Garmin beaten by Amazfit to iOS Notification Forwarding in June 2026

The EU forced a reluctant Apple to unlock and open the door to some of its innermost, protected features. Garmin looked in pensively and silently, Amazfit ran in and has already announced iOS Notification Forwarding for the EU.

Amazfit has confirmed iOS Notification Forwarding on the Balance Ultra, Balance 3 and Cheetah 2 Ultra in its just-published Q3 2026 software roadmap. The feature lets a third party watch, reply to, and interact with iPhone notifications, not just display them. Garmin has not commented on the opportunity.

Amazfit’s commitment

The roadmap linked above shows iOS Notification Forwarding will arrive this month for the three most recent Amazfit watches: the Balance Ultra, the Balance 3 and the Cheetah 2 Ultra.

It should be noted that Garmin has access to the exact same Apple framework as any other watch brand.

Garmin’s silence

Garmin has said nothing since iOS 26.5 dropped, as highlighted in our May 16 piece, which flagged the silence at the time. Three weeks on, it continues.

Comment

The May 16 piece closed with: Brussels can hand over the keys; only Garmin can open the door. Three weeks later, a competitor, a fraction of Garmin’s size, has stepped through the door with a concrete roadmap for the feature on three high-end watches.

Garmin will inevitably add this feature, but the question is to which watches and when.

The feature itself is relatively important, but hardly a headline by itself worth shouting about too loudly. Either it will be rolled out in the next quarter’s tranche of features for the current crop of watches, or it will be one of several similarly important features bundled together to accompany a new high-end watch (and later rolled down to existing watches). This feature could encroach on Fenix 9 territory, but that won’t be announced until August at the earliest, and probably a few months later than that.

This site speculates that we will get the feature sooner rather than later on existing models.

FAQ

Which Amazfit watches get iOS Notification Forwarding in June 2026?

The Balance Ultra, Balance 3 and Cheetah 2 Ultra. EU iPhone accounts only. Other Amazfit watches are not on the published roadmap for this feature.

When will Garmin add iOS Notification Forwarding?

Garmin has not announced a date. No firmware schedule has been published. The Apple framework has been available on EU iPhones since iOS 26.5 launched on 11 May 2026.

Last Updated on 7 June 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID