Get watchOS 10.4 update to fix false Apple Watch screen touch and Double Tap issues

Get watchOS 10.4 update to fix false Apple Watch screen touch and Double Tap issues،

TL;DR:

The watchOS 10.4 update is as big for Apple Watch as iOS 17.4 is for iPhone.
Resolve conflicts between Apple Watch Ghost Touch and Double Tap with VisionPro.
The Apple Pay password replaces double-clicking the side button on the watch.

Apple is going on a software update spree with watchOS 10.4, macOS Sonoma 14.4, tvOS 17.4, visionOS 1.1 and even HomePod 17.4 software bringing new features and bug fixes across the ecosystem.

After the big iOS 17.4 update that brought an unprecedented opening of Apple's walled software garden, it's now time for the venerable Watch line to also get some much-needed improvements in terms of functionality and interaction experience .

New watchOS 10.4 update features

28 new emojis
Tap to view full notification
Apple Pay passcode

First, the important stuff. With watchOS 10.4, your Apple Watch can now display 28 cool new emojis in iMessage or other chat apps on wearable.

Additionally, Apple claims that “watchOS 10.4 includes new features, improvements and bug fixes,” and chief among them might be the new Tap to Show Full Notification feature. While this lets you simply double-tap the Apple Watch screen to expand the notification, it's a must-have, easy-to-use update that users have been clamoring for.

Another Watch interaction addition concerns security when using Apple Pay on your Watch. The Confirm with AssistiveTouch option will now ask for a password instead of relying on double-clicking the side button to authorize Apple Watch payment which can be abused.

Fix Apple Watch False Touch and Contacts Sync

Speaking of security and bug fixes, the most important thing about the watchOS 10.4 update is fixing the Apple Watch “ghost touch” issue. The Cupertino software team somehow managed to adjust the sensitivity of the Apple Watch's touchscreen to avoid the infamous false touches that many Apple Watch users are intimately familiar with.

A fairly recent phenomenon, the false touch bug on the Apple Watch caused the content of the screen to move on its own without any intervention from the user's finger. Sometimes the problem was so severe that some Apple Watch owners found themselves locked out of their accounts while trying unsuccessfully to enter their passcodes.

Apple isn't saying what's behind the Watch's phantom touch issues that caused the screen to shake on its own, and only says that the watchOS 10.4 update “fixes an issue that caused some users to experience false touches on the screen“.

The other big bug fix that came with the watchOS 10.4 update is that the Apple Watch won't sync contacts for “some users,” as Apple fixed unidentified communications issues to fix it.

Apple Watch and Vision Pro double tap finger gesture

Besides the fake contacts issue, Apple also resolved a potential conflict between two of its relatively new devices and features. If you wear an Apple Watch and use the VisionPro “Space computer” AR/VR headset, finger gesture conflict is now fixed.

With the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2, Apple introduced the Double Tap gesture to control and navigate your smartwatch. Coincidentally, this also made finger pinching a mainstay of practice. VisionPro navigation as well.

Fast forward to shortly after the VisionPro release, and now Apple has realized that wearing a watch and VisionPro together this can result in unintended commands for either. In watchOS 10.4, a new Ignore Double Tap option can be enabled when using Apple Vision Pro with Apple Watch.

“When enabled, the double tap gesture will be temporarily ignored when using VisionPro“, advises Apple. The only real problem with the Apple Watch that needs to be addressed now is the extremely slow pace of watchOS updates which often results in all the software on your Apple equipment already being up to date while your watch is running still minor features and fixing bugs for too long.