hey @darkpaw thanks for the response. It is a series 7 watch 45mm, with watch os 10.0.1. I tested with setting the deployment targets to ios 17 and watch os 10, and no dice. the ios app still builds and deploys to my phone fine, (iphone 13 pro max), however the watch app just never installs to my watch as it did before.

No unfortunately not, @darkpaw In the Devices and simulators, xcode is able to see that the watch is paired, and also shows it as its own device and is able to connect. The only functionality that is missing is the auto install when i build my ios app