why is there a green dot on my apple watch

Apple Watches are great products and provide great tools for you to use on the go. There are convenience, ease, and aesthetic perks to using an Apple Watch, but what does the green dot mean?

The green dot on the Apple Watch means that the watch is currently using the phone app. This indicates that there is a call currently going on. If there is no call, then Apple suggests restarting the watch or troubleshooting what the symbol is since there are a few icons that are green.

There are many icons that can appear as a dot, but if you look closer it really has a symbol in it and means something else. So, read below for more information on what the green dot could be!

Green Dot Icon

If you see a green dot on your Apple Watch, then there are a few icons you can look out for that are also green. Sometimes when we take a quick look at the watch like to look at the time, we don’t notice or pay attention to the dot other than its color, but it could mean that another app is in use.

The simple green dot appears when you are on a phone call, so you might have accidentally called someone or you are on a call and know about it. If you check and you are not on a call, you should restart your watch. If you try that and it doesn’t help, contact Apple Support and they will try a few things with you to determine the problem.

There is another icon that has a green dot, but in the middle of it, there is a little person that appears to be running. That means that the fitness app is being used. Open that app to see if you began a workout because it is easy to mix up the phone app icon with the fitness app icon.

Another green icon is the green lightning bolt, which means your watch is charging. You probably know if your watch is charging because it will be off your wrist and on the charger, but if that icon is showing and it is not on a charger, contact Apple Support for help and to figure out what is wrong with it.

Another green dot that could appear on your watch is on the back of it. If you flip your watch upside down, you will see a green laser light. This is a scanner, and it takes in data for the health app. It scans and can track your heartbeat, and it tells the watch that it is on you. Meaning, it can scan and know that it is being used and is on your wrist, so it won’t lock or turn off constantly.

There are many green icons that you can look more closely at to decipher whether you are seeing a simple green dot or another icon. Determining which icon you are looking at tells you what app is being used that you might now know about, and you can then exit the app or properly turn it off so that unnecessary apps are not running in the background.

How to Solve the Problem

There are some icons similar to the ones above. For instance, a red dot means that there is a notification, and that would appear the same color as the green dot for color-blind Apple Watch users. So, if that is you, tap on the dot or swipe up for the notifications center and see what you have missed.

There is also a red lightning bolt icon, which means your watch has a low battery and you need to put it on the charger. Again, this will look the same color as the green lightning bolt icon so if you are color-blind you will go through some more trial and error to figure out what is going on with your watch.

Apple has a setting that turns on greyscale, which can help you differentiate the icons and apps better if that is something you struggle with. There are more accessibility features in the Apple Watch and iPhone, so look on their site or contact Apple Support for any questions.

If nothing else works, you will need to contact customer support or go into a store location to get some help with your device. An associate will work with you, take your product’s serial number and your Apple ID if needed, and start helping you fix the problem. They will give you instructions over the phone and you will simply report back to the what the outcomes are. If you are in-person, they will take the product to the back or to a computer to look at it themselves and try the different ways to fix it. Then, if nothing works, they will connect it to a computer and scan it for issues.

Depending on if any solutions work or not, Apple employees will recommend you send the device in to be repaired or recommend replacing it. If you need a repair then they will give you options on where to send it and they will tell you if it is covered by a warranty or if you need to pay for it. If they say it is better to buy a new one, they can issue you a credit for some of the worth of the watch to go towards a new one, or it can be covered by a warranty.

There are many things to look into before calling Apple Support that can help you determine what is going on with your watch. But, if determining what icon the Apple Watch was really showing, or if trying steps like turning off and on your watch doesn’t help, Apple Support is the place to go. They can help you and they have records of your purchases and can inform you if you have a warranty. And, that warranty could include a full replacement if the issue your watch has is basically unfixable.