Messages notifications suppressed on iPhone even when Text Message Forwarding is disabled (Continuity routing issue?)

I’ve run into a reproducible issue with Messages notifications not alerting with sound or vibration on my iPhone while I'm using another Apple device even if Text Message Forwarding is disabled, and it seems to partly be a bug in how Continuity decides which device should receive notifications.

My setup

• iPhone 17 pro (iOS 26.4.1) on silent mode most of the time
• Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Haptics: Always Play
• Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Vibration: On
• Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding: disabled for all devices
• Mac is awake and in active use
• iPhone is not silenced for some test cases
• Both devices signed into the same Apple ID
• I've restarted both devices several times

What I understand about Continuity

I believe Apple routes notifications to the device deemed in closest “proximity” or is most recently/actively used. For example, if I’m actively using my Mac, notifications may appear there while being suppressed on the iPhone.

However, in my case, Messages is not set to forward to the Mac at all, so the Mac should not receive the message, and should not suppress the iPhone’s notification.

Observed behavior

Case 1 - Text Message Forwarding ENABLED

• Mac is the active device
• Text message received

Observed:

• Mac plays a notification sound
• iPhone vibrates (and plays sound if not in silent mode)

Expected:

• Mac plays a notification sound
• iPhone suppresses its notification (sound + vibration)

This case behaves opposite of expected: both devices notify.

Case 2 - Text Message Forwarding DISABLED

• Mac is the active device
• Text message received

Observed:

• Mac shows no notification (correct, since forwarding is off)
• iPhone also shows no notification - no sound, no vibration, even when not silenced

Expected:

• Mac shows no notification
• iPhone should notify normally (vibration + sound if not silenced)

This case is the more serious issue - there can be a state where no devices get audible or tactile notifications.

Summary

• When forwarding is enabled, both devices notify.
• When forwarding is disabled, neither device notifies.
• In both cases, the behavior is the reverse of what Continuity rules would suggest.
• This is 100% reproducible for me across multiple tests.

This seems like a proper bug since it appears that Continuity is still suppressing audible and tactile iPhone notifications based on Mac “proximity,” even when the Mac is not configured to receive the message. That results in a state where no device notifies at all, which seems unintended.

Anyone else have similar observations? Thanks for any help!