It Just Works, Until It Doesn’t
If you’ve only used one type of Apple device, it’ll be easy to switch to the other side. However, if you routinely roll with multiple Apple devices, they have you locked down as a long time customer pretty good. The simple magic here is Apple devices just work together so well. Being able to unlock your Apple Watch with your iPhone is one of the examples. Just grab the Apple Watch from its charger, slap it on your wrist, unlock the iPhone that the Apple Watch is paired to, the Apple Watch will be unlocked as well. This is much easier than (then if you are American) typing in the passcode on the small Apple Watch screen.
If you have an iPhone with Touch ID and you’ve recently upgraded to iOS 14.7 (18G69, released on July 19, 2021), you might have noticed that unlocking your iPhone no longer unlocks your paired Apple Watch. Apple has noticed this issue too and they’ve pushed out iOS 14.7.1 today (18G82, July 26, 2021) to fix this very issue.
Download iOS 14.7.1 for the Unlock with iPhone Fix
To get iOS 14.7.1, go to the Settings app on your iPhone, scroll down and tap on General, and then Software Update. You will want to have at least 50% battery or connect to a power source to install the update. If you are charging wirelessly, you will need to wait until the battery reaches 50% to begin the installation. TMI?
How to Enable Unlock with iPhone for Apple Watch
To enable Unlock with iPhone, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch, scroll down and tap Passcode, and finally make sure the toggle is on for Unlock with iPhone. You might need to type in your passcode for your Apple Watch and also authenticate on your iPhone.
