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Russell G. Author

Level 1

12 points

I'm receiving notifications on both watch and iPhone even when iPhone is locked

I believe I've found a bug.

Normally, notifications work exactly like it says on the Apple Support page:

"If your iPhone is unlocked, you'll get notifications on your iPhone, instead of your Apple Watch."

"If your iPhone is locked or asleep, and your Apple Watch is unlocked and on your wrist, you'll get notifications on your Apple Watch."

But three times now, it's suddenly changed so that when I receive a text message, it's displayed (with a sound) on my iPhone 6, even though the iPhone is locked, and the watch is on my wrist and unlocked (and I'm very sure about this). Then, after about 15-20 seconds, the same notification is displayed (with the watch's standard "ping" sound) on the watch as well. Normally, the notification should only be displayed on one device or the other, depending on which devices are locked -- but I don't think it should ever be displayed on both devices, 15-20 seconds apart.

The first time this happened, I was on Apple Watch version 1.0.0 and I rebooted both devices (it took two times each) and it fixed the problem for a few days, without me making any changes to the setting on the iPhone or the watch.

The second time, I was on the same watch version, but the reboot trick didn't help. I unpaired the watch from the iPhone and then re-paired it and restored the watch from backup, and that fixed it for two more days.

Then I upgraded the watch to version 1.0.1, but the problem came back again on the new version as well.

In the Apple Watch app on the iPhone, I have notifications for messages set to "Mirror my iPhone". Note though, that I believe this means the settings should be mirrored, not that the notifications should be sent to both devices (because it doesn't work that way normally). It makes no difference if I change it to Custom.

But I think I've inadvertently found another way to fix it, at least temporarily. In trying different things, I discovered that if I go to Settings on the iPhone, then to Notifications / Messages, and turn "Show on Lock Screen" off and then back on, the notifications go back to working like they should, and only appear on one device depending on which devices are locked. In other words, even though "Show on Lock Screen" is back on, the feature works like it should and only goes to the watch when the iPhone is locked -- I believe it's the act of toggling the setting twice that fixes the problem.

I called Apple Support but they hadn't heard of the problem. Their suggestion was to unpair the watch and set it up as new, rather than restoring from a backup. I'll try that next time if it happens again.

Anyone else seeing this?

Thanks,

Russell

Apple Watch, Watch OS 1.0.1

Posted on May 21, 2015 1:00 PM

24 replies

Jun 22, 2015 12:47 AM in response to CHoelscher

Unfortunately this 'fix' does not work for me in the long run.

For the second time, I had to turn the mentioned toggle off and then on again in order to bring back the correct behaviour.

Jun 22, 2015 6:04 AM in response to Russell G.

I did try your on-off cycle to no avail. I spent over three hours on the phone (land line) with Apple Support. They are as confused as I. My $1200 watch went back to Apple assuming it was some soft/firmware issue within the watch.

Apple Techs seem to think this "Alerting" anomaly might be an issue that is more prevalent than they knew.

Hopefully, my second new Watch will work right.

Jun 24, 2015 5:21 PM in response to Russell G.

Well, this did not worked for me! 😟

Jun 25, 2015 5:21 AM in response to Russell G.

This fixed it for me as well! I've tried everything else except un-pairing the watch. Thanks for the tip!

Jul 30, 2015 10:51 PM in response to Russell G.

i have one question about turning on and off the "Show on Lock Screen'' option. Where exactly can i find the "Show on Lock Screen'' option. Is it on the apple watch app or something?

Aug 4, 2015 9:10 AM in response to Russell G.

Same problem here, your solution worked for me (hope not temporary...), thanks.

Aug 12, 2015 8:21 AM in response to Ferruccio Giametta1

it appears the issue crops back up after you reboot your phone when flipping the flag OP mentions. has anyone attempted to fix this issue by taking the nuclear option of repairing with the iphone? did this fix it permanently?

aflara

Level 1

6 points

Oct 2, 2015 1:18 PM in response to Russell G.

I have just updated to watchOS2 and this issue came up on my Apple Watch / iPhone 6 plus. Notifications come up on both iPhone and watch, even when iPhone is locked. Tried all the suggestions on this post but nothing solved the problem. Anyone out there knows how to fix it?

Oct 3, 2016 7:50 AM in response to Russell G.

I am still having the issue even after I tried toggling on and off. After reading comments on the web, it seems like the community is split. This should just be a feature that you can turn on or off. I do not want both devices to notify me, but some people do.

I'm receiving notifications on both watch and iPhone even when iPhone is locked