Missing iMessage notifications on multiple Apple devices

Question

Missing iMessage notifications on multiple Apple devices

I have my MacBook Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and Apple Watch 7 with me, with notifications turned on and not silenced. I keep iMessage open (but usually minimized) on my laptop while working.

Randomly / intermittently, I will not hear an audible notification for an incoming text on iMessage (or SMS - doesn't matter). It will be a while before I notice a red flag on the iMessage app on the dock, or go to check my phone and see a notification banner for a text from 15 minutes ago.

All OSes are up to date. All devices have been rebooted. I've gone through the helpful 15+ things to do to get messages to work again listicles online. And yet it still happens nearly every day. in fact it JUST HAPPENED RIGHT NOW >:(

Can someone please point me towards a solution?

iPhone 11 Pro Max, iOS 15

Posted on Mar 11, 2022 6:44 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Mar 12, 2022 11:26 AM in response to mentelligence

Hello there mentelligence,

Thanks for posting here on the Apple Support Communities! This is a place where other Apple users can submit questions or respond to others to help lend a hand. Let's take a closer look as we do our best to provide some additional insight.

We understand you're sometimes not getting an audio alert for new messages while using multiple Apple devices. To get started, do you get any vibrations or alerts on your Apple Watch at all? The reason we ask is notifications will shift to other devices, and that may sometimes not be as easily noticed. More info on that here: Notifications on your Apple Watch

You can test this by turning off your Apple Watch temporarily while using your other devices to see if the same thing still happens.

Let us know if you have any more questions after checking that out. We’re here for you every step of the way.

Take care.

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Answer 2

Trish313

Community Specialist

Mar 14, 2022 6:50 AM in response to mentelligence

mentelligence,

This would be expected behavior if one of your devices is in use. The device that is in use will receive the notification and the others will not. If no device is in use, all devices will receive the notification.

You can submit feedback regarding this here: Product Feedback.

You'll want to be sure that audible notification are set for each of your device if you would like to receive an audible notification when using that device.

Check out how to do so on your Mac here: Use notifications on your Mac

Here's the resource for the settings on your iPhone: Use notifications on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Take care!

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Answer 3

Mar 14, 2022 6:40 AM in response to MikeyMike57

Hi - thank you for responding.

When this happens, I do not get any notification of any kind on my watch. Sometimes later I will see a notification if I swipe down on the red dot on the watch face, but no sound, banner, or vibration occurs. The iPhone also fails to provide a sound, vibration or banner. If I turn the phone on, I will see a red flag with the number of missed messages on the iMessage icon.

It's like the notifications just don't happen - like they're turned off. They are very much not turned off.

It seems to happen most often when I have iMessage on my laptop open. Less often if my laptop is closed. And yet it's not all the time. Sometimes I will get text notifications on all three devices simultaneously. Sometimes I will get no notifications. It's only with messages - not with phone calls or notifications from other apps.

It's a frustratingly intermittent problem that I need to address and can't ignore anymore as it impacts my responsiveness to co-workers and customers. Thank you for offering to help.

Cheers

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Missing iMessage notifications on multiple Apple devices

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