When you receive a notification on your Apple Watch, you can choose to immediately show the content of the notification or hide it until you actively open it. This is part of the notification privacy so that bystanders cannot accidentally see the content.
watchOS already had the ability to hide notifications when the Apple Watch was locked, but this new option (since watchOS 10.4) allows you to always hide the content until you actively show it.
Always hide content watchOS notifications
- Open Settings on the Apple Watch
- Navigate to ‘Notifications’
- Enable the ‘Tap to show full notification’ option
When you now receive a notification on your Apple Watch, you will see the app icon in large format with the message below that you have received a notification. If it concerns a message, you will also see the profile photo.
Show full notification
If you choose to hide the contents of notifications, you can show them by double-tapping the screen when the notification appears. The content is immediately displayed and in some cases you can respond to the notification. In addition, users of an Apple Watch Series 9, Ultra 2 or later can also use the double-tap gesture to show the content.