The Apple Watch is pretty great, it lets you stay updated on your notifications, keeps a track of your workouts and can also help track your sleep. It’s basically a seamless companion to your iPhone, and of course, there’s the perpetually useful Mac unlock with Apple Watch. Through all that, mirroring notifications is one of the primary reasons to have an Apple Watch, and when that doesn’t work it can be quite frustrating. If you’re facing this issue as well, read on as we explain how to fix Apple Watch not getting notifications.
Important Things You Need to Know About How Notifications Work on Apple Watch
When it comes to notifications, Apple Watch and iPhone smartly cover up each other. Hence, you must know how notifications work between these devices before trying to look for the ways to resolve the issues. Else, you may keep wondering why the alerts don’t show up on your watchOS device.
Important Things You Need to Know About How Notifications Work on Apple WatchWays to Fix ‘Apple Watch Not Getting Notifications’ Issue
Ensure That You Have Perfectly Customized Your Apple Watch NotificationsCheck Your ConnectionMake Sure You Have Allowed Apps to Send NotificationsTurn OFF/ON Bluetooth on Your iPhone and Apple WatchMake Sure Do Not Disturb Mode is DisabledForce Restart/Hard Reset Your Apple WatchUpdate Apps on Your Apple WatchDelete the Problematic Apps and Reinstall ThemUpdate Your Apple WatchLast Resort: Erase Your Apple Watch and Re-Pair It With Your iPhone
Ensure That You Have Perfectly Customized Your Apple Watch NotificationsCheck Your ConnectionMake Sure You Have Allowed Apps to Send NotificationsTurn OFF/ON Bluetooth on Your iPhone and Apple WatchMake Sure Do Not Disturb Mode is DisabledForce Restart/Hard Reset Your Apple WatchUpdate Apps on Your Apple WatchDelete the Problematic Apps and Reinstall ThemUpdate Your Apple WatchLast Resort: Erase Your Apple Watch and Re-Pair It With Your iPhone
And if your iPhone is locked or asleep, your notifications will appear on the Apple Watch, unless the watch is locked. Keep in mind that if an app (i.e Noise app) is available only on the Apple Watch, its notifications won’t appear on the iPhone.
When a notification arrives on the Apple Watch, you should see the red notification icon/indicator at the top center of the watch. If you dismiss alerts on your Apple Watch, they are also dismissed from your connected iPhone.
You can check all of your notifications from the Notification Center. Simply, swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Notification Center. Then, you can either use the Digital Crown or your finger to scroll through your notifications.
Ensure That You Have Perfectly Customized Your Apple Watch Notifications
Another vital thing that you should do first up is to ensure that notifications have been ideally customized on your Apple Watch. Maybe you had accidentally messed up the notification setting on your wearable device and forgot to revert that later.
Bear in mind that not all apps have the same notification options. If you wish to use the same notification settings on your iPhone and Apple Watch, tap Mirror my iPhone.
There are four ways you can customize notifications on your watchOS device:
Check Your Connection
If you’re not receiving notifications on your Apple Watch, there is a chance that it’s because the watch has lost its connection with the iPhone. Before trying out any of the other steps, make sure that your Apple Watch is connected to your iPhone.
On your Apple Watch, swipe up on the watch face to bring up the control center. If your devices are disconnected, a red “X” icon, red iPhone icon, or Wi-Fi icon will appear at the top. These icons may also show at the top of the watch face.
When your Apple Watch is connected to the iPhone, a green iPhone icon shows up at the top in the control center.
Note:
Make Sure You Have Allowed Apps to Send Notifications
If the problem you’re facing with notifications is that only certain apps aren’t sending notifications to your watch, make sure you have given them permission to push notifications on your Apple Watch. Here’s how to do that.
- Now, select the app that doesn’t send you notifications and choose the Allow Notifications option.
Turn OFF/ON Bluetooth on Your iPhone and Apple Watch
At times, turning off/on the Bluetooth on both the devices can help you resolve many common watchOS issues. Thus, do give this nifty trick a chance to troubleshoot the notification problem on the watch.
On your paired iPhone, open the Settings app -> Bluetooth and then turn off the toggle.
Now, restart both your devices. Once they have rebooted, go back to the same settings and then turn on Bluetooth on your iPhone and Apple Watch.
Make Sure Do Not Disturb Mode is Disabled
When the Do Not Disturb mode is enabled or the watch is locked, the notifications appear on the iPhone. You should see a tiny crescent moon on the watch face when the DND is active.
Force Restart/Hard Reset Your Apple Watch
If notifications still do not show up on your Apple Watch, hard reset your smartwatch. It has fixed so many miscellaneous watchOS issues. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to count on this troubleshooter to resolve this problem as well.
- Press and hold the Side button and the Digital Crown simultaneously until you see the Apple logo on the screen. Once your Apple Watch has restarted, wait for sometime to check if notifications have started to arrive.
Update Apps on Your Apple Watch
If you don’t get notifications from certain apps on your Apple Watch, ensure that those apps are updated.
- After that, tap Update. Now, you can either update one app at a time or hit Update All to update all apps at one go.
Delete the Problematic Apps and Reinstall Them
If you still can’t get notifications from certain apps on your watchOS device, delete and reinstall those problematic apps.
- If your home screen is in the List View, swipe left on the app and then hit the red delete button.
Update Your Apple Watch
More often than not, watchOS software updates come with performance enhancements and several bug fixes. If notifications continue to misbehave on your Apple Watch, updating the software would be a wise move.
Update Apple Watch Using iPhone
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and select General. Next, tap Software Update and then wait for some time until your device has checked for the update. Once it shows the available update, download and install the latest iteration of watchOS as usual.
Last Resort: Erase Your Apple Watch and Re-Pair It With Your iPhone
If your Apple Watch still can’t get notifications, erase the watch and re-pair it with your iPhone. Known as the last resort, it often fixes persistant watchOS issues. Thanks to the automatic backup, you won’t lose any data. So, don’t worry about that.
Erase Your Apple Watch Using iPhone
After you have successfully erased your Apple Watch, open the Watch app on your iPhone and then follow the prompts to re-pair both the devices.
- Following the release of watchOS 8.5 and iOS 15.4, Apple also allows you to reset your bricked Apple Watch using the iPhone. To find out more about this all-new feature, check out this detailed guide on how to restore a dead Apple Watch.
Fixed Apple Watch Notifications Not Working Problem
So, that wraps up this detailed troubleshooting guide about fixing Apple Watch notification issues. Hopefully, the notifications are back on track on your watchOS device. watchOS 8 is faced with several annoying issues including the Portraits Watch face not working problem, the inability to install apps and charge the Apple Watch. Let me know your experience of using the latest iteration of watchOS and whether or not the above tricks has worked for you.
