this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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Apple Watch

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I'm pretty sure this has happened to me several times over the years, but it hasn't happened for a while so I can't remember the fix.

But for some reason, the notifications for Mail on my Apple Watch are square instead of circular. As you know, circular notifications are interactive and can be replied to, actioned, etc. whereas square ones are literally notifications and you can't do anything with them.

Any ideas how to fix?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve been using watchOS for a few years and this is the first time I’ve heard of different shapes. I’ll have to pay more attention I guess…

[–] schmurnan 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah I think circular icons were for apps that were also installed on your Watch and square ones were purely being mirrored from your iPhone. But think that was then built upon to be circular ones being actionable and square ones just being “Dismiss”.

No idea how to fix it for Mail though, which always used to have circular. I’ve tried force restarting my Watch but it didn’t work.

[–] schmurnan 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Update: tried shutting down both iPhone and Watch, then powering them both back in (in that order) — no dice.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What if you go into the Watch app on your phone and change the notification settings for the mail app from “mirror my iPhone” to “Custom”? Does that make a difference for you? Could that have been reset to default when upgrading to watchOS 10?

[–] schmurnan 1 points 1 year ago

I did try that amount several other things but it didn’t make a difference.

I eventually fixed this by simply opening the Mail app on the Watch. Something as simple as that. Wonder whether by doing so I just triggered something. Who knows.