Duplicate audio recordings from Apple Watch
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Anyone have this issue? I have an Apple Watch Series 10 and an iPhone 16 Pro, both running the latest WatchOS/iOS and latest update of Day One.
When I use the Day One watch app to record an audio clip, it works fine. Shortly after I end the recording I get a notification that it has been saved to my Day One journal. However, the next day — or sometimes even weeks later — I will continue to get notifications, and I will end up having at least a dozen copies of the same single audio clip in my journal. Same duration, same actual audio, although it has different time stamps — so I guess it’s sending data from my watch to my phone multiple times and the time stamps reflect that.
Any ideas?
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We had a major fix made to Watch sync several versions ago that addressed similar issues. To help us troubleshoot this, could you please tell us the specific version of the Day One app you have installed on both your Apple Watch and your iPhone?
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Thanks! Yes, I have version 2025.6 (2596) on the phone – not sure how to check the version on the Watch.
Running iOS 18.3.2 and WatchOS 11.3.1
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Hi @edhoover8d6fcda369! To check the version of the app on the Apple Watch, you need to open the App Store app in the Watch. In the App Store you can search for Day One, then click on the title of the app to view more details. You should see the version number in the “What’s New” section or the “Version History”.
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It’s possible that the issue you’re experiencing with duplicate audio clips may be addressed in the latest Day One iOS release, version 2025.7. This version includes further improvements and fixes.
However, please note that Day One iOS 2025.7 has started a phased release. This means it’s being rolled out gradually and might not be available to all users immediately.
Once Day One 2025.7 is available for your iPhone, try updating the app.
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I started to wonder if the recent updates would solve it — I haven’t tried recording anything recently.
Thanks!
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Let us know if you bump into the same issue once updated to the latest version.
Thank you!
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Hi @ctdalba, @staff-frank, @staff-eleanor,
I’m seeing this issue on iOS 2025.13, WatchOS 2025.13 as well. If it matters, I do have two Apple Watches that I swap between (both on 2025.13), I can’t confirm at the moment if switching watches triggers the duplication bug, but I can confirm that I’ve seen the duplication bug while using one watch with the other turned off.
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@ctdalba @staff-frank @staff-eleanor,
I did some more testing. One thing I tried was putting both watches on my wrist and unlocking both. My phone is configured to automatically switch watches, but it kept my first one (series 8) as active after unlocking my second (ultra).
I recorded a voice memo on the 8 and it uploaded without issue. I then recorded a memo on the ultra while it was “inactive” and that wouldn’t upload (even though I this ultra is a cellular, I’m assuming it’s because all uploads have to be funneled through the iPhone app). When I took the 8 off, the phone switched the ultra to active and then the Day One app crashed on the ultra. When I reopened it, the sync completed and I ended up with four copies of the uploaded voice memo in Day One.
I hope that info is helpful in diagnosing the ongoing issue here. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do or provide.
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Ah, one other thing. It looks like the recordings from my Ultra won’t actually play in Day One on Mac. They will on iPhone. Might be unrelated, but figured it’d be worth mentioning in case it has anything to do with the sync service.
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Hi @jmbrysk!
I don’t currently have two Apple Watches to test with, but I did some testing using a single watch setup. In my case, recording a voice memo on the Watch creates a single entry as expected, with no duplicates. I was also able to play the recording in the Mac app without any issue.
That said, it does sound like the watch-switching behavior you described — especially with one Watch being active and the other in the background — could be related to the duplication issue. The app crashing and then resuming sync may also be contributing to that unexpected behavior.
What iOS and WatchOS versions do you have?
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Hi @staff-frank! Thanks for the follow up. I’m on 18.5 for iOS and… 11.3.1 on my watches. I didn’t realize watchOS updates weren’t happening, so I’ve gone and updated both watches to 11.5 this morning and did a quick test for recording and uploading a memo on each. So far…so good! No duplications. I’ll keep an eye on things and will report back here if I encounter the bug again.
Regarding the Mac issue, it seems like some kind of media sync delay. Day One Mac will report as being “up to date” but I think there’s still some background processing/downloading of audio memos that take a few minutes to catch up. All of the recordings I’ve tested do eventually play back on Mac after a brief wait.
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