The latest version of iOS will somewhat negatively affect Apple Watch users in the European Union.
Specifically, automatic WiFi network syncing between iPhones and Apple Watches will be toned down for EU users when iOS 26.2 launches later this year, per the French publication Numerama (via 9to5Mac). Normally, when you set up an Apple Watch by pairing it with an iPhone, it automatically gets access to all the WiFi networks stored in the phone’s memory banks. When iOS 26.2 drops, users in the EU will find that this no longer happens in the same way.
Namely, the difference seems to be that an Apple Watch will only automatically connect to a WiFi network if its paired iPhone is physically nearby. If you run to the cafe with your watch but not your phone, you’ll have to manually type in the WiFi password on the watch now. This really only seems like it will affect people who regularly leave the house with their Apple Watch but not their iPhone, which I imagine to be a pretty small subset of users.
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You’re probably wondering why Apple would do this. The answer, of course, is to avoid market regulations. The EU’s Digital Markets Act mandates that companies like Apple make that sort of interoperability available to third-party devices as well as their own devices. Apple doesn’t want to do that, so Europeans have to suffer a bit.
Only a bit, though.
