Customize Mirrored Notifications in iOS 18

With the introduction of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, Apple enables iPhone Mirroring, allowing users to view and interact with their iPhone directly from their Mac. Alongside this feature comes iPhone notification mirroring, which forwards alerts to your computer. Users can customize notification delivery settings specifically for mirrored apps, providing granular control over which iPhone applications are allowed to push alerts to macOS without affecting how those notifications behave on the iPhone itself.

How Mirrored Notifications Work

When iPhone Mirroring is configured, your Mac automatically receives push notifications from apps installed on your iPhone. While the underlying notification rules originate on iOS 18, the delivery behavior on your computer is governed primarily by macOS Sequoia. This architecture ensures that turning off or altering mirrored notifications on your Mac does not disable them on your iPhone.

Customizing Settings on macOS

The primary controls for managing mirrored app notifications are located within the Mac’s notification preferences:

  1. Open System Settings on your Mac.
  2. Select Notifications from the sidebar.
  3. Locate the Allow notifications from iPhone section.

From this menu, you have two levels of control:

  • Global Toggle: You can disable the primary "Allow notifications from iPhone" switch to stop all mirrored alerts while keeping screen mirroring functional.
  • Per-App Customization: Below the global toggle, macOS displays a list of apps from your iPhone. You can toggle mirroring on or off for individual applications. This prevents high-volume or non-essential mobile apps from interrupting you on your Mac while leaving critical alerts active.

Managing Permissions from iOS 18

You can also manage which Mac receives your iPhone's notifications directly from your handset:

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone running iOS 18.
  2. Tap Notifications.
  3. Select Screen Mirroring (or the designated Mac listed under your paired devices).
  4. Choose whether to allow notification forwarding to that specific computer.

Delivery Behavior and Privacy

Mirrored notifications respect your Focus modes on both platforms. If your Mac is set to a "Do Not Disturb" or "Work" Focus, mirrored alerts are silenced according to your Mac's Focus filters.

Furthermore, sensitive app data remains protected. Interacting with a mirrored notification on macOS launches iPhone Mirroring directly into that specific app, requiring the Mac to be unlocked and authenticated before displaying the app's contents.