We’ve long suspected that our devices are listening to us, but what about when we invite them to do so? This is what the Audio Intelligence test looks like on the Apple Watch. But while it may seem disturbing to have your smartwatch listening and taking notes about your entire day, the reality is much more mundane.
Alongside general sensor, processor, and battery upgrades, the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 introduced Audio Intelligence, a new set of features that allows the watch to listen to conversations.
Siri Recap generates summaries of what you discussed throughout the day, while Live Rewind gives you a transcript of the last 15 seconds of audio in case you missed anything.
This is a similar feature to AI-powered check-in pins like Plaud or Amazon’s Bee, but in the context of your smartwatch and without any additional cost or subscription.
And it’s completely optional. You must first sign up for the features to enable them, and then choose to enable the desired feature each time you want to start using it. Then you can leave it on all day, schedule it, or manually activate it whenever you need it. If you’re like me and forget it’s on, you get reminders that it’s still listening or to check your recaps.
The fact that you have so much control over whether and how much you use it helped alleviate the creepy factor for me, but there’s still everyone else to consider.
Beyond a barely audible chime when I double-click the Digital Crown to activate Live Rewind, there’s no way to alert others that the feature is being used and that anyone within earshot also finds themselves inadvertently involved in my little experiment. Other wearable devices, like smart glasses, have an indicator light on the front to alert viewers when they are recording video.
Apple has built in privacy safeguards for audio, how it is processed and then deleted. I’ve broken it all down in a separate Audio Intelligence FAQ. It’s about what its use looks like in nature.
I’ve been testing Audio Intelligence in the public beta of WatchOS 27.3 (and iOS) for two weeks. Because this isn’t the final version (Apple says it will be released later this year), consider this a sneak peek.
Live Rewind: late until trigger
Let’s leave Live Rewind aside because there isn’t much to say about it. Whether it was a lack of muscle memory (or utility), I had to do everything I could to remember that the feature existed.
I thought this would be helpful for those who are “coming back?” moments during conversations, but the reality is that it’s simply easier to ask someone to repeat what they said than to think about pressing the digital crown twice at the right time. I can see this being most useful when listening to a presentation or other event.
Fifteen seconds pass much faster than I expected and by the time I realize something might be worth revisiting, the person has continued the conversation. Either I missed what I intended to achieve, or I simply captured the silence that followed.
Siri Summary: Good in Meetings, Bad in Life
Siri Recap was more useful, although still hit or miss. The feature gives you high-level summaries of what it heard – it doesn’t provide a transcript to review and it doesn’t identify who said what. This shines most during dedicated meetings, when there is only one conversation to follow rather than a jumble of unrelated discussions.
A success story: I was moderating the chat for our iPhone Duo live bend test on YouTube while Matthew Murray, CNET’s lab director, answered questions from viewers on the stream.
I thought I understood the gist of what he was saying, but the typing must have distracted me more than I thought because I was pleasantly surprised to learn some interesting facts that I had missed in the Siri summary, like “Opening a phone 20 times a day for 10 years is the same as 73,000 times” or that “the machine performs approximately 22,560 cycles every 24 hours.”
But Siri’s batting average wasn’t always that good, making it difficult to trust the grades. During a conversation with another mom about carpool logistics, Siri Recap pulled out action items, like who I was picking up and at what time, which I appreciated, but the information wasn’t accurate. Not only did Siri get the children’s names wrong, but it also caused me to choose the wrong child. Clearly, the mental load of managing logistics after school is a challenge, even for Siri.
Siri can’t handle complicated conversations (and TV shows)
Where things get interesting (and sometimes hilarious) is how Siri discerns what constitutes a conversation and how many topics belong in a single recap.
Siri is usually good at accurately labeling the topic of conversations: “Parent-Teacher Conferences,” “Carpool Logistics,” “Durability Testing of Foldable Phones.” But rather than separating them, as it should, he sometimes combines two, even three completely independent conversations into a single recap.
I came across bullet points summarizing a serious conversation with a friend about a health issue, as well as notes about a chaotic (albeit funny) apple cider explosion incident with my kids. Both conversations took place within the same two-hour window, but they were by no means consecutive.
Siri’s version:
- Health Details
- Entire case of apple cider ruined after repeated warnings to stop shaking
- No more apple cider will be brought into the house
- Any remaining grip on the floor results in no iPad on the plane
It’s a good thing Siri Recap leaves out tone and volume, because the last bullet would have been in ALL CAPS.
What he decided deserved a standalone recap was a discussion about wedding plans during an episode of Nobody Wants That on Netflix. To be honest, this absolutely would have merited a recap if I’d been discussing my own wedding plans; However, the fact that the “conversation” took place at midnight should have alerted Siri that this was a late-night binge session and not a real conversation that needed to be recapitulated.
Rather than leaving feeling better informed about the important conversations I’d had throughout the day, I left feeling validated by the chaos of it all. The constant whiplash of being pulled in a dozen different directions—bouncing between work, kids, gossip, and the occasional sticky drink crisis—was real and now immortalized (until the recap automatically expires if you don’t choose to save it).
A case for manually enabling Siri Recap during meetings
For now, while new, neither Siri Recap nor Live Rewind are reason enough to buy (or avoid) the Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4. These are two of our highest-rated smartwatches for fitness, health, and other smart features. Audio Intelligence is either an added bonus (it’s free) or something you can ignore altogether.
But if you decide to venture into this new world of AI note takers, my suggestion would be to use Siri Recap intentionally rather than leaving it running all day.
Turn it on before a work meeting, doctor’s appointment, or other conversation where you might want some notes to jog your memory later. Just make sure everyone involved knows it’s enabled and is comfortable with it, and that you’re not relying on it for crucial information.
If the stakes are high, have a backup – whether it’s your own notes or a recording – lest you risk coming home with the wrong child.
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