12.1 Beta 3 Watch Unlock issues

[adam-stark]

Hi All,

Since upgrading to 12.1 Beta 3 I can no longer unlock my Mac with the watch (S4 8.3 beta). This was working fine on Beta 2 and earlier.

I can activate and de-activate the option to unlock by watch in preferences with no issues (no errors), so there is no problem with communicating with the watch, but whenever I try to prompt to unlock, the mac simply straight away prompts for a password / touch id. Usually I see the spinning wheel for a couple of seconds as it trys to communicate with the watch, i don't get that since Beta 3.

Anyone else seeing this ?

If not, I'll raise it in feedback....

Thanks all !!

Adam

 

[William Baker]

I'm able to unlock my M1 MBA (12.1 21C5039b) with my Series 6 watch (8.1 19R570), but upon unlock I get a black screen with a working cursor that seems to be impossible to exit from without a restart. Closing/opening the lid either does nothing or gives a really nasty glitched video screen that still can not be exited from without a restart. For now I guess I'll just disable the feature, since everything else is working.

 

[vince22]

Hi All,

Since upgrading to 12.1 Beta 3 I can no longer unlock my Mac with the watch (S4 8.3 beta). This was working fine on Beta 2 and earlier.

I can activate and de-activate the option to unlock by watch in preferences with no issues (no errors), so there is no problem with communicating with the watch, but whenever I try to prompt to unlock, the mac simply straight away prompts for a password / touch id. Usually I see the spinning wheel for a couple of seconds as it trys to communicate with the watch, i don't get that since Beta 3.

Anyone else seeing this ?

If not, I'll raise it in feedback....

Thanks all !!

Adam

no issues S4 8.3 beta3 unlocking my Macbook Pro 2015 with Monterey 12.1 beta3, iphone 12pro Max IOS 15.2 beta3.

 

[Squuiid]

Hi All,

Since upgrading to 12.1 Beta 3 I can no longer unlock my Mac with the watch (S4 8.3 beta). This was working fine on Beta 2 and earlier.

I can activate and de-activate the option to unlock by watch in preferences with no issues (no errors), so there is no problem with communicating with the watch, but whenever I try to prompt to unlock, the mac simply straight away prompts for a password / touch id. Usually I see the spinning wheel for a couple of seconds as it trys to communicate with the watch, i don't get that since Beta 3.

Anyone else seeing this ?

If not, I'll raise it in feedback....

Thanks all !!

Adam

Exact same issue here. Has been fine until Beta 3. Hopefully we'll see an update later today.

 

[n(H@rD$e]

Mac Mini M1 Beta 3 & Watch S7 unlock just fine.
MacBook Pro 2019 Beta 3 & same watch doesn't unlock but did with beta 2

 

[adam-stark]

Ok thanks, I am not alone it seems as others are seeing the same (but not everyone). I have raised it in the feedback tool. Let's see if today is an update day !!

 

[NYCValkyrie]

Also unable to unlock my Mac mini (2018) as of this recent Beta update with my AW
6 on 8.1. was fine on Beta 2. Will report as well.

 

[adam-stark]

*Update* By signing out of my Apple ID on my Mac and signing back in , then rebooting my Mac, watch and iPhone... I was able re-enable unlock with watch and it works again... all a little odd, but please to have it back...

Adam

 

[NYCValkyrie]

*Update* By signing out of my Apple ID on my Mac and signing back in , then rebooting my Mac, watch and iPhone... I was able re-enable unlock with watch and it works again... all a little odd, but please to have it back...

Adam

Tried this but didn't work for me. Previously, I could at least tick the box even if it didn't work but now when I try, it gives me the "Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch." It's definitely connected to my WiFi because I can use the remote on my AW to control my ATV. But now the Mac on Beta 3 can't find it. I'll add it to my bug report.

 

[adam-stark]

Tried this but didn't work for me. Previously, I could at least tick the box even if it didn't work but now when I try, it gives me the "Your Mac was unable to communicate with your Apple Watch." It's definitely connected to my WiFi because I can use the remote on my AW to control my ATV. But now the Mac on Beta 3 can't find it. I'll add it to my bug report.

Yes, this happened to me the first time I tried it too.. rebooting all 3 devices, Mac, iPhone and watch is what fixed that for me... (after signing out and back in with my Apple ID on my Mac)

 

[NYCValkyrie]

Yes, this happened to me the first time I tried it too.. rebooting all 3 devices, Mac, iPhone and watch is what fixed that for me... (after signing out and back in with my Apple ID on my Mac)

Yes, I did that a few times. Still no joy. They'll sort it out in the next update, hopefully.

 

[n(H@rD$e]

This mornings beta 4 install seems to have resolved unlocking with watch

 

[NYCValkyrie]

This mornings beta 4 install seems to have resolved unlocking with watch

It did not fix it for me. Would love to know if it worked for others!

 

[adam-stark]

It works for me on Beta 4, but I managed to get it working on Beta 3 in the end too by signing out and back in on my MAC with my Apple ID (then rebooting phone, mac and watch at the same time). As part of me trying to get it to work, I also performed the following that I found on another thread (before I did the sign out/in above)... but not sure if this was part of the fix or not in the end.

• Open settings, privacy & security, general and uncheck open with apple watch.
• Open Keychain Access, under View menu make sure 'show hidden items' is enabled.
• Search for 'auto unlock' select all the auto unlock entries, right click and delete them.
• Search for 'autounlock' select all the autounlock entries, right click and delete them (some will instantly reappear).
• Open settings, privacy & security, general - then make sure your apple watch is unlocked and your iphone is unlocked and both near the mac. Then check open with apple watch.
• Open "Finder" and navigate to "~/Library/Sharing/AutoUnlock"
• There should be two files "ltk.plist" and "pairing-records.plist"
• Delete both files
  (Some users have reported better success restarting macOS at this stage)

A.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

It works for me on Beta 4, but I managed to get it working on Beta 3 in the end too by signing out and back in on my MAC with my Apple ID (then rebooting phone, mac and watch at the same time). As part of me trying to get it to work, I also performed the following that I found on another thread (before I did the sign out/in above)... but not sure if this was part of the fix or not in the end.

• Open settings, privacy & security, general and uncheck open with apple watch.
• Open Keychain Access, under View menu make sure 'show hidden items' is enabled.
• Search for 'auto unlock' select all the auto unlock entries, right click and delete them.
• Search for 'autounlock' select all the autounlock entries, right click and delete them (some will instantly reappear).
• Open settings, privacy & security, general - then make sure your apple watch is unlocked and your iphone is unlocked and both near the mac. Then check open with apple watch.
• Open "Finder" and navigate to "~/Library/Sharing/AutoUnlock"
• There should be two files "ltk.plist" and "pairing-records.plist"
• Delete both files
  (Some users have reported better success restarting macOS at this stage)

A.

This worked! I did reboot after all the steps and Watch unlocks the MacMini again. Thanks for posting!

UPDATE: False alarm. This did not fix the issue after further testing. It still doesn't work, sadly.