Unable to Activate Auto-Unlock

Hello,


So i've installed the beta 2 on all of my devices, enabled 2 step factor auth etc... etc... Everything seems to be working but when i hit the checkbox to enable the service, i get stuck with a endless 'Turning On...' spiral and it never ends. If i close everything and come back, rehit the 'Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac', i get the turning On... again forever.


Any ideas on how to fix this?


Thanks,


Phil

  • I have the same issue. Did all the recommended things of rebooting everything , turning off sharing and so on. Still get the spinning wheel. Apparently its waiting to the watch to display allow $%^s MacBook Pro to access and push the side button on the watch twice to accept but that stage never happens. It seems the laptop doesn't see the watch. and is waiting for a response that is not going to happen. Im on a MacBook Pro 2021 14". My other Macs are working with the watch just fine.

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IMHO, this feature is just unstable at least on my late 2013 MB. It began working again last night, then stopped. I changed nothing in between. I did a fresh install on a blank partition and it still persists. This morning auto lock worked several times and just before typing this message, it did not work. I cannot find a process that is interfering with auto lock.

Tweak, Ensure handoff is on. I had the same problem but the update had turned it off. As soon as I turned it on it unlocked my Mac straight away

I tried everything described in the thread without much luck. I could not get the checkbox in the settings to show up on the latest model of MacBook retina 13" and my watch was untrusted on the appleid. I got it working after unpairing and pairing my watch. After that the checkbox immediately showed up in the settings.


Just go to My Watch app, and tap on your watch at the top. Then click info button on the right and select Unpair Apple Watch. Then follow instructions on the screen. Unpairing and pairing, and restoring from backup might take a while, so be patient. It took probably 40 mins for me.


After the sync had been complete, the check box magically appreared in the settings and I was able to unlock my laptop without problems. Also my watch finally became a trusted device on the appleid site.


Tried it several times, seems to be working so far. I hope it helps.

Apple Developer Relations08-Jul-2016 04:40 PM

It needs to be a Mid-2013 or later Mac. Please provide your response or results by updating your bug report. If uploading files, please compress first.

Same here on a late 2013 Macbook Pro.. I logged in an out on all devices several times and even deactivated 2FV in between.. Nothing made that checkbox show up..

I, too, had everything set up correcty, but my Mac would not unlock via Watch when exiting from the screen saver. So, I clamshelled it shut, waited, and opened the screen. *poof* the unlock-via-Watch worked as advertised. So, I tried enabled the screensavere and moving the mouse. *THIS* time it worked. It's as if waking from sleep just once "jarred something loose." 🙂

I have the Beta 2 of watch 3.0 on my watch and ios10 beta 2 on iphone, but the public beta of sierra on my laptop. (long story)


having trouble getting the "cant communicate with your watch" message when i click the checkbox.


any ideas?

Hello i have the same problem...


Sierra Public Beta

iOS 10 Public Beta

Watch OS 3 Beta

The same problem, my mac cannot communiate with my watch.

Macbook Pro 13'' mid-2014, with mac OS sierra public beta 1.

iPhone 6 with iOS 10 developer beta 2.

Apple watch with Watch OS 3 developer beta 2.

Macbook pro 13'' mid-2014. the same problem.

Yep, same here. Fresh install on 2015 MBP. Apple Wach on my wrist.

i got this working this way:


i noticed that my machine name on the mac I was using was the same as another mac in my network. So I went to manage my Apple ID, and deleted the Mac from my list of approved devices. Then I signed out of iCloud on that Mac, and then renamed my machine name to something uniquen(in the sharing section of settings) and thensigned back into iCloud on the Mac.


whwninwent to activate the watch...it worked!

It started working for me when I turned handsoff off...

I think I have found the problem..

You have to go to your iPhone,

then go to Watch app --> Passcode --> and turn on the "Unlock with iPhone" option.

Now go and enable the service from your mac

Just set up b3 (directly from b1) and I got this error.


Simply powering off the Apple Watch. booting it, and unlocking it with my iPhone allowed the Mac to connect to it.


It doesn't work, but at least the checkbox is on! 😀