Apple Releases watchOS 10.4 With Fix for Ghost Touch Bug

[MacRumors]

Apple today released watchOS 10.4, the fourth update to the watchOS 10 operating system that was released in September. watchOS 10.4 comes over a month after watchOS 10.3, a minor update that brought a new watch face.

‌watchOS 10‌‌.4 can be downloaded for free through the Apple Watch app on an iPhone running iOS 17 or later by opening it up and going to General & Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to have at least 50 percent battery and it needs to be placed on a charger.

watchOS 10.4 adds support for new emoji characters that were also added to the iPhone, including lime, edible brown mushroom, phoenix, broken chain, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), and shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake).

There is also a Setting to disable the Double Tap feature on Apple Watch when using Vision Pro, and an option to double tap to show an expanded notification. Apple also included a fix for a bug that could cause some users to experience "ghost touches" on the display, a problem that was affecting the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2.

Apple's release notes for the update are below:

watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements, and bug fixes, including:
- Tap to Show Full Notification setting now allows you to double tap to expand the notification
- Using Apple Pay with Confirm with AssistiveTouch will require a passcode for additional security and will not support double clicking the side button
- Resolves an issue that causes some users to experience false touches on the display
- Fixes an issue that prevents contacts from syncing to Apple Watch for some users

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

More on the features that have been added in watchOS 10 to date can be found in our dedicated roundup.

Article Link: Apple Releases watchOS 10.4 With Fix for Ghost Touch Bug

 

[Howard2k]

Topographical maps?

 

[Fuzzball84]

I hope they added new Emoji too... thats critical. Emoji are important.

 

[srknpower]

Takes forever to prepare…

 

[metalsiren]

Takes forever to prepare…

yep mine still in preparing.

 

[metalsiren]

I dont know if this thing will ever finish "preparing"

 

[Gator5000e]

No dock...no update. Sticking with watchOS9.

 

[notai]

yep mine still in preparing.

seriously.. you can update all your apple devices at once to latest OS in less time than the watch. somethings not right in the world of watchOS updates

 

[MattG]

For MONTHS now my watch hasn't been displaying upcoming calendar events; it constantly says "no events today" no matter what. Apple hasn't been able to figure it out either. It'd be nice if this also got fixed but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[jz0309]

Takes forever to prepare…

The whole update took around 20 min on my Ultra2.
I just put it in the charger once it’s downloaded and then just go about my day.
And I always initiate from the watch

 

[jz0309]

seriously.. you can update all your apple devices at once to latest OS in less time than the watch. somethings not right in the world of watchOS updates

Try initiating watchOS updates from the watch itself, not from phone

 

[threesixty360]

I haven't updated my series-4 for ages now, too scared it's going to kill the battery again. Weird to not trust an apple update.. QC on them seems a bit nuts for older models.

 

[kenbewick]

Try initiating watchOS updates from the watch itself, not from phone

did this routine on mine.. it wasn't the download time to the watch that took forever... it was once it was downloaded to the watch that is sat at the preparing stage... finally finished..

 

[notai]

Try initiating watchOS updates from the watch itself, not from phone

have tried both and definitely notice from phone it takes crazy long. if it indeed is slower from phone they should perhaps add a message about it.

 

[notai]

did this routine on mine.. it wasn't the download time to the watch that took forever... it was once it was downloaded to the watch that is sat at the preparing stage... finally finished..

the mysterious "preparing..." could be compiling from source on the watch itself, it takes that long

 

[metalsiren]

deleted the update trying again.... never had to do that before lol
Series 8

 

[xmarcuswildx]

Thank you jeebus. This was driving me NUTS.

 

[srknpower]

deleted the update trying again.... never had to do that before lol
Series 8

How can I delete it?

Edit: Okay. Found it. In the Watch App.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

This is so slow. It's been suck on preparing for the last 20 minutes. I really hate updating the watch. There has to be a better way.

 

[Mother Nature]

Try initiating watchOS updates from the watch itself, not from phone

Exactly.
If the update is already downloaded (because you started from the iPhone), just delete the update package and start the update from the watch. That always works.

 

[CosminM]

after update i have no weather and activity in complication…

Edit : they miraculously came back

 

[notai]

came back after starting 2hrs or so ago... still "preparing" iPhone 14 Pro and Watch Ultra.. wtf
no button/option on either phone or watch to stop this, they both just say "preparing..." might need to hard reset both, not sure..

 

[ChromeAce]

From the magazine American Ghost: “Apple locks us out of yet another device.”

 

[Godspeed8230]

Isn‘t it a bit funny that Apple lists new emojis as a feature yet completely hides any changes in a firmware update?

 

[denleschae]

Finally! They fixed the crown button opening the app list. Instead of taking you to the top of the list every time it returns you to the previous position like it was pre watchOS 10.