Siri AI makes your Apple Watch feel like a wrist computer

Siri has been on the Apple Watch since day one, though I usually have a hard time finding people who make good use of it. It’s kind of just… I was there – mostly as a way to set timers when my hands are full. But after trying out the watchOS 27 developer beta, I have a feeling that’s going to start to change. It’s not for everyone, and certainly not overnight, but the upgrade from regular ol’ Siri to Siri AI feels like a major shift in the way Apple — and other tech companies — think we should use our smartwatches.

To be clear: If all you want Siri to do on your wrist is set an alarm or get the weather forecast, it’s still good at that. But while I previously found the Apple Watch useful for health and fitness tracking with the notification-sorting aspect, Siri AI lets me do so much more. actual Computing from the wrist. One of the main reasons for this is that you don’t have two separate Siri experiences on your phone and watch.

“Our main goal with the integration with the Watch is to make sure that that experience was consistent. What we don’t want is for the user to have that experience where they ask Siri in one place, and they get a different answer if they ask[in]another place,” says David Clarke, Apple’s senior director of software engineering for watchOS. “By tethering the watch tightly to the phone, and having that personal context drive the entire experience, we can start to set expectations that it’s Siri AI.”

The disconnect between the phone and the watch was an issue I ran into last year while testing the Gemini on pixel watch 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. I often have a hard time deciding when it makes sense to try using a Gemini on the wrist versus pulling out my phone. The suggested use cases for me were either to answer random questions, which the phone was still faster at, or to complete complex queries that involved multiple apps. Prompts like “Remember to remind me to bring an umbrella when it rains” or “Create a K-pop inspired playlist in YouTube Music.” Gemini on the Wrist stinks of the first, and although it could create a playlist, it wasn’t an organic request I was really going to make. When I asked him to recommend a local coffee shop and texted the location to a coworker, I got one 40 blocks away. I had better results on my phone, even if I had to manually text the location.

I haven’t really had this issue with Siri AI on watchOS 27. That’s partly because Siri AI is very upfront about what it can’t do and will suggest alternatives. For example, it can’t set reminders based on the weather forecast, but it can set reminders based on when I leave a location. As for the search results for phone versus wrist, I didn’t notice any broad differences. In fact, the queries you make on your wrist are stored in the same app as on your phone.

Thanks to the often annoying ecosystem lock-in, the Apple Watch is a nifty device for taking notes on the go. Siri AI makes bookmark notes and reminder lists on my phone or MacBook easier because I can I ask In order to display its contents. While Michael was buying embroidery floss, I was able to ask Siri to bring up the list of thread colors I had pinned in the Reminders app, then check it off on my wrist while I looked through randomly stored boxes. Likewise, it’s easy to start searching for something while you’re out and about and continue later on your phone or your MacBook’s Siri AI app.

The main drawback of Siri AI is that it’s a new habit you have to build. When I had to think quickly, I often didn’t remember my watch upgrades. You still have to deal with response time while Siri AI thinks, and even if big tech companies say MBA students understand written prompts naturally, it always works better the more specifically you phrase your requests. As an AI assistant, he is vulnerable to foolishness. If you’re an impatient person, chances are that Siri AI on your wrist will bother you from time to time.

Workout Buddy — the AI-powered motivational fitness “coach” — is getting some upgrades. In watchOS 26, Workout Buddy appeared mostly on milestones. This year, it is expanding the range of insights offered, and is now running in Spanish.

“This year we’ve added facts that look deeper into your trends, not just based on today’s exercise versus historical ones,” Clark says. “If you’ve just conquered a hill, and you’ve worked up a little extra sweat, we’ll know that your speed was up despite the altitude, so we’ll congratulate you on getting to the top of that hill and continuing onward.”

My workouts have been less intense lately, so I haven’t gotten any of these new ideas yet. If you were hoping Siri AI on the wrist would offer health recordings, that’s not on the cards at the moment. I Personally satisfied Neither Workout Buddy nor Siri AI are more proactive with health advice. However, Clark says you can use Siri AI’s vast global knowledge to get “scientifically backed answers” to questions like “What is bad cholesterol?” Or recommend extensions to run the recovery process. In other words, it is mostly intended to be a resource to help people quickly access information.

Another nifty update is the new App Launcher, which is a quick list of apps you use frequently or recently. As someone who tends to use the same six apps on the watch, this was incredibly convenient. You might find it less so if you’re using screen interfaces with a lot of complexity, but I was trying to use a more zen screen interface that featured a picture of my derby cat. This allows aesthetic flexibility without sacrificing function.

But my favorite watchOS 27 feature is the new single tap gesture. where pinch pinch It lets you scroll, a flick of the wrist closes screens, and a single tap lets you choose. In combination with Smart Stack and the raise-to-speak gesture, it is excellent Easy to use Apple Watch with one hand. I’m a strong user of gestures, and this made it easy for me to quickly check information without having to use a second hand. If you are no To take advantage of these features, I highly encourage giving gestures another chance

I’m still experimenting with different parts of watchOS 27, but so far, it feels like the culmination of many updates over the past three to four years. The expansion of gestures, smart widgets, and now Siri AI makes today’s Apple Watch feel like a very different device than it did in 2022. One after another, the features were neat but somewhat repetitive. With the arrival of Siri AI, these disparate parts begin to coalesce into a bigger picture: a watch that can finally become a useful wrist computer. We’re not there yet, but nonetheless – I’m still very excited.