Apple Watch can now summarize your day's conversations, and it works

Apple Watch can now listen through your day and write down the important things people said. A TechCrunch writer tried the feature, called Siri Recaps, for one day and found it useful enough to outweigh the creepiness, with some caveats. It is in early testing and built for Apple Watch Series 12.

What changed

On Tuesday, Apple released the first developer test versions of iOS 27.3 and watchOS 27.3. They add four audio features for Apple Watch Series 12 owners:

• Sound alerts for important noises, such as an alarm or doorbell
• Song ID, which uses Shazam's technology
• Live Rewind, which shows what was said in the past 15 seconds
• Siri Recaps, which summarize audio across the day and save notes

The sound alerts help deaf and hard-of-hearing users. Song ID is something phones have done for nearly two decades. Live Rewind and Siri Recaps are the ones raising privacy questions.

How it worked in real life

The tester dropped off a teen's car for repairs and picked up a rental. Staff gave out details on timing, prices and policies too fast to write down. Later, Siri Recaps had captured the deductible, the repair time frame and how much gas the rental started with. The tester said this is a feature they could rely on regularly.

The privacy trade-off

Apple says it processes audio and runs the AI on the device when possible. It says it does not identify speakers or store raw audio files, and it hides private details such as government ID numbers and account information.

Still, the tester had set Recaps to run at all times, and it picked up home chatter too, including an errand, a babysitting time and a plan to watch election coverage on TV. It was a clear reminder that the watch was listening. The tester is considering turning it off at home in the evening.

What could be better

The tester found the notes too mixed together. Car repair details and family errands landed in the same note. Several fixes were suggested:

• Separate notes, such as a family schedule and errands note
• Swipe left on a bullet point to delete it, instead of entering edit mode
• An option to send saved Recaps automatically to Apple's Notes app

Saved Recaps are the ones you mark with the bookmark icon. Sending them to Notes is currently an extra step.

What to do

Since this is a developer test version, features may change before a wider release. The material does not say when that will happen. If you try Recaps, think about where you leave it on. Errands and appointments are good fits. Private family conversations at home may not be.