iOS 26 May Finally Improve The Experience Of Using Third-Party Smartwatches With iPhones

iOS 26.1 Beta 1 has been out for a few days now, and it seems there's more to it than improvements to Liquid Glass. According to Macworld, a few lines of code in the new build suggest that Apple is working on adding better third-party smartwatch support for iPhone users. Along with expanding Apple Intelligence and Live Translate features to more languages, the iOS 26.1 Beta codebase includes an unreleased feature called Notification Forwarding, which lets users relay iPhone notifications to a non-Apple device or accessory, such as a smartwatch.

Interestingly, a string of code also suggests that notifications can be forwarded to only one device, which could result in notifications not being mirrored to the Apple Watch. Therefore, users may have to choose between using an Apple Watch or a third-party option. A few references to new frameworks related to accessory pairing might also indicate that Apple is preparing third-party smartwatch support.

Thanks to the European Commission, Apple was required to add exclusive iOS features for iPhone users in the EU. Among the new requirements, support for viewing and reacting to iOS notifications on third-party smartwatches was of prime importance. While the European Commission set a deadline of June 2026 to introduce this feature, Apple already appears to be working on it. That said, it may still take a few months before Apple starts rolling out the update to the masses.

At this point, it's unclear whether Apple plans to roll out support for third-party smartwatches globally or if it will restrict the functionality to regions in the EU. Additionally, Apple is expected to introduce automatic audio switching for third-party headphones, an AirDrop-like feature that's cross-platform, and the ability to use third-party accessories connected to an iPhone for payments.