iOS 26.3 Adds Notification Forwarding Option for Third-Party Wearables - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 26.3 Adds Notification Forwarding Option for Third-Party Wearables

iOS 26.3 adds a new "Notification Forwarding" setting that allows incoming notifications on an iPhone to be forwarded to a third-party device.

ios 26 3 notification forwarding
The setting is located in the Notification section of the Settings app under a new "Notification Forwarding" option. Apple says that notifications can only be forwarded to a single device at a time, so if Notification Forwarding is enabled with a third-party wearable, the Apple Watch won't able to receive and display notifications.

Users can choose to have a device receive notifications only from selected apps rather than all apps, and notifications will include the name of the app and all content contained in the notification. This is a feature that is only available to those living in Europe.

Apple is adding this feature to relieve regulatory pressure that it is facing. The Digital Markets Act in the European Union requires Apple to provide third-party smartwatches and other devices with access to notifications and features that are normally reserved for the Apple Watch.

Update: This article was updated to clarify that Notification Forwarding is only an option in the EU, even though it shows up on iPhones worldwide in iOS 26.3.

Related Roundups: iOS 26, iPadOS 26
Related Forum: iOS 26

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...

Top Rated Comments

Fraud Goblin Avatar
14 weeks ago
If this is just another step to allowing me to use a Pebble again, I’ll take it.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
14 weeks ago

Sounds good!
The more of this sort of stuff, the better.

I'd also not that we have EU and US opposition to where Apple is at here.
(bold emphasis below is mine)
Clearly Apple should pull out of the USA and the EU! 😡
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ItsASpider Avatar
14 weeks ago

Apple has supported ANCS ('https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/CoreBluetooth/Reference/AppleNotificationCenterServiceSpecification/Specification/Specification.html') for more than a decade(not sure how much more... but a LONG while). ANCS doesn't require any app on the phone and will just forward notifications after getting approval when pairing with the Bluetooth device.

Apple is being required by the EU to open up ALL information about notifications, this is part of that. ANCS doesn't send images and longer text to bluetooth devices. It seems the EU also wants apps to be able to directly read notifications from other apps... which is ****ing dumb and really really creepy.
Come on now... the EU doesn't require any such thing. They require Apple to provide APIs to allow their competition to, well, compete. Apple is completely free in implementing safe ways to do that, and no, not every apps must have direct access to notifications from other apps, that's just bs.

And I'll just assume you are already well aware that you are greatly misrepresenting what ANCS can do.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dormammu Avatar
14 weeks ago
Good!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
14 weeks ago

Clearly Apple should pull out of the USA and the EU! 😡
There's always the Moon 🌕
Apple Stores nicely fit that cold gray aesthetic.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppliedMicro Avatar
14 weeks ago

It’s not Apple‘s problem if someone can’t get a notification on a non-Apple device.
Thanks to regulatory action, it now is. 😎


Maybe these other companies need to create better software and hardware to compete against Apple
That’s exactly what this functionality now enables them to do.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)