I’ve long used the ‘Now Playing’ Apple Watch complication. Right now it’s the middle row of the ‘Modular’ Face. Since watchOS 11 (and of course iOS 18) it never lists any playback details on the watch face itself. It only states “Music and podcasts you play will appear here.
If I tap it to go into the Now Playing app, I can see my various devices and the song being played, even control it, but going back to the watch Face, it remains blank with the same text.
Per the clock, I took the Watch Face screenshot after viewing the Now Playing screen, so the data was definitely updated, the widget should have been updated, and even shows that it is displaying what’s “on” the iPhone, yet not.
There are no settings I can find relevant to this, the ‘Music’ settings on the Apple Watch, via the iPhone’s Watch app, only lists what music should be cached on the Watch. The settings on the Watch’s Settings app via the Watch, under Music, also have to do with Library and Privacy settings, but nothing to do with current playback status.
Lastly, the Smart Stack shows that media is playing and keeps up with its progress, and you can see in the Notification Center that the Watch is aware that media is active.
Running an Apple Watch Series 6 with an iPhone 16 Pro. The behavior was also present on an iPhone 15 Pro and the same Watch, which I had when iOS 18/watchOS 11 first became available. It has not been resolved even with watchOS 11.0.1 and iOS 18.0.1. Same Wifi network, and again I point out that the Watch clearly can, and does know media is actively playing elsewhere. The Watch is paired to the iPhone playing media, both on the iPhone 15 previously, but updated and re-paired to the now iPhone 16.
What am I missing?