Apple is allegedly working to make the iPhone work better with third-party smartwatches, according to code in the iOS 26.1 developer beta.
The Apple Watch is synonymous with the iPhone, in part due to being so deeply integrated with each other. If an Apple software feature spotted in iOS 26.1 becomes a reality, users may find they will have an easier time working with third-party timepieces.
According to a code snippet seen by Macworld, iOS 26.1 beta 1 has an unreleased feature referred to as Notification Forwarding. The feature theoretically controls whether notifications from the iPhone could be displayed on another non-Apple device.
This would logically mean smartwatches by other manufacturers, but it could also involve other hardware that gives feedback to the user in some way.
The code also alludes to it working with "one accessory at a time," and that if enabled, it would disable Apple Watch notifications.
Another discovery involving hardware involves accessory pairing. New frameworks, including one mentioned as being called "AccessoryExtension," aren't complete, but do insinuate that changes to device pairing are on the way.
While the snippets exist in the first beta, there's never a guarantee that it will actually roll out in a publicly available release. It may even be limited by region, such as its inclusion only intended to comply with EU interoperability requirements under the Digital Markets Act.
