Apple Watch 2 malfunction: random zoom-in, random zoom-out, and random scrolling.

This won’t work: Running lukewarm water thru crown as suggested on Apple website.

This won’t work: at a local Apple store, a lady working there told me it was a display issue. That does not make any sense, as the display is in a perfect condition and no one is physically touching anything when this crazy things happen. She simply is a terrible technician or plainly dishonest. My lesson: always think twice about what they said.

This is not work so far:

20190520: voice-call into Apple Repair (online, select “call to arrange a repair”). Explain the issue. They should set up a mail-in without charge for you. No other way around at this moment (as of 20190520) and I will update when more information is available.

20190524: I have never received a shipping box. I called in again, and they insisted to charge me for shipping in to repair. I refused.

Next step: I will read the warranty doc and find out what is going on. DRE2421 appears to have a successful experience.

[drcoolit]

this is a classic presentation for the digital crown when there is accumulation of debris in the underside of the crown area that is normally not visible. The water method DOES work but you have to be methodical and know exactly how to apply the water stream. One video on YouTube was showing use of WaterPik to direct a thin stream of water to the underside area beneath the crown. This person has the right idea (better I think than the faucet method OK'd by Apple) but would NOT suggest using maximum setting on the WaterPik. (could force water past the seals). I also suggest periodic cleaning of this area especially if you routinely exercise with the watch. Sweat has a high concentration of salt and this affects the digital crown if it accumulates.

[DrDre]

Ok so in frustration I figured I’d give YYN’s method below a shot. I took my watch off held it by the long strap and hit it against a soft pillow in on the front, back, side with the crown and the side without. And what do you know the method seems to work for now at least. I’m wondering if something the crown and accelerometer has a miscommunication. Again if you try it do it against a soft pillow or a stack of towels. I have series 2 Nike Apple Watch and the scrolling started about 4 days ago. The unpair and restart methods did nothing so I think it’s a hardware issue not a software.

[venize]

dude, any update on this? It was so random for me. I have a series 2 nike edition, and it is in perfect condition, but for a month now I have had this problem

[aba]

I just bought my Apple Watch yesterday series 5 and it’s the same problem

[jacksonpatch]

don’t worry it’s just a ghost using your watch. let him be

[DrDre]

Apple replaced my watch for no charge. It’s a software issue. My watch was out of warranty for 2 years as well.

[yyn]

Hi all, I just fixed my Apple Watch with the same issue, as I tried many ways like you all did, running it under warm water on Waterproof mode, didn’t work. Restart, reset, unpair and re-pair, didn’t work. So I held the long strap, and smash it toward my duvet to release my frustration. It worked! Try it and just be careful the metal part may smash your watch screen.

[LalitYen]

Same issue, no warranty so I will got a local repair shop to se dog they can fix, apple said they cannot fix it

[juan]

Everytime that happens I just smack the screen hard & it stops

[michelvanewijk]

I was having the same problem. Scrolling icons and no warranty. So i decided to open the apple watch series 2 (used a ifixit video as reference). When the watch was open I booted it up. The scrolling problem still was there, and the icons kept scrolling and behaving like in this video. Then I saw that the battery was tilted a little towards the digital crown. I pushed it back straight, directly the scrolling stopped and the watch was working normal. Just to be sure I added some foam tape between the battery and the digital crown. I replaced the Force Touch sensor (only costing about € 9, -) to get a good seal and closed the watch. It now working for a couple days. I hope this will work for you to.

[benyeung]

I am calling into Apple right now and they have told me to update my watch. I have done this before and it usually does not fix the issue. Has anyone found a solution yet besides sending it back to apple? My watch is a series 3, but it is having the same issue you are!

[smecherov]

it's either the force touch ring or display

[JasonLeefdm]

I found the likely culprit. Bad solder joint for the digital crown flex connection. Under the battery is where the connection is. This is likely why physically jostling the watch briefly helps. I tried it myself and it helped for about 30 seconds.

I initially tried cleaning the digital crown from the inside and outside with a sonicare toothbrush with no success. My digital crown was free spinning so I didn't think that would work anyways.

I disassembled mine and the moment I pushed down on the battery, the scrolling stopped. I put it back together and I'm letting the unit cool before I power it back on. I imagine this will have fixed it, we will see for how long.

Yep confirmed. Fixed for now.

[Gary-em]

I have the same issue with my 4 series watch.

[ryanhoover]

Yo, have you had any luck fixing this? Mine is doing the exact same thing.

[jagdishrudani]

I have same problem in my Apple Watch series 4 . Out of warranty. Any solution guys. Plzz

[romankusy]

Hi mine series 2 started to doing it now did u find solusion???

[DrDre]

So it was suggested by Apple phone support I schedule an appointment at the Genius Bar to have a diagnostic ran on my watch. Turns out it’s a software issue. I was able to send my watch in to Apple to be looked more closely for no fee. Apple has decided to replace my watch at no charge since it’s a software issue not a hardware.

[forrestmurphy]

so I have a very similar issue... it seems to clearly be the Digital Crown but I have an idea of how it happened....
last week or so my apple watch (series 2 ) wouldn't let me turn the digital crown and when it budged it sounded like sand was in there and it made an awful scratching noise... idk why but I click the button and i literally heard the grain of sand break and I turned the Digital Crown some more and it seemed to be back to normal...

fast forward to 3 days ago when I updated my watch everything seemed fine until last night, Siri kept popping up so I disabled her, then my music app, heart rate and apps kept opening and I realized something isn't wrong with software on any of these broken watches something is triggering the Digital Crown to be pushed/ turned without me doing it because its only doing things that the Digital Crown is capable of a short term fix is put it into water mode it won't be distracting you... but if I do jerk my hand in any given direction the "turn digital crown to unlock and Eject water promo appears very very odd idk if my grain of sand has anything to do with it but very odd ill go try thrashing my watch at a pillow now ( yes I restarted my watch and rinsed the Digital Crown in water. no it still doesn't work correctly)

[zuwenhe]

sounds like a good idea. I hate waste of money.