Skip to content

iPhone

This page shows how to connect an iPhone to the clock over Bluetooth. The clock then shows notifications from the apps you choose, and the song your iPhone is playing. The clock and the iPhone talk directly. The AWTRIX NG app chooses what the clock shows.

The iPhone link needs an iPhone with iOS 13 or later.

How it behaves

The iPhone link is off until you switch it on. While it is off, the clock is not visible to iPhones and shows nothing from them. Once paired, the clock remembers the iPhone and connects to it by itself whenever it comes back in range, about 10 m. The clock connects to one iPhone at a time, and only to the one it remembers.

Connect your iPhone

  1. Switch the iPhone link on: in the web UI, open System → iPhone and turn on iPhone link, or switch it on in the AWTRIX NG app.
  2. On the iPhone, open Settings → Bluetooth. The clock appears under Other Devices. Tap it.
  3. Tap Pair.
  4. Allow Share System Notifications.

Connection in the web UI shows Connected and the iPhone's name once everything is set up.

Choose the apps

Only the apps you choose appear on the clock. All other notifications stay on the iPhone.

You choose the apps in the AWTRIX NG app, under Notifications from. Tap Add app and search for the app, or add one under Recently seen, the apps that sent a notification lately. Each chosen app gets its icon.

Each notification shows the app's icon, the app's name and the message: the title, a colon and the text, up to 240 characters. It stays 8 seconds, in orange text.

Music

With Show music on in the AWTRIX NG app, the clock shows what the iPhone plays: title, artist and a progress bar. It appears when a song starts and disappears a few seconds after you pause or stop, or when the iPhone leaves.

With Load covers on, the clock looks up the album cover and shows it as the icon. For that it sends the artist and title of each song to Apple's public iTunes search. Turn Load covers off to keep this to yourself. Without a cover, the clock shows the icon of the chosen app whose name matches the player, such as Spotify, or else a note.

Forget the iPhone

To connect a different iPhone, or to stop for good, forget the iPhone on both sides:

  1. In the web UI, open System → iPhone and press Forget iPhone, then press again to confirm.
  2. On the iPhone, open Settings → Bluetooth, tap ⓘ next to the clock and choose Forget This Device.

The next iPhone to pair is then remembered instead. To only pause the link, turn iPhone link off. The clock keeps the iPhone and your chosen apps.

When it goes wrong

Symptom What to do
The clock does not appear in iOS Settings Check that iPhone link is on and that the iPhone is close to the clock. If the clock remembers another iPhone, press Forget iPhone first.
Pairing fails, or the iPhone keeps trying On the iPhone, choose Forget This Device for the clock, press Forget iPhone in the web UI, then pair again.
Connection stays at Connecting… Wait a few seconds. After pairing, the iPhone reconnects by itself.
No notifications appear Check that the app is chosen in the AWTRIX NG app and that the iPhone allowed Share System Notifications (iPhone Settings → Bluetooth → ⓘ next to the clock).
The cover is missing The song was not found in Apple's search, or Load covers is off.

Good to know

  • iOS Settings may keep showing a spinner next to the clock. Nothing to do: the link works anyway.
  • Notifications that were already on the iPhone when it connected are not shown, and neither are silent ones.
  • iOS does not share alarms and timers, so the clock cannot show them.
  • Notifications: what a notification looks like and how it queues
  • Gamepad: the other Bluetooth device the clock pairs