I just got my Tempest all set up and connected (even to Underground). There is a thunderstorm nearby, and even though I don’t have the mobile app (explicitly) running on any iOS device, mu Apple Watch is reporting the lightning strikes.
This is actually very cool, but I cannot find out how it is receiving the notifications. When the strike is reported, I see the icon for the Tempest app on my Apple Watch, but again, there does not seem to be an app on it, nor any other apps running even in the background.
Follow-up: Ok, I was also confused I only got 4 notifications from the watch, but have since discovered (on the forums) that there is an algorithm to stop notifications once the strikes become more frequent that a certain rate.
The Tempest app on iOS is always running, to send you alerts just like you received. I have alerts from my WF stations popping up on my Apple Watch quite regularly. It’s working as intended!
Hmm… ok, thanks. I didn’t realize that is was always running in the background. And I’m still a bit confused, since I only have the Tempest App on my iPad, but my iPad does not have Watch App on it, and the watch does not show up on my iPad Bluetooth list.
Is my iPad sending the notifications to my iPhone that is then piping the notification to my Apple Watch? That’s interesting if so.
Apple’s notification system ties together every Apple device you have via your logged-in iCloud account. I actually receive HomeKit alerts on my office iMac at work whenever someone opens our front door at home. My personal home MacBook Pro pops up a notice and will let me answer calls on the computer from my work iPhone, as well as my personal iPhone. Welcome to the Apple ecosystem…
If you go into the Watch app on your phone and pick Notifications and then scroll down, you should find a toggle for Tempest, which you can turn off and then it shouldn’t mirror those notifications to your watch.
