iOS 26.2 restricts Wi-Fi sharing between iPhone and Apple Watch within the EU, here’s why

Apple is removing key Wi-Fi sharing functionality from iPhones and Apple Watches in the European Union in iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2 due to interoperability requirements under the Digital Markets Act.

The news was first reported by a French publication last month Numerama. The report explains that starting with iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2, iPhones will no longer be able to sync their Wi-Fi history to a newly paired Apple Watch as they currently do.

Learn more about exactly how this works and why Apple made the change.

How it works today

Typically, when a user sets up a new Apple Watch, their Wi-Fi network history is automatically shared from their iPhone. This means users don’t have to manually connect to a new Wi-Fi network or enter a password directly on their Apple Watch. Everything is processed seamlessly in the background.

According to Apple, Wi-Fi sharing between iPhone and Apple Watch is designed to be private. Apple doesn’t have access to your Wi-Fi name or password. Everything is completely private between users’ respective devices.

This is important because you can gather a lot of information by knowing which Wi-Fi networks your users are connected to. Using that information, you can easily create profiles that track things like your interests and the places you visit.

This is how it continues to work everywhere except the European Union.

What is changing in the EU?

However, things are changing in the EU due to interoperability requirements under DMA. Starting with iOS 26.2 in the EU, when a user sets up a new Apple Watch, Wi-Fi network history is no longer synced from the iPhone.

The process works like this:

• When your iPhone connects to a known network and you have a paired Apple Watch with you, the network is automatically shared to your Apple Watch.
• As long as your iPhone and Apple Watch are in the same location at the same time, any new networks you connect to on your iPhone in the future will be automatically shared with your Apple Watch. Wi-Fi networks will not sync if both devices are not connected.

for example:

• When you go to a coffee shop that previously used Wi-Fi on your iPhone, your network information will be shared to your Apple Watch if you have both an iPhone and an Apple Watch.
  • If you only have an Apple Watch and not an iPhone, you’ll need to connect manually on your Apple Watch.
• a new A coffee shop you’ve never been to before: When you connect to Wi-Fi on your iPhone, your Wi-Fi name and password are shared with your Apple Watch.

Another example:

• Home Wi-Fi network: The first time your iPhone connects after you set up your new Apple Watch, your network is shared with your Apple Watch.
• Visiting Airbnb for the first time: When you connect to Wi-Fi on your iPhone, the information syncs to your Apple Watch.

It’s a little confusing, but what it boils down to is accessing your Wi-Fi history. Under DMA, third-party accessories must receive the same interoperability features as Apple’s products.

Before iOS 26.2, that meant the Apple Watch retrieved the historical Wi-Fi list all at once. That exchange took place privately between devices, without Apple seeing or storing it.

If Apple had continued to do so, it would have been obligated to provide equivalent access to third-party devices. However, Apple makes no guarantees about what third parties do with that data.

As a result, Apple will remove past Wi-Fi syncs for newly paired Apple Watches in the EU. For iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2:

• For example, if you set up Meta Ray-Ban glasses, your Wi-Fi history will not be shared with Meta. Only information about new Wi-Fi networks that you join while your iPhone and accessory are together is shared.

In a post on X earlier this month, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney questioned why Apple doesn’t just “ask users whether they want to share their Wi-Fi history in the same way, whether they connect to an Apple product or a meta product.”

But Sweeney’s framework ignores how this works.

First, Apple itself doesn’t receive your Wi-Fi information. That data is privately shared between devices, from your iPhone to your Apple Watch. This system is intentionally designed to prevent Apple from viewing or storing your network history. Everything is on your device.

Second, there is no mechanism by which Apple can guarantee that third parties keep their Wi-Fi data private. Once the user receives it, there is nothing in the DMA that prevents it from storing it, analyzing it, or using it to build detailed behavioral profiles.

9to5Mac’s opinion

In summary, this makes it easier to understand Apple’s approach in iOS 26.2.

I think it’s a perfectly fair position for Apple to land on iOS 26.2 and watchOS 26.2.

It’s natural to think that a company like Meta, with its appalling privacy track record, would capture your Wi-Fi history and use that information to build profiles of Apple users and learn the patterns of their daily lives.

Have you connected to a Wi-Fi network named “Starbucks Wi-Fi”? Great! Here are some coffee ads. This is a harmless example, but in today’s world it also has more serious implications. Do you really want to tell Meta about the clinic you visited six months ago?

Apple chose this approach in the EU instead of building a system to store and share Wi-Fi history.

iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. It is scheduled to be made available to everyone within the next month.

Updated at 6:08 PM PT to correct connection process details for new Apple Watches.

My favorite iPhone accessories:

follow chance: Threads, Bluesky, Instagram, Mastodon.