No SMS/iMessage notifications on iPhone or Apple watch when near Mac

For a long time now I've been having an issue where I don't receive SMS/iMessage notifications on my Apple Watch or iPhone when I'm near my Mac. I get a notification on my Mac, but I'm not always staring at the screen, so many messages go unnoticed until I check my phone.


I've read a few other posts here about this issue, but none had solutions that fixed my issue. Is there any way to prevent this from happening? I've found I miss a lot of messages during the day due to this.


I am currently on iOS 17, watchOS 10.0, and MacOS Ventura 13.5.2, however the issue has been present for many previous versions as well.

iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 17

Posted on Sep 21, 2023 9:45 AM

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5 replies

Sep 26, 2023 10:22 AM in response to cjohnson585

Hello cjohnson585,


Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities, and we'll be happy to help in any way we can. We understand you're having issues with missing messages that come in on your Mac. THis article goes over how to access your messages on all of your devices: Access your messages on all your Apple devices - Apple Support



We hope this helps.


Cheers!


Oct 2, 2023 6:37 AM in response to K_Faith

Hello K_Faith,


I appreciate the link to documentation. I believe I have everything set up correctly, and can receive messages on my phone, MacBook Pro, Apple watch, and iPad, however I don't receive notifications on my watch or phone if I'm near my MacBook. (To clarify, it is ONLY messages that seems to be an issue - I get notifications for my other apps just fine) I don't see any settings to toggle this behavior. I don't if this is a bug, or if this is intended behavior, but in any case it causes me to miss a lot of messages.


Thanks,

Chris

Oct 4, 2023 9:05 AM in response to 1ssmith

Just updating: I spoke to a support rep on chat, who eventually had me talk on the phone to a senior advisor. After a long conversation the senior advisor said that unfortunately this is normal behavior; if I am working on my Mac, and message notifications are coming through on the Mac, they may not come through on the watch. Their recommendation was to put the Mac to sleep when I walk away from it to make sure I get notifications on my watch.


Not what I was hoping to hear, but I suppose I'll have to find a way around this.

Oct 4, 2023 10:22 AM in response to cjohnson585

For anyone else having this issue, here are two potential work-arounds I've found:


  1. Turn off bluetooth on the Mac. This seems to keep continuity from working, which is what I believe is keeping the notifications from going to the watch. Unfortunately this means no airpods, wireless keyboards, or universal control while bluetooth is off.
  2. Change message notifications on the Mac from Banner to Alert. This will keep the notification on the screen until you dismiss it. At least then I can quickly see that I've missed messages when I look at my screen.


I don't know if Apple knows how big of an issue this is for some people. I've missed SO many important messages because they came through at a moment when I wasn't looking at my Mac screen. Simply put, there needs to be a setting that causes notifications to ALWAYS buzz the apple watch, no matter what. Just because my Mac is on and near me does not mean I'm staring at the screen.

No SMS/iMessage notifications on iPhone or Apple watch when near Mac

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