When I got my first Apple Watch (a Series 2) back in 2017, I didn’t care much about its ability to display notifications. In my mind back then, notifications were for my iPhone, and that was that.
Fast forward to 2024, and I’m on my third Apple Watch, a Series 9. I am all about the notifications. In fact, the Watch’s notification capability is one of the features I find most important. That’s because I can get Slacked no matter where I am or what I’m doing.
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It’s very important to me to be able to stay in touch with my team, but I don’t necessarily like to carry my phone everywhere or stay tethered to my computer. With the Apple Watch and its notification feature, I can work in the workshop without having to carry my phone. I can be in the necessary. I can be out with the dog. I can be cooking. I can be curled up under the blankies in bed.
That may seem excessive, but it’s actually freeing. If I want a quiet spell, I can turn on Do Not Disturb. If I want to go on with my life, and stay connected when I have to, having my Watch means I don’t have to lug my phone or even think about how I’m going to be reached. If I have my watch, I’m good.
Until fairly recently, Slack was missing from my watch. I talk to my team over Slack constantly. If someone has a question for me, I want to be able to get back to them in real time. So I reached out to Slack, and the folks there showed me how you can make a few settings tweaks and enable Slack notifications on your Watch.
Here’s how.
How to enable Slack notifications on your Apple Watch
What you’ll need: Have the latest versions of iOS and watchOS installed on your iPhone and Apple Watch, respectively.
There is no dedicated Slack app for the Apple Watch, but there is an iPhone app. This app controls everything about how Slack works with notifications on your phone. So, if you don’t already have Slack on your iPhone, go to the App Store and install it.
Once it’s installed, go ahead and log into your various Slack channels. Get those setup and working as you like before configuring the app for notifications.
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Let’s make sure iOS is set up to allow Slack notifications. Go to the main Settings app and on the main settings screen, scroll all the way down to Slack. It’s a long scroll past many other apps. Tap into Slack.
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Once you’re in the Slack settings pane, make sure Background App Refresh and Cellular Data are turned on. That allows Slack to run all the time so you can get messages from other Slack users.
Now, back out to the top of the Settings app and tap the red Notifications icon. Make sure you Allow Notifications and turn on Time Sensitive Notifications. I also recommend you make sure Sounds is set to on.
Next, open the Slack app. Tap your profile image in the upper right corner of the screen. Then tap Notifications.