macOS 27: No close button on iPhone Live Activities in menu bar (can't dismiss on Mac)

Since updating to macOS 27, I can't dismiss iPhone Live Activities on my Mac anymore.

In macOS Tahoe 26, you could click a Live Activity in the menu bar to expand it, hover over it, and an × close button appeared in the corner. Apple's support article still describes this (support.apple.com/120684). In macOS 27, the close button no longer appears, and a two-finger swipe doesn't dismiss it either.

The only workarounds I've found:

Dismiss the Live Activity on the iPhone lock screen (swipe left, then Clear). It then disappears from the Mac too.
Turn off Live Activities for that app on iPhone (Settings > Apps > [app] > Live Activities).
Turn off all Live Activities on Mac (System Settings > Notifications > Allow Live Activities from iPhone).

Is anyone else seeing this? Has anyone found a way to close them from the Mac?

Posted on Oct 13, 2026 2:11 PM

1 reply

heliokanat

Level 2 (354 points)

Nov 7, 2026 10:38 AM in response to nezloi

You have already found all three workarounds, and to answer your question directly: there is no fourth way to dismiss one from the Mac in macOS 27.0. The hover close button from Tahoe really is gone, it is not a setting you have missed.

What makes it look like a bug rather than a deliberate removal is exactly what you noticed: Apple's own support article still describes expanding the Live Activity and closing it from the Mac. When the documentation promises a control the software no longer shows, that is worth a report. File it in Feedback Assistant and mention the article, a mismatch between the docs and the shipping behavior is the kind of detail that gets a report routed to the right team. Until a 27.x update restores it, your option 1 (clear it on the iPhone, the Mac follows) is the least painful of the three, since the other two cost you the Live Activities entirely.