, the biggest question is what version of the phone you have, as Apple has implemented 3 different restart methods over the years.

If you own an iPhone X, 11, 12, 13, or later, when it comes to restarting your phone, you are going to want to start by holding onto the side button and either of the volume buttons. You will hold onto these buttons until the power off slider options appears. Simply slide this option and then wait about 30 seconds before turning your phone back on.

If you have an iPhone SE (2nd or 3rd generation), 6, 7, or 8, you are going to have a much simpler time restarting your phone. You will just have to hold the side button until the power off slider appears. Just like with the other phones, slide this to shut it down, wait 30 seconds, and then turn it back on.

If you have a first-generation SE iPhone, or any iPhone from the 5th generation or earlier, you also are going to have a different method of restarting your phone. Yours is also fairly simple, as you just have to hold the top button until the power off option appears. From there you will stop your phone, wait 30 seconds, and then turn it back on.

If you do have to force restart your phone, which you should avoid doing, you are going to want to follow these instructions. First, press and release the volume up button, then press and release the volume down button, and then press and hold the side button until the screen goes black and eventually the Apple logo appears. At this point, you can release the side button and let the phone restart.

Uninstall and Reinstall the Viewfinder App

The next most likely solution that you are going to want to go with is installing and then reinstalling the Apple Watch Viewfinder app. This is a fairly simple process where you just uninstall the app and then go into the app store and re-install it.

Before you uninstall the Viewfinder app, determine if it needs to be updated. You can do this by going into the App Store and going to the Viewfinder app. If the grey button says “Open”, it doesn’t need to be updated and should instead be uninstalled temporarily to fix various issues.

Update Your Watch

The last and easiest solution that you can do is make sure that your phone and watch are both as updated as they can be. If your phone or your watch aren’t updated, they won’t properly communicate with the Viewfinder app on your Apple Watch.