iOS 26 could improve the smartwatch experience on iPhone — but only if you don't have an Apple Watch

A new report suggests Apple could be working on a means to expand the functionality of third-party smartwatches on iPhones.

The report in question comes from Macworld, which noticed an interesting line of code in the recently released iOS 26.1 beta 1. Apparently, the code mentions a new feature called Notification Forwarding. While there isn't much information on what this new feature offers, the name indicates it will allow third-party accessories to display notifications from your iPhone.

It's worth noting that, officially, Apple doesn't block third-party smartwatches from displaying notifications. Instead, the missing feature is all due to a lack of software protocol that would enable it.

However, Apple was recently ordered to open up nine separate iOS connectivity features by the EU