Customizing notifications on Apple Watch
- jan
- 10
Not all Apple Watch app notifications are created equal. Here's how to customize which alerts you receive on your wrist and how they perform.
One of the advantages of using an Apple Watch is being able to view app notifications without looking at your iPhone. You can mirror the actions of these notifications so that they act similarly across both devices. For many native apps, you can customize these actions. In doing so, you can make sure less important notifications don't become a disruption.
- How to customize notifications for Apple's built-in apps on Apple Watch
- What native apps you can customize
- How to troubleshoot custom notifications
How to customize notifications for Apple's built-in apps on Apple Watch
You can establish customization rules for native Apple Watch apps from the Watch app on iPhone:
- Tap on the Apple Watch app on your iPhone Home screen.
-
Select Notifications from the My Watch tab.
On this screen, you'll see a list of apps currently installed on Apple Watch. Towards the top of the screen, you'll see a listing of native Apple apps. These are listed above the Mirror iPhone Alerts From heading.
What native apps you can customize
The following native apps are customizable in the Apple Watch app in watchOS 5: Activity, Breathe, Calendar, Clock, Mail, Messages, Phone, Podcasts, and Wallet & Apple Pay,
How to customize Activity notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Activity.
You can toggle Activity alerts on or off for stand reminders, daily coaching, goal completions, special challenges, and activity sharing.
How to customize Breathe notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Breathe.
There are plenty of notification settings available for the Breathe app. Chief among these is the ability to change the number of reminders to receive each day. From this screen, you can also mute notifications for the day, change the breath rate, and more.
How to customize Calendar notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Calendar.
- Tap on Custom.
You can toggle Calendar alerts on or off, and for upcoming events, invitations, invitation responses, and shared calendar alerts you can toggle sound and haptics on or off. You can also decide which calendars to use for alerts when you have more than one.
How to customize Clock notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Clock.
The notification settings for Apple Watch for the Clock are limited to whether or not to have a red dot show up at the top of your watch face when you have unread alerts.
How to customize Mail notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Mail.
- Tap on Custom.
- Tap on "Allow Notifications."
You can toggle Mail alerts on or off, and for each account, as well as VIP, you can toggle sound and haptics on or off.
How to customize Messages notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Messages.
- Tap on Custom.
You can toggle Messages alerts on or off, as well as sound and haptics. You can also choose to repeat warnings never, once, twice, three times, five times, or 10 times.
How to customize Phone notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Phone.
- Tap on Custom.
You can toggle Phone alerts on or off, as well as sound and haptics on or off.
How to customize Podcasts notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Podcasts.
- Tap on Custom.
Notifications for Podcasts on Apple Watch is limited to turning them on/off and whether to group them automatically or by an app.
How to customize Wallet & Apple Pay notifications
- Launch the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.
- Tap on Notifications.
- Tap on Wallet & Apple Pay.
- Tap on Custom.
You can decide whether to turn notifications for Wallet & Apple Pay on/off.
How to troubleshoot custom notifications
In the event your custom notifications aren't working, there are a few troubleshooting steps you can take.
First, you can disable and enable notifications and see if the problem resolves itself. This solution would be the easiest and quickest. You can also delete and install the Apple Watch apps that are causing an issue. As a last solution, you can reset your Apple Watch.
Thoughts?
How do you customize your notifications on your Apple Watch? Let us know below.
