iOS 26.3: Notification Forwarding in EU
iOS 26.3 adds a new “Notification Forwarding” setting that allows incoming notifications on an iPhone to be forwarded to a third-party device.
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.
It’s amazing how much iOS functionality now differs by region.
Previously:
- AirDropping With Android
- iOS 26.2 to Open Up iPhone–Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU
- AirPods Live Translation Expands to the EU
- Apple’s Thoughts on the DMA
- Apple Appeals EU Digital Markets Act Interoperability Rules
- Apple Restricts Pebble From Being Awesome With iPhones
- DMA Compliance: Default Maps App in EU
- EU iOS Envy
- iOS 18: Browser Choice and Default App Controls in EU
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It is truly amazing how much it differs by region, and even more amazing how clearly Apple is absolutely being dragged kicking and screaming into all of it. Even the basic things they really should do.
Just like the displays on their iPhones, I’m just waiting for the tipping point when the bean counters realize it’s now more expensive to fight reality than to accept it.
It’s amazing too how spiteful Apple is. By nerfing Apple Watch they ensure this feature will never actually be useful. Even if it was limited to a single device at a time AND Apple Watch, then someone would build a "notification router" app that fanned out to all the other devices you care about.
But no. Notifications remain locked in Apple-land where they can’t be automated or acted upon in the way that we automate and act upon, say, email with SpamSieve; or the way that notifications can be automated in Android for intelligent filtering, for integration with other devices or systems like Zapier, for custom accessibility support, etc.
Yep. Spiteful, and stupid. Europeans are facing the very real possibility of having a superior experience through the power of alternatives that are *not* made by Apple, purely because Apple would rather burn it all down than make those necessary concessions to competition and choice. And, worse, the things they are choosing to keep from Europeans are either not especially good or useful and have alternatives elsewhere that are, and are more than made up for by Apple's crappy interoperability provisions.
So notwithstanding that Apple Watch's remote notification functionality doesn't even work unless you have a cellular watch—a stupid restriction, in itself—Apple are literally giving their competitors an advantage by not being arseholes. Truly remarkable.
