Apple Watch notification: Disable opening app when tapping icon in long-look notification

Question

Tapping the app icon when a notification is received on the watch launches your watch app. Is there a way to disable this, or dismiss the notification when tapped?

Answer 1

The scenario you describe is a bit difficult to decipher. I will explain.

There are two different notification interfaces on watchOS 3: the Short-Look, and the Long-Look interface. The first consists of the app icon, the notification title, and the app name. It is available upon arrival (if you lift the watch), and is shown with a little animation. This quickly transitions to the Long-Look interface, which is a scrollable screen with a lot more information and actions for the user.

To answer your question: you can choose what actions to make available in your notification's Long-Look interface. Certainly, it isn't a requirement for your app to be foregrounded. However, the action will be handled by the app in some way (in the background, in that case). There are several apps out there, like the WSJ watch app, whose notifications don't have actions that foreground the originating app.

P.S. I assumed you were not referring to the notification center. When you tap on a notification there, you will be taken to the Long-Look interface of the notification.