Apple’s iPhone is an excellent smartphone, yet it struggles to integrate with smartwatches that are not Apple Watches. Although many Bluetooth smartwatches can pair with the iPhone, fundamental features like displaying notifications on your watch are only available on the Apple Watch. This situation is finally improving, but there’s a significant drawback.

The latest beta release of iOS, version 26.3, brings a new feature known as Notification Forwarding. Initially spotted in September, it enables notifications to be sent to “one accessory at a time,” including non-Apple smartwatches. However, Apple cautions that when Notification Forwarding is activated, notifications will not show up on the Apple Watch.

For iPhone users who lean towards smartwatches from brands such as Suunto, Garmin, Google, or Samsung, it’s now more manageable to choose them. While your smartwatch may lack the full range of features found on an Apple Watch, at least you’ll get notifications, which is a basic function.

The significant limitation is that Notification Forwarding is restricted to the 27 countries within the European Union, where the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is pressuring Apple to implement this functionality. This implies you must be located in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, or Sweden.

Apple is not particularly pleased with this development, citing privacy issues since it reveals notification details to third-party entities, but some users might find it advantageous. The feature can be activated in Settings – Notifications – Notification Forwarding, but only if you have the iOS 26.3 beta installed and are situated in the European Union.