If you have an Apple Watch, notifications will be played on the watch and not on your iPhone. Of course, the notifications do arrive on your phone, but the sounds and vibrations only occur on the Apple Watch when it is paired and unlocked.
However, notifications and sounds may only play on your iPhone and not on Apple Watch. A connection problem is often the cause of this, we explain how to solve this.
Receive notifications on Apple Watch and iPhone at the same time
When you get notifications, they will appear on either your Apple Watch or your iPhone, but not both. When your iPhone is unlocked, notifications will be received directly on the phone instead of on your Apple Watch. Notifications only appear when your paired iPhone is locked or in standby mode. Some apps can only be received on the Apple Watch, for example notifications from the Sound app or activity. You will not receive this on the iPhone.
Notifications are not synced
If you wear the Apple Watch and want to receive notifications on the smart watch and not on the iPhone, the Watch must be unlocked and paired with your iPhone. Are you wearing the smart watch, but the iPhone still plays the notifications? Then you need to check the connection and solve the problem.
Check Apple Watch connection
If your Apple Watch isn’t showing notifications, it may be disconnected from your iPhone. Follow these steps to check:
- Check for a crossed-out iPhone icon at the top of the watch face
- Open Control Center and check for a crossed-out iPhone symbol at the top
If you see a crossed-out iPhone icon, this means that the Apple Watch is not connected to your iPhone. If this is the case, you need to resolve a number of issues.
- Enable Bluetooth on your Apple Watch and iPhone, go to Settings â–¸ Bluetooth
- Restore the connection by going to Settings â–¸ Bluetooth on your iPhone and tapping the Apple Watch in the list.
- Unlock your Apple Watch
Force restart devices
Is Bluetooth active and the watch unlocked, but you are not receiving any notifications? Then it is best to force restart both devices. We have explained how to do this step by step in the article below.
Match iPhone notifications
- Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone
- Go to ‘My Watch’
- Tap ‘Notifications’
- Check the settings
For example, open an app and make sure that the settings match the iPhone or are adjusted to your wishes so that you still receive a notification. Unfortunately, you have to check this for all apps.
Recover from persistent problems
Does the notification synchronization not continue properly after applying the above solutions? Then it is best to restore the Apple Watch and reconnect it to your iPhone. In the article below we explain how you can restore the Apple watch.