Not Getting App Notifications on Apple Watch? Check these tips

Several users who updated their Apple Watch to watchOS 6 and their iPhone to iOS 13 / 13.1 this week have found that their Apple Watch is not getting app notifications following the update. 

The main issue reported by users is that their watch has stopped mirroring notifications from their paired iPhone. Some users also mentioned that the issue is not limited to communication apps such as messaging or email but also impacts other non-communication apps such as Alarm notifications.

Related:

• Apple Watch Alarms – How To Setup, Use and Fix Common Issues
• How to use Audiobooks on your Apple Watch with watchOS 6
• Email Notifications Missing on Apple Watch, How-To Fix
• How to read prior or missed notifications on Apple Watch

This article provides some tips that can help you diagnose some of these missing notification issues on your Apple Watch.

We suggest that you update your iPhone to iOS 13.1 if you were experiencing these issues on the iOS 13 that was released last week along with watchOS 6.

Missing Alarm Notifications on Apple Watch after watchOS update

Lets start with the Apple Watch Alarm notification issue.

If you are finding that alarms are not coming through on your Apple Watch, check this one setting to make sure you are good with the pre-requisite settings.

1. 1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone
   2. Tap on ‘My Watch’ tab at the bottom of the screen
   3. Next, tap on ‘Clock’
   4. Check and make ‘Push Alerts from iPhone’ is enabled.

If you are experiencing other Apple Watch alarm related issues, please check out our detailed guide on troubleshooting Apple Watch alarms.

Not Getting App Notifications in general on the Apple Watch?

Although you may have already checked the obvious, we still want to make sure that these are covered. Before you do get into the weeds, try this one trick and see if it solves the problem. Shut down your phone and watch and start them up again ( Start your iPhone first followed by your watch).

1. 1. Check to make sure that Do not Disturb is not enabled on your Watch. On your Watch, tap on Settings > Do not Disturb.
   2. If the missing notification issue is happening only with a certain app, such as Telegram or Skype, check the app settings to make sure notifications are enabled. On your iPhone, tap on Settings > Notifications. 
   3. Scroll down to locate the app and tap on it. Make sure ‘Allow Notifications is ON’. Feel free to toggle it to OFF and then wait for a few seconds and enable it back.

      

   4. Open the Watch app on your iPhone. Tap on My Watch and choose Notifications.
   5. Scroll down to the section ‘MIRROR IPHONE ALERTS FROM:’
   6. Make sure the app in question has alerts enabled here.

      

   7. On this screen, Toggle the feature for the app to OFF, wait for a couple of seconds and turn it back to ON

We faced a similar issue with Ring notifications with the last watchOS update and were able to troubleshoot and fix the issue. You can read the details below:

• Not getting Ring notifications on your iPhone? How to Fix

P.S – The disable/enable a setting seems to work a lot with Apple Watch. Following the watchOS 6 update, we were unable to take screenshots on the watch. Turning it OFF in the setting followed by re-enabling it did the trick!

Now check and see if the app notifications show up on your Apple Watch.

Perform a Force Restart on the Apple Watch

If you are still having issues with missing app notifications on your Apple Watch, try force restarting your Apple Watch. Press and hold the Digital crown and the side button together till you see the Apple logo appear on the Watch screen. Release the buttons and let your Apple Watch restart on its own. 

Once your Apple Watch restarts, you can check and see if the notifications work.

Un-Pair and Repair

If the issues are still persistent, you can try and un-pair and then re-pair the Apple Watch with your iPhone and check.

Most users that experienced this issue with watchOS 6 and iOS 13 were able to fix it via either the toggling of the Alert setting or by un-pairing and then re-pairing the Apple Watch with the iPhone.

Please let us know in the comments below if you were able to solve this issue or if you have additional questions.