Apple reportedly acknowledges “ghost touch” bug on Apple Watch, suggests a solution

“Ghost touch” issue reportedly found to affect more Apple Watches

Initially, it was believed that the bug was present only on the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. However, it now seems models like the Series 7, 8, and the first Apple Watch Ultra might also be affected.

What this bug is referring to is unintended (and very annoying!) touches or swipes on the screen that the device registers, but weren’t there. According to leaker

“StellaFudge” on X, Apple is investigating the reports for the bug.

Basically, what the ghost touch issues cause is the Apple Watch gets activated or navigates through menus without you actually wanting it to. These weird screen responses may interfere with the timepiece’s functionality, but could in theory cause unintended commands or data entries.
Some people have also been locked out of their Apple Watch because of the watch trying to “type” its passcode and failing. It gets even worse: one user says the watch even called 911 and hung up, which is a pretty big deal! This, if not just annoying, is a serious issue that Apple should be addressing officially, and fixing faster, in my opinion.

For now, in order to fix the ghost touch issue, Apple is recommending (again, from leaks, not official documentation!) a force restart of your watch – by holding the Digital Crown and side button until the Apple logo appears. Also, you are advised to keep your Apple Watch up to date. But this is a temporary fix that may or may not completely fix it.

Apple is expected to have a permanent fix for the issue in watchOS 10.4. Unfortunately, if you’re one of the affected users, you’ll have to wait for the update and hope that Cupertino has included a permanent fix in there.