watchOS 26 Removed Offline Workout Voice Alerts
matthewfromteneriffe (Reddit):
Since updating to WatchOS 26 I no longer receive any alerts (i.e. pace, heart rate zone and splits) - only beeps, no voice alerts. I do not use headphones/iphone while running.
What I realized is that the alerts don’t work if the watch is offline, but will work if the watch is connected with the Internet. My watch is Wi-Fi only and I don’t take my phone on my runs, so it’s always offline during workouts.
The issue happens even if the watch disconnects mid workout. It’ll start playing alerts and stop as soon as the watch loses connection.
After a number of calls with a support person (and engineering via that support person), they confirmed verbally that to get voice feedback when not connected to an iPhone/internet, you need to download the voice files to the watch (I think I did this prior to updating to OS26 but had not done this in OS26 as I was not aware this was needed) AND your watch needs to be connected to headphones to play the voice alerts (although the voice alerts play from the watch when the phone is connected). The support person confirmed that this change is by design - naturally I voiced my irrigation and lack of clear communication by Apple that they had made this decision for me.
I did not test this as I do not use headphones when exercising so I am having my watch downgraded to the previous OS.
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If I hadn’t become so ‘addicted’ to tap to pay (and other tap functions) on the watch, I’d be switching to a Garmin.
In case this helps others experiencing this issue, I’ve spent numerous hours with Apple support on this and finally received an official response from their engineering team:
Workout Voice Feedback was removed on Watch OS 26 for GPS models of Apple Watch. This feature is still available on cellular models of Apple Watch as it now requires a network connection for the feature to operate. This feature applies to normal voice feedback during workouts. It is now expected that if the iPhone and GPS models of the Apple Watch are not within range of each other during the workout, that the voice feedback function will not work.
I’m experiencing the same thing, and I am completely dismayed by this change. Getting Voice Feedback without having to haul the phone around was the whole reason to get an Apple Watch as my fitness tracker (listening to music via AirPods was just an added benefit).
I have tried everything that is mentioned in this whole lengthy thread (downloading the speech files via Accessibility setting, adjusting the notifications to “all” instead of “Urgent”, Siri settings, etc.) without any improvement.
The Watch with OS26 doesn’t speak when it isn’t connected to an iPhone. The interesting thing is that the iPhone does NOT need to have a network connection — I had mine in my pocket, in airplane mode, and the Watch still gave me Voice Feedback. This is in line with the observations from MajorLeagueSoccer that their Watch with “cellular” doesn’t actually have a cellular connection, but does provide Voice Feedback as well.
This seems to contradict what the engineering team said. I don’t understand whether there’s an artificial restriction or a bug.
Previously:
