The Apple Watch is quite awesome; it keeps track of your workouts, notifies you of new messages, and can even monitor your sleep. It functions as your iPhone’s seamless companion essentially, and there is also the always-useful Apple Watch Mac unlock feature. Despite all of that, one of the main benefits of owning an Apple Watch is the ability to reflect notifications, and it may be annoying when it doesn’t function. Read on as we explain how to solve Apple Watch not receiving notifications if you’re having the same problem.
Fix Apple Watch Not Showing Notifications Issue
Important Things You Need to Know About How Notifications Work on Apple Watch
The Apple Watch and iPhone cleverly hide each other from notifications. Therefore, before looking for solutions to the problems, you must understand how alerts function between various devices. Otherwise, you might continually wonder why the warnings don’t appear on your watchOS device.
Be aware that notifications only appear on your associated iPhone or Apple Watch. It’s true what you just read! On both devices, alerts are never displayed. You will receive alerts on your unlocked iPhone instead of the Apple Watch when your associated iPhone is locked.
Additionally, until the Apple Watch is closed, your notifications will show up even if your iPhone is asleep or locked. Remember that an app’s alerts won’t show up on the iPhone if it is only available on the Apple Watch (such as the Noise app).
The red notification icon or indication at the top centre of the Apple Watch should appear when a notice is received. When you reject an alert from your connected iPhone, it also dismisses on your Apple Watch.
The Notification Center allows you to view all of your alerts. To reach the Notification Center, just swipe down from the top of the screen. The Digital Crown or a finger can then be used to scroll through your alerts.
11 Ways to Fix Apple Watch Not Getting Notifications Issue
Ensure That You Have Perfectly Customized Your Apple Watch Notifications
Prior to anything else, it’s crucial to check that your Apple Watch’s notifications are optimally tuned. It’s possible that you mistakenly changed your wearable device’s notification settings and forgot to change them again.
- Head over to the Watch app on your iPhone -> My Watch tab at the bottom left corner of the screen-> Notifications.
- Next, select an app and then customize the notifications depending on your needs.
Remember that not all applications offer the same notification choices. Tap Mirror my iPhone to set your iPhone and Apple Watch to the same notification preferences.
On a watchOS device, you can personalise notifications in four different ways:
- Allow Notifications: Select it to allow notifications to appear in the Notification Center and also let your Apple Watch alert you about the latest notifications.
- Send to Notification Center: Choose it to send notifications directly to the Notification Center without your Apple Watch alerting you.
- Notifications Off: Disable the notifications.
- Group Notifications: You can group notifications depending on your needs. To do so, tap Notification grouping (Watch app -> Notifications) and then choose Off, Automatically, or By app.
Check Your Connection
It’s possible that the Apple Watch’s connection to the iPhone has been lost if you aren’t getting any notifications on it. Be sure your Apple Watch is synced with your iPhone before attempting any of the other steps.
- 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:
- To fix the connection issue, ensure that your Apple Watch and iPhone are in range. Besides, make sure that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled on your iPhone (Settings app -> Wi-Fi/Bluetooth).
- Also, ensure that the Airplane Mode is disabled on both the Apple Watch and the iPhone. You can quickly disable it from the control center of your device.
Make Sure You Have Allowed Apps to Send Notifications
Make sure you have given them permission to push notifications on your Apple Watch if the issue you’re having with notifications is that only specific apps aren’t delivering them to your watch. This is how to go about it.
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone and choose Notifications.
- 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
Turning the Bluetooth on and off on both devices can occasionally assist you in resolving many common watchOS problems. Therefore, give this clever method a go to solve the watch notification issue.
- On your Apple Watch, go to the Settings app -> Bluetooth and then turn off the switch.
- 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
The alerts show up on the iPhone when Do Not Disturb mode is activated or the watch is locked. When the DND is engaged, you should see a miniature crescent moon on the watch face.
- Swipe up from the watch face to access the control center on your Apple Watch and hit the Do Not Disturb button to turn it off.
Force Restart/Hard Reset Your Apple Watch
Try doing a hard reset on your Apple Watch if notifications are still not appearing. It has resolved a huge variety of watchOS problems. Therefore, it wouldn’t be incorrect to trust this troubleshooter to fix this issue 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
Check to see if those applications have the most recent updates if you don’t receive notifications from specific apps on your Apple Watch.
- Launch the App Store on your Apple Watch -> Scroll down to the bottom and choose Account.
- 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
Reinstall those problematic apps if you are still unable to receive notifications from specific watchOS apps.
- Press the Digital Crown to access the home screen on your Apple Watch. If the home screen is in the grid view, touch and hold an app icon. Next, tap Edit App in the menu to enter the jiggle mode.
- After that, hit the X button at the top of the app you want to remove and hit Delete App.
- 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
Software upgrades for watchOS frequently provide performance improvements as well as a number of bug fixes. It would be smart to update the firmware if your Apple Watch’s alerts still behave strangely.
Apple Watch watchOS update
- To get started, place your Apple Watch on its charger and ensure that the watch is charging.
- Next, go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch and choose General.
- After that, tap Software Update and then download and install the latest version of watchOS.
Apple Watch software update through 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
Erase the watch and re-pair it with your iPhone if your Apple Watch is still unable to receive notifications. It frequently resolves persistent watchOS problems and is known as the last resort. You won’t lose any data because of the automated backup. So, don’t stress over that.
Get Rid of Your Apple Watch
- Navigate to the Settings app on your Apple Watch and tap General. After that, scroll down to the bottom and tap Reset.
- Then, tap Erase All Content and Settings and confirm.
Using your iPhone, erase your Apple Watch
- Head over to the Watch app on your iPhone and choose General. Next, scroll down to the bottom and tap Reset.
- Next, tap Erase Apple Watch Content and Settings and confirm.
Open the Watch app on your iPhone after successfully erasing your Apple Watch, and then follow the instructions to re-pair both devices.
Note:
- 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
This comprehensive troubleshooting tutorial for resolving Apple Watch notification difficulties is now complete. Hopefully your watchOS device’s notifications are functioning normally again. WatchOS 8 has a number of unpleasant bugs, such as the Portraits Watch face issue, the inability to instal apps, and the inability to charge the Apple Watch. Please share your thoughts on utilising the most recent version of watchOS and whether the tips above worked for you.
