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Can't Get AirPods Pro To Announce Workout Notifications

MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
When WatchOS 8 came out, it included a feature that would announce workout information to my watch or to my AirPods Pro, if I were wearing them. I always get an announcement but rarely do I get the announcements through my AirPods Pro. I have looked at multiple settings and I cannot get it to work. On my Apple Watch, I have announce notifications turned on under the Siri setting.

I do have a Fitness focus turned on when I am doing a workout. I have allowed Fitness and Watch to the allowed apps but that did not make a difference.

I am listening to music or a Podcast when during my workouts.

Any idea how to get the announcements to go through my AirPods Pro?

I have an Apple Watch Series 5 running WatchOS 8.3, an iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 15.2, and AirPods Pro with firmware version 4C165.

Thanks,

Mike
 
MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
Update: I went for my walk and the workout still only announces on my Apple Watch and not through my AirPods Pro. However, during the walk I did get an iMessage announcement, through my AirPods Pro, so things partially work.
 
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MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
Update #2: On my iPhone in Settings->Siri & Search->Announce Notifications, I have this enabled, which it always way. I changed Fitness from Off to On. When I did another walk, my watch announced the 1 mile mark but not through my iPods Pro.
 
Itinj24

Itinj24

Contributor
Nov 8, 2017
4,573
2,624
New York
Make sure the AirPods are connecting to the iPhone and Watch simultaneously. Apple broke something with one of the updates and now you have to manually connect the AirPods to the Watch. In Watch control center, hit the AirPlay button and then your AirPods. That should connect them. Have to do it manually now.
 
MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
@Itinj24, I tried that and it did not work. Drat!

I set the watch to AirPlay to my AirPods Pro and the icon changed from white to blue. Once Fitness/Workout made an announcement, it still played from my watch. On top of that, the AirPlay to my AirPods Pro turned off (the icon change back to white).

Something is really messed up here.
 
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Itinj24

Itinj24

Contributor
Nov 8, 2017
4,573
2,624
New York
MikeMcCollister said:
@Itinj24, I tried that and it did not work. Drat!

I set the watch to AirPlay to my AirPods Pro and the icon changed from white to blue. Once Fitness/Workout made an announcement, it still played from my watch. On top of that, the AirPlay to my AirPods Pro turned off (the icon change back to white).

Something is really messed up here.
Click to expand...
Sorry, this fixed my issues with phone calls and Siri requests and was hoping it would work for you. You’re not the only with this issue either. AirPods dual connecting to phone and watch has been an issue since one of the later iOS 14 issues. I’m getting really frustrated with Apple lately
 
DeepIn2U

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,047
6,983
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
On iPhone > Watch App Siri. Check enabled and volume.

Also is AirPod Pro’s connect to iPhone just before your walks and is iPhone with you?

When I’m at the gym my home arts locked in locker, I switch Apple Music to my AirPod Pro’s, I don’t notice Siri mentions as I’m out of Bluetooth & Wi-Fi range. When I head back to locker & in range any pending notifications I do get. Maybe it’s just Wi-Fi & Bluetooth?

Honestly I think you’ve found a bug n have submitted.
 

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MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
DeepIn2U said:
On iPhone > Watch App Siri. Check enabled and volume.

Also is AirPod Pro’s connect to iPhone just before your walks and is iPhone with you?

When I’m at the gym my home arts locked in locker, I switch Apple Music to my AirPod Pro’s, I don’t notice Siri mentions as I’m out of Bluetooth & Wi-Fi range. When I head back to locker & in range any pending notifications I do get. Maybe it’s just Wi-Fi & Bluetooth?

Honestly I think you’ve found a bug n have submitted.
Click to expand...
Yep, I have the same settings that you have.

Just another bug.
 
jsmyth92

jsmyth92

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2021
5
1
Same here. It's not announcing anything for me for my workout information. It's driving me insane. If you posted the bug, I appreciate you doing so! Someone on Reddit and Apple's website has posted the issue as well so I'm happy to know I'm not alone!
 
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jsmyth92

jsmyth92

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2021
5
1
So I talked with Apple support myself and the only thing they could come up with is that my watch face is open showing my progress and Siri only announces notifications when it's closed. Stupid because that shouldn't be.
 
jsmyth92

jsmyth92

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2021
5
1
Not sure what happened but it randomly started working. I'm out on a walk now and it said "one mile - pace 23 minutes 12 seconds" and eventually "exercise ring closed" so I have no clue what happened or why it's working again. No updates came out that I know of.
 
jsmyth92

jsmyth92

macrumors newbie
Dec 23, 2021
5
1
Only thing I can think of I did differently was that I put my Airpods in, then turned to my watch and said "Start my outdoor walk" instead of normally starting my workout then putting my Airpods in after I start walking. Usually that didn't matter though. So, honestly, I have no idea!
 
MikeMcCollister

MikeMcCollister

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 14, 2021
99
33
Charlottesville, Virginia
I upgraded to WatchOS 8.4 and it is till broken. Oh well.

One curious thing that happened yesterday when I still had WatchOS 8.3 installed. Before I got to 1 mile on my walk, the podcast I was listening to completed. During that quiet time I heard the 1 mile announcement on my iPods Pro.
 
H

Htsi

macrumors 65816
Oct 14, 2020
1,398
1,267
Same with airpod Max. Kilometer notification etc come thru watch speaker and not thru headphones
 
K

Kerrodt

macrumors newbie
Jan 18, 2018
15
1
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Did a solution to this problem ever become available/known?

I have a similar problem.

My AirPods Pro worked ok initially but they stopped announcing watch/exercise milestones as described above.

I think for me, the break point came when I had a warranty issue resolved with my AirPods Pro and both AirPods were replaced (but I retained the charging case). I went through the process of re-acquainting the AirPods with the case and then paired them to my devices. But after this, the announcements stopped.

Seems to be a long running bug. It should be fixed.
 
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