Apple Watch not collecting notifications in Do Not Disturb

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Apple Watch not collecting notifications in Do Not Disturb

My Apple Watch has everything mirrored to my iPhone, including Do Not Disturb, Mail, and iMessage. If the watch is not in Do Not Disturb mode, the red dot appears, and it receives notifications just fine. However, if it is in Do Not Disturb, the red dot and my notifications never show up, even though they do show up on my phone's lock screen right away. They still do not show up on the watch even when I exit Do Not Disturb. Needless to say, this largely defeats the purpose of Do Not Disturb - I might as well be in Airplane Mode on the watch. Has anyone experienced this problem? I'm wondering if it's a bug or perhaps something caused by the MDM software my company requires, MaaS360. Turning the watch on and off or wiping it and restoring it from a backup did not help.

Watch Sport 42mm, iOS 8.3

Posted on Jun 8, 2015 6:33 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 8, 2015 6:59 PM in response to Radian Lex

Same issue here. I would like to be able to see my notifications when dragging down from the watch face even in Do Not Disturb mode, similarly to how you can see notifications on your iPhone when you unlock it.

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Answer 2

Radian Lex Author

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Jun 8, 2015 7:26 PM in response to Eric Barbosa

Is there any sort of device management software on your iPhone (like something your employer requires to keep your phone secure)?

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Answer 3

Jun 8, 2015 7:41 PM in response to Radian Lex

Nope.

By the way, iPhone 5S with iOS 8.3 and Watch Sport 42mm with watchOS 1.0.1.

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Answer 4

Radian Lex Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 8, 2015 7:56 PM in response to Eric Barbosa

Just tried restarting both the phone and the watch to see if that would work. No dice, but it took three or four tries to unlock my watch with the phone.

I'm using an iPhone 6 with the watch, by the way. Otherwise, I have the same setup as yours.

Apple support referred my problem to the engineers. We'll see what happens, but it's sounding more and more like a bug.

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Answer 5

Radian Lex Author

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4 points

Jun 8, 2015 8:24 PM in response to Radian Lex

Now I just tried pairing the watch with my wife's iPhone 5. Exactly the same problem. Gotta be a bug.

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Answer 6

Jun 9, 2015 2:06 PM in response to Radian Lex

Same thing here. No notifications are received on watch while DND is enabled on watch. The paired iPhone will receive the notification while DND is enabled, but it won't pass it on to the watch. I'm not sure if this was intended or not. It seems that DND mode on the watch is similar to Airplane mode as the initial poster said. If this is true, then the watch power consumption would be lower while in DND mode because the watch may turn off the radios while in this mode. That might explain why I have noticed significantly less battery drain while sleeping 8 hours with the watch on my wrist and DND enabled. The battery percentage drops about 15 percent during the 8 hour period.

I agree that DND should allow notifications to come through to the watch, silently without turning on the watch screen. If you want to check for new notifications while DND is enabled on the watch, tap the screen to see if there is a red dot on the watch indicating a new notification.

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Answer 7

Radian Lex Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 9, 2015 5:05 PM in response to Frankman1

When I have DND enabled, I don't get the red dot, let alone collecting any notifications. A number of "how to use your Apple Watch" websites say that you should be collecting notifications, but p.28 of Apple's user guide is less clear on the subject:

Silence notifications. To silence notifications on Apple Watch, swipe up on the watch face, swipe to the Settings glance, then tap Silent Mode. You'll still feel a tap when a notification arrives. To prevent sound or tap, tap Do Not Disturb.

Still, it says "to prevent sound or tap," not "to prevent getting notifications at all." It just makes no sense that DND should behave differently on the phone and on the watch in this instance. I still vote for bug rather than feature.

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Answer 8

Jun 9, 2015 11:22 PM in response to Radian Lex

I Think this is the way it works. If you turn on do not disturb on Apple watch. Nothing comes in. Becuase you can use your phone anyway,and remember how apple is trying everything they can to save battery life. So if you turn on do not distur, you can still connect to your phone and do things.

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Answer 9

Radian Lex Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 11, 2015 12:08 PM in response to Stonerock

According to Apple, you are correct - this is "expected behavior." However, I'd still say that the watch ought to work the same way the phone does with DND, or there at least should be some option for it to, since one of the primary functions of the watch is to provide notifications without having to pull out your phone. Given the watch's limited functions and horsepower compared to the phone, I can't think of anything I'd want to do with the watch while using DND just to save the battery; again, I'd probably just pull out the phone.

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Answer 10

Radian Lex Author

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4 points

Jun 11, 2015 1:23 PM in response to Radian Lex

For what it's worth, the customer service rep suggested leaving feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html to encourage Apple to allow the watch to collect notifications while it is in DND mode like the phone does.

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Answer 11

tbk_ynwa

Level 1

8 points

Jun 16, 2015 2:47 AM in response to Radian Lex

i have the same problem too. though if i recall correctly, it worked fine till i upgraded to 1.0.1...is it a problem in the new OS?

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Answer 12

Radian Lex Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 16, 2015 5:12 AM in response to tbk_ynwa

I don't know. However, I used to think it was an intermittent issue because sometimes I would see the red dot flash followed by the crescent moon when I'd wake up the watch. I eventually realized it was just because I had an unread notification before going into DND mode.

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