Watch and Fitness App: Swim inaccuracies at distance calculation

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Level 1

8 points

Watch and Fitness App: Swim inaccuracies at distance calculation

I have recognized that my Apple Watch Series 4 does not calculate the distance appropriately (free water). I found out this has been troubled many people but these conversations are now closed. But the problem still exists.

One helpful answer has been to restart both devices (watch & phone) reset the activity calibration. After that the watch collected distance data which seemed to be correct, or merely correct in comparison to the former state (62m vs. 0,45 km). But today the problem came back, even with moving my arm above water level the measurement has been totally wrong (75m or so).

Am I the only one with this problem?

Apple Watch, watchOS 4

Posted on Sep 15, 2021 5:57 AM

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Answer 1

jdo_apple

Community Specialist

Sep 16, 2021 9:13 AM in response to wider-spider

Hello wider-spider,

We workout too and understand the importance of the distance, calories, etc. being correct.

You mentioned restarting both devices fixed the issue for a while. Did you restart again, and this time it was not corrected?

What watchOS is installed? The latest version is watchOS 7.6.2. Update your Apple Watch. And the current iOS version is 14.8. Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If this continues after restarting and updating, you will want to reach out to Apple Support by going to Get Support.

Take care!

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Answer 2

wider-spider Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 25, 2021 5:24 AM in response to jdo_apple

The reset helped just once to gain a realistic distance. All the results are still totally wrong with the update you mentioned and even with iOS 15 and watchOS 7.6.2.

I will install watchOS 8 - thought I already did, but automatically updating Apple Watch is … strange.

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Answer 3

wider-spider Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 27, 2021 3:41 AM in response to jdo_apple

Still no valid distance even with watchOS 8.0 and iOS 15.0.

I swim approximately 25 minutes and the distance records 70m…

I might reset the calibration once more and try again. After this last attempt I definitely need to contact the Support.

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Answer 4

wider-spider Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 29, 2021 1:10 AM in response to jdo_apple

I contacted the support, got a remote analytic session on the watch - the sensors seem not to have any problems. I followed the advise to unpair the watch. After this reset I paired the watch again.

The problem persists: after reaching the water, the watch does not record any distance (but seems to record the heart rate).

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Answer 5

wider-spider Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 16, 2021 8:02 AM in response to wider-spider

It‘s watchOS 7.6.1 NOT 4, as suggested by the tags.

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Watch and Fitness App: Swim inaccuracies at distance calculation

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