Watch overrides audible notification alerts on iPhone

So can someone clarify – are there any alerts which are supposed to sound on both the phone and the watch? If I get an incoming phone call, that rings both my iPhone and Apple Watch. I get it that texts will now only ping the Watch.

But what about other apps? Which way is Mail supposed to work? What about Reminders? What about third party apps? How are they supposed to work?

Martin

Thanks, but I think you've slightly misunderstood, and I believe my question was germane to the original post.

The discussion is by people are puzzled and annoyed that alerts only come through on one device. A text will either sound on the iPhone or ping on the Watch, depending on various criteria.

But phone calls don't work like this – they always make a noise on both the iPhone and the Watch. So it appears to me that some apps only alert on one device, some alert on both. Are there any others which alert both devices? If so, which? Mail? Reminders? Third-party apps? Is there any way to tell?

MST

Hi, I am one of those who want audible notifications to go to both the watch and the iPhone. So disabling wrist detection will allow this to happen but are there are any side effects to doing this? I don't want to lose features due to wrist detection being disabled. I just wish Apple had thought to give us the choice here. I can understand watch only alerting being good because they are more discrete but I am rarely in an environment which calls for this. On rare occasion I don't feel the haptic feedback or hear the watch's feint ping so would prefer the iPhone alerted too. Increase my chance of being aware of something coming through.

Scottyboy99 wrote:

Hi, I am one of those who want audible notifications to go to both the watch and the iPhone. So disabling wrist detection will allow this to happen but are there are any side effects to doing this? I don't want to lose features due to wrist detection being disabled.

Hi

With Wrist Detection disabled, you will not be able to use either Activate on Wrist Raise or Apple Pay. You will also not be able to unlock the watch just once (ie when you place it on your wrist) or have it automatically lock upon removal.

You can turn off wrist detection and it will go to your watch and phone. The downside is when you take the watch off, it is not pass lock protected, plus it will not count you as standing up on activity. So if that does not bother you, it will go to your watch and phone at the same time.

Nickbowers01 wrote:

this is a terrible idea, why does apple never give us choices and always trys to make the decisions for us

Because that's they way they do things and, to date, it's been remarkably successful for them.

Add me to the list of people providing feedback on this matter. There was just a small update to WatchOS a few days ago and it's still an issue. Kind of ridiculous this is even an issue if you ask me. But what do I know?

I hope that, if they change it, they leave an option to maintain the current behaviour. Why would I need the phone to buzz when I have notifications on my wrist that no-one else is aware of, baffles me. Most people would be annoyed to get 2 things buzzing. The completely secret, un-audible and invisible notifications is the best single feature on the Apple Watch. In fact, the whole notification implementation is mostly impeccable. And about being able to identify specific tones, have you noticed that the vibration on the watch is a tactical rendition of the tone?

SicEm06 wrote:

So a temporary workaround as mentioned above is to open the Watch app on your iPhone and disable "wrist detection". By disabling it will push alerts to both your iPhone and watch but the downside is it will remove Apple Pay capability from Watch and won't auto lock when you take it off. Hopefully there will be a better fix soon

The additional downside is that you will have to enter a passcode on the watch fairly often.

I am receiving inconsistent audible text alerts on my iPhone when wearing my Apple Watch. Unfortunately the Watch is not alerting me to the text either. I thought I fixed it by turning off Cover to Mute and turning off Wrist Detection. Unfortunately I am still only getting some audible text alerts. And yes, the Watch is set to mirror the iPhone for Messages, and the iPhone is set to give me audible alerts for texts. The phone is not set on silent. It seems a lot of people are experiencing this, although nobody has come up with a solution other than, "Tell Apple about it," Which I have done. Sorry I don't have a solution, but would love to hear from anyone who does.

Yes this is expected of the device

About Notifications on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Scottyboy99 wrote:

Add me to this list.

If you want to be added to a list that matters, submit your feedback to Apple:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

I Just added my feedback also. I would also like to see customizable notifications for the watch so you could know who is texting or calling without looking.

Thanks – both for answering my question and for putting me straight on etiquette. MST