Apple Watch Ultra vibrates from incoming phone calls in Sleep Focus mode (since having IPhone 17 Pro Max)

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Apple Watch Ultra vibrates from incoming phone calls in Sleep Focus mode (since having IPhone 17 Pro Max)

Since having the iPhone Pro Max 17, my Apple Watch Ultra now vibrates when receiving incoming calls when it is on sleep focus mode and silent mode. When I had my old phone (iPhone pro max 15), everything worked fine and I would pop my watch onto sleep mode before going to bed and it wouldn’t vibrate at all during the night. I have tried everything to fix this; Restarting both devices, unpairing/re-pairing, updating software, deleted sleep focus and re-making it, ensuring all notifications and prioritised notifications are off and not allowed to come through on sleep focus mode. It only happens on phone calls, this includes all phone calls even from numbers not saved in my contacts - therefore not just my favourite contacts or repeated callers. I don’t know what else to try?! Thank you in advance for any help!

Apple Watch Ultra, watchOS 26

Posted on Dec 5, 2025 7:07 PM

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Answer 1

LD150

Level 10

100,149 points

Dec 6, 2025 3:57 AM in response to MrsLC90

Try setting up a full Do Not Disturb focus for your sleep period. Sleep focus has been notoriously porous for some time. Take the usual precautions to block calls and notifications.

How to turn Do Not Disturb on or off on your iPhone – Apple Support (UK)

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Answer 2

Dec 6, 2025 2:07 AM in response to MrsLC90

Your Apple Watch Ultra is vibrating on incoming calls during Sleep Focus because:

➡️ iOS 26 changed call routing so that Phone calls bypass notification filtering unless a setting is manually corrected.

This did NOT happen on earlier iPhones (like your iPhone 15 Pro Max), which is why it worked perfectly before.

The fix is not where most people look.

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Answer 3

LD150

Level 10

100,149 points

Dec 6, 2025 3:54 AM in response to azaksalmarzur28

azaksalmarzur28 wrote:

Your Apple Watch Ultra is vibrating on incoming calls during Sleep Focus because:

➡️ iOS 26 changed call routing so that Phone calls bypass notification filtering unless a setting is manually corrected.

This did NOT happen on earlier iPhones (like your iPhone 15 Pro Max), which is why it worked perfectly before.

The fix is not where most people look.

if you believe that, why not give the setting that needs changing?

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