Apple Releases watchOS 27 With Siri AI, New Watch Face, Smart Stack Improvements and More

Apple on Monday pushed out watchOS 27, the latest software for its smartwatches.

watchOS 27 brings Siri AI to compatible devices. The update introduces a more capable and conversational version of the assistant that uses personal context understanding, app actions, onscreen awareness, and broad world knowledge. Siri AI in watchOS 27 requires an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone, which includes the iPhone 15 Pro models, the iPhone Air, and all iPhone 16, iPhone 17, and iPhone 18 models.

A refreshed voice experience provides more expressive and natural-sounding options and permits customization of expressivity and pace via powerful on-device models when paired with an iPhone Air or iPhone 17 Pro and later. "A dedicated Siri app provides an easy way to revisit an existing conversation or kick off a new one, and privately syncs conversations across your Apple products with iCloud," according to Apple's release notes.

Apple Intelligence features arrive in the Workout and Phone apps. Workout Buddy now supplies new motivational insights and works without a nearby iPhone when a Wi-Fi or cellular connection is present. Call Context in the Phone app understands when users are speaking to certain businesses and proactively surfaces relevant information from across apps, such as confirmation codes or reservation numbers.

New watch face and Smart Stack enhancements debut. The Siri Modular watch face features a rectangular complication that mirrors the top widget of the Smart Stack, which dynamically updates to show the most relevant widget, along with a Siri complication for quick access. A single-handed tap gesture lets users tap their index finger and thumb together once to select a widget even if the other hand is occupied.

New suggestion widgets surface at the most relevant times, including a Parked Car location, birthday reminders for a close contact, balance changes on a transit card, a Noise app alert after a loud noise notification, and more.

System-wide refinements improve daily use and accuracy. A dynamic app grid highlights the most popular and recently used apps. The Find My app is now consolidated into one map-centric interface showing People, Devices, and Items. Media playback starts faster, treadmill distance calculations in the Workout app are more accurate from the first step, and the Fitness app offers more accurate route maps after workouts. Battery extension notifications may be proactively offered to disable certain features to increase battery life, including gestures, Start Workout reminders, and Raise to Speak. Shazam in the Smart Stack and the Music Recognition app identifies songs offline without an internet connection and delivers results automatically when back online. Liquid Glass refinements improve readability with more uniform refraction and improved contrast.

Cycle Tracking now delivers deviation notifications suggestive of perimenopause for those age 40 and over. watchOS 27 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 9 and later, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later, and the Apple Watch SE 3. The update can be downloaded for free on a compatible device through the Settings app on the watch.