Apple Watch users may no longer be able to communicate via iMessage: Apple’s messaging app, which supports SMS in addition to iMessages, crashes as soon as a chat is opened, as those affected report. Sometimes the receipt of a new iMessage is enough to paralyze the smartwatch for a short time. In this case, the watch screen only shows a black screen with a loading wheel, until the clock face finally appears again.
Crash on new iMessage
The error not only prevents you from receiving and opening iMessages and SMS messages, but also from composing new messages, which also always results in a crash. A reaction to new messages is thus paralyzed, which not only affects creating your own answers, but also selecting a ready-made quick answer – both lead to a crash.
The first reports of the iMessage crashes go back around two weeks, and the bug now seems to be spreading: The number of reports in forums is growing, and iMessage is also not on an Apple Watch in the Mac & i editorial department due to the crashes usable longer. So far, the iMessage problems have apparently not appeared on the iPhone paired with the Apple Watch.
WatchOS 9.5 is coming soon
Common basic troubleshooting steps like restarting the Apple Watch don’t fix the error, and even more tedious actions like unpairing and re-pairing the watch or resetting it do not reportedly resolve the issue reliably. However, a remedy is in sight: The upcoming version watchOS 9.5 eliminates the iMessage bug, as reported by developers with access to the preliminary version of the operating system. The update for the watch operating system should appear shortly, Apple has promised it together with the new Pride Edition for the current calendar week 20.
(lbe)
