LTE Apple watch not receiving notifications when away from phone.

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Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#319239 5-Apr-2025 12:48

Hello,

I have searched the internet with no luck.

I've recently bought an Apple watch and have just noticed that I don't receive any notifications when away from my phone (incoming phone calls are fine), it's only when I get close to my phone that notifications flood in.

I can only assume there's a setting in need of changing All notifications are set to 'mirror my iPhone' in the watch app.

Much appreciated.

Jack

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#3360958 5-Apr-2025 13:10

Have you spoken to your service provider?

eSIM for wearables have a dummy mobile number attached to them and SMS forward may not be setup correctly

Linux

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#3360960 5-Apr-2025 13:14

Oh just clicked you not having issues with SMS sorry

Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3360963 5-Apr-2025 13:25

Linux:

Oh just clicked you not having issues with SMS sorry

I'm not receiving any notifications, including SMS and iMessages - but am receiving phone calls. Also, data works fine too (can stream spotify, use maps etc). So don't think it's a provider/provisioning issue especially as iMessage's aren't coming through.

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#3360969 5-Apr-2025 13:53

Latest versions of iOS and watchOS?

Assume you've checked the all the relevant notifications settings in your watch app.

Have you checked all the relevant settings on the watch itself? Mobile data is turned on, Focus mode hasn't been set to Do Not Disturb??

Otherwise do a force restart of the watch to see if that resolves it.

Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3360973 5-Apr-2025 14:28

UPDATE: My partner's watch also doesn't receive notifications whilst not in range of her iPhone. So, not an isolated case, but nonetheless pretty punishing - kind of defeats the point of LTE, other than receiving phone calls/streaming music.

Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3360974 5-Apr-2025 14:30

bp1000:

Latest versions of iOS and watchOS?

Assume you've checked the all the relevant notifications settings in your watch app.

Have you checked all the relevant settings on the watch itself? Mobile data is turned on, Focus mode hasn't been set to Do Not Disturb??

Otherwise do a force restart of the watch to see if that resolves it.

Yep, checked all that. The fact it receives phone calls fine, have just mentioned how my partner's watch has the same issue. The watch's data is fine too as it streams Spotify fine

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#3360975 5-Apr-2025 14:37

Who is your service provider? Have you contacted them for support?

Based on what you have done, it doesn't seem this is a simple setting issue.

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Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3360983 5-Apr-2025 15:22

bp1000:

Who is your service provider? Have you contacted them for support?

Based on what you have done, it doesn't seem this is a simple setting issue.

Both are on Spark. Have just done a full factory reset to no avail. Think contacting Spark will be the way to go. Just noticed that the Watch is running 11.3.1 - just tried updating to 11.4 and it says 'unable to check for update' - don't know if not being able to update will resolve the issue (another issue in itself). The fact phone calls and data work fine makes me think it's a watch/Apple issue.

fearandloathing

503 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3360987 5-Apr-2025 15:44

When you did the restore, did you restore from backup or start fresh. Are you privacy focused and have you turned off lots of notifications location services.

also sign out your Apple account on the iPhone and watch and sign back in again.

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#3360988 5-Apr-2025 15:53

Aucklandjafa:

bp1000:

Who is your service provider? Have you contacted them for support?

Based on what you have done, it doesn't seem this is a simple setting issue.

Both are on Spark. Have just done a full factory reset to no avail. Think contacting Spark will be the way to go. Just noticed that the Watch is running 11.3.1 - just tried updating to 11.4 and it says 'unable to check for update' - don't know if not being able to update will resolve the issue (another issue in itself). The fact phone calls and data work fine makes me think it's a watch/Apple issue.

I'm with Spark too. I started with a series 5 I bought in the West Island. Went into a Spark store and got it on the One Number plan and it just worked from there. I upgrade to the series 10 last year and that has worked seamlessly.

That said, I don't recall the last time when I clearly consciously aware that I got a notification on the watch when it was out of both wifi and bluetooth range of the phone. I'll do a specific test on that.

I do occasionally get tripped up while running a VPN on my phone and getting errors trying to do a software update on the watch. Need to remember to turn the VPN off first.

alasta

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#3361165 6-Apr-2025 08:44

Make sure the watch isn't on low power mode. When low power mode is selected, your watch will only poll for notifications once per hour. It's worth noting that there is a setting in the Workout app which allows low power mode to be engaged automatically during an activity (presumably for the benefit of long distance runners), so this could potentially cause low power mode to be engaged unexpectedly if you are not aware of the setting.

alasta

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#3361283 6-Apr-2025 12:33

I've just been out for a one hour run and was expecting some incoming emails in the interim, so thought I would test this for you. As I approached home my watch showed 'no notifications', but when I got inside my iPhone was showing a notification for an email received half an hour earlier. So, this would suggest that your problem is likely to be widespread.

This particular problem doesn't personally affect me as I never check notifications when I am out running, but I have been affected by a number of other things that Apple has broken in their recent software releases. It's getting to the point where consumers could be forgiven for wanting some financial compensation for the lost functionality.

Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3361290 6-Apr-2025 12:45

Yeah, I’ve noticed I’m not getting notifications even with wifi on - suggesting it’s an Apple issue, rather than Spark/telco. It’s pretty frustrating not getting texts.

bp1000

93 posts

Master Geek

#3362216 9-Apr-2025 08:31

I when out for a walk yesterday and left my phone at home. I did receive notifications on my watch from Messenger and Teams while I was kms away from my house and phone.

Aucklandjafa

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3362255 9-Apr-2025 11:32

bp1000:

I when out for a walk yesterday and left my phone at home. I did receive notifications on my watch from Messenger and Teams while I was kms away from my house and phone.

Would you know if you're able to both send and receive iMessages AND SMS whilst not in the vicinity of your phone?

Cheers

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