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Apple watchOS update addresses LTE connectivity issues

The Series 3 Watches were automatically switching from cellular to WiFi hotspots.

Issei Kato / Reuters

Two weeks after Apple released watchOS 4.0, the company has pushed out an update that aims to fix a seriously annoying issue. It seems the brand-new Apple Watch Series 3 with the latest watchOS would tend to automatically switch from LTE to WiFi hotspots -- even unusable ones -- in efforts to save battery. The patch aims to prevent that specific model of watch from automatically connecting with those wireless providers.

The trouble sourced from the watch's automatic connection. Some WiFi hotspots the Series 3 models latched onto were the unauthenticated (aka captive) kind used by coffee shops or libraries that redirect users to a web page to confirm or further interact. Because the watchOS would link automatically without bringing up the prompted site, users were stuck in limbo, unconnected but locked to inoperative WiFi.

Device owners can download the 4.0.1 update from the Apple Watch app on their iPhones. Per the update's language, according to 9to5Mac:

watchOS 4.0.1 fixes issues that in rare cases were causing Apple Watch to join unauthenticated (captive) Wi-Fi networks, such as those found in public places like coffee shops and hotels, which direct the user to a webpage before the network can be accessed.