How to use your Samsung Galaxy phone or Watch to manage notifications on your wearable device

Getting a lot of spam email notifications on your Galaxy Watch? No worries, you can choose which apps send notifications to your Galaxy Watch and how much information is displayed on your screen. Once you customise your preferences, you’ll only see the reminders and messages that you want to.

Galaxy Watch

Please note:

  • Your Galaxy phone and Watch must be paired before you can customise which notifications appear on your Galaxy Watch.
  • Available screens and settings may vary by provider or device model.

Select which apps are allowed to send you notifications and customise how they appear on your Galaxy Watch.

Activate app notifications

Galaxy Watch home screen on the Galaxy Wearable app. Galaxy Watch home screen on the Galaxy Wearable app.

Step 1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app > Select Watch settings.

Watch settings home screen. Watch settings home screen.

Step 2. Select Notifications.

Watch notification screen. Watch notification screen.

Step 3. Tap App notifications.

List of apps in App notifications. List of apps in App notifications.

Step 4. Tap the switches to enable or disable the notifications for each app.

Advanced notification settings

Galaxy Watch home screen on the Wearable app. Galaxy Watch home screen on the Wearable app.

Step 1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app > Select Watch settings.

Watch settings home screen. Watch settings home screen.

Step 2. Select Notifications.

Watch notification screen. Watch notification screen.

Step 3. Tap Advanced notification settings.

Advanced notification settings list. Advanced notification settings list.

Step 4. Tap the switches to enable or disable the options listed on screen.

  • New notification indicator on watch face: Indicates when you get a notification.

  • Read notifications aloud: When audio devices are connected to your Galaxy Watch directly and the Bixby feature is activated, Bixby will read the notifications out loud.

  • Show with details: Automatically shows the details of new notifications.

  • Turn on screen: Turns on the screen when you get a notification unless Mute is enabled.

  • Auto turn on watch notifications for new phone apps: Sends alerts to both your Galaxy Watch and phone.
    * This feature must be manually enabled.

Customise notification settings

You can manage your notification settings in the Galaxy Wearable app.

1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app, tap Watch settings, and then tap Notifications.

2. From here, you can choose to show phone notifications on your watch.

3. Next, swipe to and tap Advanced notification settings. The following options are available:

List of Advanced notification settings in the Galaxy Wearable app
  • Notification indicator: Show indicator on the watch face for unread notifications.
  • Read notifications aloud: Read notifications aloud when headphones are connected to your watch. This won't work when headphones are connected to your phone.
  • Show with details: Show the details of new notifications automatically.
  • Turn on screen: Turn on the watch screen when notifications are received.
  • Turn on for new apps: Automatically turn on notifications for newly installed apps.

Manage notifications from apps

If you only want to see notifications for a few apps, you can turn off notifications in the Galaxy Wearable app.

1. Open the Galaxy Wearable app, tap Watch settings, and then tap Notifications.

2. Tap App notifications, then tap the drop-down arrow, and then select All to see all installed apps.

3. To turn notifications on or off for individual apps, tap the switch next to your desired app.

4. To turn notifications on or off for all apps, tap the switch at the top of the screen next to All apps.

A list of apps with switches in the Galaxy Wearable app

You may want to apply a unique sound to your watch notifications, like a ringtone. Or, maybe you prefer vibration alerts instead. You can set up your watch’s sounds to match your preferences, whether you’re receiving texts, emails, or app alerts. These options can be applied right from your watch or from the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected phone.

List of Notification sound in the Galaxy Wearable app

Make sure the notification volume is enabled so you don’t miss anything. Open the Galaxy Wearable app on the connected phone, then tap Sounds and vibration, and then adjust the settings for Volume and Notification sound.

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