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Apple Watch is stuck on "Log in on your phone"

Written by Maria

If your Watch shows "Log in on your phone" and "Open the Balloon app on your phone to continue" — and tapping Refresh does nothing — work through these in order.

First: log out and back in on your iPhone

  1. Log out of Balloon on your iPhone

  2. Log back in on your iPhone

  3. Open the Watch app and tap Refresh

This clears it up most of the time.

Still stuck? Check iCloud Keychain

Your Watch doesn't log in by itself — it picks up your login from your iPhone through iCloud Keychain, which is the secure channel Apple provides for syncing sensitive data between your devices. If iCloud Keychain is switched off, the Watch has no way to receive your login, and logging out and back in won't help no matter how many times you try.

To check it:

  1. On your iPhone, open Settings

  2. Search for "Keychain"

  3. Make sure iCloud Passwords & Keychain is turned on

Then log out and back in on your iPhone once more, and tap Refresh on your Watch.

If it still won't connect

With iCloud Keychain on, restart both your iPhone and your Watch, then open Balloon on your phone before opening it on your Watch. The sync can take a moment to come through after being switched on.

If none of that works, message us through the in-app chat and we'll dig into it with you.

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