AngularJS {{myCount}} shows old value in the template view

I have a simple page as shown below.

The problem is that, even though $scope.objRef.count is updated in my directive (for example, from 7 to 8), the template shows the old value, 7, in the webview.

This happens when I switch to this state/directive/template:

How can this be? (in state tabs-page.tpl.html):

<ion-view view-title="{{objRef.count}}">
  <ion-content>
  </ion-content>
  <ba-tabs-page></ba-tabs-page>
</ion-view>

Could be prototypal inheritance, I'm not sure how the scopes are connected. Anyway, you could use a $watch

$scope.$watch('objRef.count', function(newValue, oldValue) {
  //update the DOM
});

If it's updated outside of the scope, you could use $apply

$scope.$apply(objRef.count = ?);