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When developing an app, it is sometimes useful to force-quit an application without having to re-start the entire device.

On my iPhone, I can force-quit the active app by double-clicking the home button and swiping the app to the top.

For the actual Apple Watch (not the simulators), force-quitting an app is particularly useful since there are sometimes connection problems between Xcode and the watch app. Also, sometimes I would like to force-quit my Apple Watch app when it is not connected to Xcode.

So, how can I force-quit / terminate the active app on the Apple Watch without restarting the entire device?

John
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  • Press and hold the side button in (the button just below the Digital Crown) until the shut down screen appears. Let go of the side button, then press and hold it again – Fatti Khan May 15 '15 at 10:54
  • or use this link http://www.freewatchapp.com/article/34711-How+to+force+quit+a+problematic+app+on+the+Apple+Watch – Fatti Khan May 15 '15 at 10:54
  • http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/apple/how-force-quit-apple-watch-app-3611762/ – Fatti Khan May 15 '15 at 10:54

1 Answers1

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When the app that you would like to terminate is open:

  • Press and hold the side button and wait until the shut down screen appear. Then let go of the side button.
  • Press and hold the side button again until the home screen appears.

Your formerly active app has now been terminated.

PS: The side button is the button below the Digital Crown.

John
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  • To bad you did not post it on super user or think different. Because it is offtopic for stack overflow. – rckoenes May 15 '15 at 10:57
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    I'm developing an app for the Apple Watch. This frequently causes problems. One solution is to force-quit the app. I have a different post that explains what can be done to solve problems when building Apple Watch apps. I decided to create an individual post since I believe that many, many developers have the same problem. I think that this is very relevant for developers and many of them don't yet know about it. – John May 15 '15 at 11:00
  • @rckoenes: I have referenced this post in my other post (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/30180716/why-does-my-watchkit-extension-cause-a-waiting-to-attach-message-on-an-actual/30183538#30183538). This should show its relevance to developers. – John May 15 '15 at 11:02
  • Yes your other question is about watch kit, so yes that relevant. But just closing app is not really related to software development. – rckoenes May 15 '15 at 11:05
  • I understand that there can be different opinions. However, I would have profited a lot if I, as a developer, had known before about this possibility. I've lost an awful lot of time trying to build my app again and again. I would like to suggest the following: Let's keep the post for now to make sure that many developers learn about this. It's really helpful when developing for the Apple Watch. And it is not only useful when the message `Waiting to attach` appears. That's why I created a separate post here and referenced it in my other post. – John May 15 '15 at 11:08