Hi, I’m currently developing a watchOS app and ran into an issue where I can’t enable Developer Mode on my Apple Watch.
Device info:
- Apple Watch Series 9 (watchOS 10.4)
- Paired with iPhone 14 Pro (iOS 17.4.1)
- Xcode 15.3 (macOS 15.5, Apple Silicon)
Issue: When I try to run the app on my physical watch device, Xcode prompts that Developer Mode needs to be enabled. However, there is no approval request on the Apple Watch, and no Developer Mode option appears under Settings → Privacy & Security.
I’ve already tried the following:
- Rebooting both devices
- Unpairing and re-pairing the watch
- Erasing and setting up the watch again
- Signing out and back into my Apple ID
- Using the latest Xcode version (15.3 and 16.3 both tested)
- Running clean builds and checking provisioning profiles
- Attempting install via both simulator and physical device
Still no luck — the app will not launch on the Apple Watch due to Developer Mode being disabled, and the option is missing entirely from Settings.
I visited an Apple Store Genius Bar, but they couldn’t help and told me to contact Developer Support. I’ve already submitted a support request, but in the meantime I wanted to ask here in case anyone else has experienced this and found a workaround.
Thanks in advance.