iOS 26.2 will remove one feature in parts of the world

The latest version of iOS will somewhat negatively impact Apple Watch users in the EU.

Specifically, according to French publication Numerama (via 9to5Mac), automatic WiFi network syncing between iPhones and Apple Watches will be reduced for EU users when iOS 26.2 launches later this year. Normally, when you set up an Apple Watch by pairing it with an iPhone, it automatically gains 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 it’s not the same anymore.

That is, the difference appears to be that an Apple Watch will only automatically connect to a WiFi network if its paired iPhone is physically nearby. If you go to a café with your watch, but not your phone, you now have to manually type the WiFi password on the watch. It really only seems like it will affect people who regularly leave the house with their Apple Watch, but not with their iPhone, which I imagine is a very small subset of users.

You might be wondering why Apple would do this. The answer, of course, is to avoid market rules. The EU’s Digital Markets Act mandates that companies such as Apple provide this type of interoperability for third-party devices as well as their own devices. Apple doesn’t want to do this, so the Europeans will suffer a little.

However, only a little.