Apple has updated its Developer Program License Agreement to include new rules for third-party accessories regarding the handling of forwarded notifications and Live Activities. This update introduces a new section: 3.3.3 (J), Accessory Notifications Framework and Accessory Live Activities Framework.
Background
Earlier reports indicated that iOS 26.5 beta 1 featured code suggesting upcoming Live Activities support for third-party accessories in the European Union. This functionality, alongside a notification forwarding feature allowing accessories to display iPhone notifications, is specific to EU users and aligns with the interoperability requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Previously, Apple had expressed concerns that the DMA could introduce new privacy and security threats. The company stated that while iOS is designed to prevent Apple from accessing notification content, requiring access for third-party devices could expose sensitive user data, including messages, emails, and medical alerts. Despite these concerns, Apple is proceeding with opening this access as mandated by the DMA.
New Rules for Third-Party Accessories
The updated agreement outlines strict conditions for how third parties must manage "Forwarding Information" related to notifications and Live Activities.
The rules dictate several key restrictions for third parties:
- Prohibited Uses: Third parties are forbidden from using Forwarding Information for advertising, profiling, training models, or location monitoring.
- Data Dissemination: Forwarding Information cannot be shared with any other application or device beyond the specific third-party accessory configured by the user to receive it.
- Data Sharing Restrictions: Accessories are prohibited from sharing this data or its associated encryption keys with any other device, including the user’s iPhone.
- Content Alteration: Content alteration is only permitted if necessary for proper display; changes that alter the meaning are prohibited.
- Remote Storage: Developers cannot store this data remotely, such as on cloud servers, unless it is strictly essential for delivering it to the accessory.
- Decryption Location: Data decryption must occur solely on the accessory itself.
Apple also clarified that applications do not need to inherently support this system for their data to be shared with third-party accessories, as the control will reside with a user-level setting.