VIP Mail Notifications Not Working

impaler

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All,
given the limitations of the Watch for email (reading, changing status, or deleting only), I don't find much use for it. So I have turned off all Mail notifications on the watch, except for my VIPs (family, key friends) - but they don't come in. I have iCloud and Gmail. I use iCloud as my primary email. I turned OFF the iCloud and Gmail notifications, but turned ON the VIP notifications, in the iPhone Apple Watch app. Anything I'm doing wrong? Again, I don't want to be notified unless it's from a VIP.
 

Just_Me_D

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I wish I had my Watch to test for you, but I don't. Having said that, if you were to put the Watch notifications (the ones for email) to its default status, and then turn off notifications on your iPhone with the exception of the ones for the VIPs, will that cause your Watch to receive notifications for your VIPs?
 

impaler

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Good thought, but no.

Default is to mirror the iPhone's settings, for most of the Watch native apps. So if I do that, it will notify me of every email - because I want to get every email as a banner notification on the phone. On the watch, I only want VIPs. Which I can do by not mirroring the phone, but choosing each account and type manually. I almost wonder if I need to turn on the main iCloud mail notification (on the Apple Watch app), but turn off the sound/vibe, and leave VIP on. Could be since no accounts are set to on, it overrides the VIP setting. Forgive me if we're really saying the same thing. There are separate options for each email account, and another for VIPs. Inside each email account you can turn on and off vibe and/or sound.

I'll try that.
 

Just_Me_D

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Good thought, but no.

Default is to mirror the iPhone's settings, for most of the Watch native apps. So if I do that, it will notify me of every email - because I want to get every email as a banner notification on the phone. On the watch, I only want VIPs. Which I can do by not mirroring the phone, but choosing each account and type manually. I almost wonder if I need to turn on the main iCloud mail notification (on the Apple Watch app), but turn off the sound/vibe, and leave VIP on. Could be since no accounts are set to on, it overrides the VIP setting. I'll try that.

Okay, great, and let us know how it turns out...:)
 

impaler

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Okay, great, and let us know how it turns out...:)

Ok, it works just like I want it to! just made sure the iPhone screen was off. Every time I was doing it, the screen was on. As soon as I turned it off, and sent a test, I got the tap on the wrist and it showed up.

If I turned on my mail account notifications, even if I turned off haptic & sound, I got alerts for every email. Turning off all accounts, but enabling VIP ensures I only get the important ones.
 

Just_Me_D

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Outstanding, and thank you for the update...:)... Those of you who have already gotten your Watch are teaching me a great deal. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your evening...;)
 

Dave Marsh

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This limiting email notifications on the watch to VIPs is a great idea I hadn't previously considered. I want to thank you for posting your issue. I will certainly do this for my watch when it comes in.

On a related issue, I want to also thank everyone for posting interface quirks they're coming across with their new Apple Watches. I'm sure Apple's engineers are hard at work on their first software update, which will smooth the new watch experience for those of us having to wait an unexpected month for their watches, if it comes out before we get ours. In the meantime, we can only watch vicariously from the sidelines as you have all the fun. You can be sure Apple's quality managers are studying every AppleCare ticket in great detail right now, searching for commonalities that need special attention by those engineers.