Looking for a solution to this problem and … very disappointing to find a thread that has been around for years. Seems to me that the only way to kill the watch app is a reboot or, if you forget, when the watch is completely drained. What a pain.
I also have this issue now. I can no longer pair with Zwift and my series 5 watch, but still decides to run in the background until I do a hard reboot with my watch to stop it.
I have the same issue. Also an Apple watch 3 - Companion app keeps switching itself on and draining my battery - fast!
Having the same issue, iPhone 11 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 3. I opened a ticket as I feel they are false advertising a feature that is, at best, broken. And as I dig through the forums it looks like they have made no effort to resolve whatsoever. As other folks stated, I have worked with many developers and it seems like this is a zombie process…it will not die.
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This problem has just started happening to me, I just can’t get my apple watch to disconnect at all from Zwift now, it is constantly showing as “in game” even though iphone 11 and ipad are not even running Zwift. It’s a slightly older watch and as such the battery is completely drained within a couple of hours. Is there any word on a fix yet?
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Having the same issue as well. Seems to have started for me after I installed iOS 14. Had to uninstall Zwift companion and force quit both devices. Did a work out now have the same issue. Uninstalling on my watch until fixed I guess. But frustrating. Have to use a heart rate monitor for Zwift power.
Major issues here. Unpairs for a bit, pairs up for a bit, impairs for a long while and then pairs up. iOS 14 and Apple TV. I am also having the issue where I can’t quit the Comp App on my Apple Watch unless I reboot it.
I experienced this issue a couple times in the past and then it hasn’t popped up again until last week. I was able to keep the watch app from opening back up after closing by restarting my iPhone.
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Adding my +1. Been having this issue since before iOS 14. Took summer off to ride outside. But this is becoming such an issue it is running my effort to complete and compete in Zwift Academy as I continually have HR dropping for no reason or never connectind and if it does… strung open all day unless I do a force quit on both phone and watch app and pick another activity. I have started to do my cool down in another app. And to be honest, it works better than this terrible integration.
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I, too, am having the same issue. Only way to disconnect is to reboot my watch. Wish they could figure this out. 
I am having this issue starting today. Does Zwift monitor its forums?
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Not when it comes to support.
Same issue here - Apple watch Series 5, iPhone X - cannot kill the Zwift app after a ride - keeps coming back to life.
Same issue for me. Quitting the Companion app seemed to stop it from happening.
I also am now having real problems making the watch connect consistently. It was always a little finicky, often requiring multiple relaunches of either the watch app or the companion. But now, for about a month I’ve having a much harder time getting it to connect, and frequently just have to race without it… Commonly it gets stuck saying, in brown “pairing”, but it never pairs. Then sometimes it says paired in green, and on the iPad it says “Connected”, but also “no signal”. Rinse and repeat. With luck it’ll be fixed some time next year 
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I am having the same issue, along with having a hard time getting consistent HR readings at all.
I just started to have this issue when I switch to my new Apple Watch series 5. I did not have this with my old Apple Watch 3. For me, my watch recorded all night of rest and sleep as exercise long after I stopped and saved my ride in the afternoon and quit the app on the iPad and killed the companion app on the iPhone.
I have intermittently had this issue. Out of the two times I can recall having this problem, I was able to force quit the Companion app on my watch and solve it. The other time, I’m pretty sure the Companion app kept going even when I thought I killed it on the watch. I had to restart my watch entirely, and this was after force closing the Zwift app on my iPad and the Companion app on my iPhone. Oddly, the issue did not present the first few times I used my Apple Watch as my HRM.
This is on a Series 3 connected to an iPhone SE (current generation).
I do need to point out to others that the Apple Watch is a closed ecosystem. I’m pretty sure Garmin’s watches can broadcast as HRMs to your head unit or to Zwift. I don’t know that any other app offers this functionality with Apple’s watches. I think Fitbits are more along the lines of Apple in terms of HRM broadcast. This may genuinely be a technical challenge, and the thing is that every time Apple updates their watch OS, things could break for Zwift - I had to do a spate of updates on my Wahoo head unit earlier this year because it wouldn’t automatically upload rides to Strava anymore, and the issue turned out to be on the iOS side of things. I’m not trying to make excuses for Zwift here, especially since the issue seems to have been going on for a long time. I’m just trying to offer some context.
Does anyone know if this issue has been fixed? I can’t see Zwift moderators commenting anywhere with a solution.
I’ve resorted to uninstalled the zwift app on my watch
Same issue.
I’ve had success with the following when the watch app gets stuck: I force quit the Zwift watch app, then start an indoor walk in the watch Workout app. I’ve not experimented too much with it, just left it on while getting ready for the shower after my ride. But when I end that workout, the Zwift app doesn’t come back on.
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