Apple has published the watchOS 27 Release Candidate release notes, revealing several new features coming to Apple Watch. The update brings a more capable Siri experience, expanded Apple Intelligence features, new Smart Stack suggestions, a single-handed tap gesture, watch face changes, and several system improvements.
The watchOS 27 RC also adds new health and fitness capabilities, including perimenopause-related cycle notifications and more accurate workout distance calculations. Apple has also refined Liquid Glass, improved battery management, and expanded offline music recognition.
Siri AI Comes To Apple Watch
watchOS 27 introduces a more capable and conversational Siri that can understand personal context, perform actions across apps, understand what’s on screen, and answer questions using broader world knowledge.
A more capable and conversational version of Siri is rolling out to users. It helps you find what you need and get more done, drawing on capabilities like personal context understanding, app actions, onscreen awareness, and access to broad world knowledge
Apple is also introducing a new Siri voice experience with more expressive and natural-sounding voices. Users can adjust Siri’s expressivity and pace, with the feature powered by on-device models on supported paired iPhone models.
New voice experience offers more expressive and natural-sounding voices, and lets you customize expressivity and pace to make Siri more personal to you using powerful on-device models on paired iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models and later
A dedicated Siri app also provides a way to start a new conversation or return to an existing one, with conversations privately synced across Apple devices through iCloud.
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
Apple Intelligence Expands Across Apps
Apple Intelligence features are reaching more Apple Watch experiences in watchOS 27, including Workout Buddy and the Phone app.
Workout Buddy can now provide motivation and new insights without requiring the iPhone to be nearby when the Apple Watch has Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.
Workout Buddy delivers motivation with new insights and is now available without your iPhone nearby when you have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection
The Phone app also gains Call Context, which can recognize when you’re speaking to certain businesses and surface relevant information from other apps, such as a confirmation code or reservation number.
Call Context in the Phone app understands when you’re speaking to certain businesses and proactively surfaces relevant information from across your apps, like a confirmation code or a reservation number
Smart Stack Gets More Useful
The Smart Stack gains a new single-handed tap gesture that lets users select a widget by tapping their index finger and thumb together once. This can be useful when the other hand is occupied.
Single-handed tap gesture enables you to tap your index finger and thumb together once to select a widget in the Smart Stack, even if your other hand is occupied
watchOS 27 also adds new suggestion widgets that appear when they are relevant. Suggestions can include the location of a parked car, birthday reminders for a close contact, transit card balance changes, and the Noise app after a loud-noise notification.
New suggestion widgets will be surfaced when most relevant to you, including a Parked Car location, birthday reminders for a close contact, balance changes on a transit card, Noise app after a loud noise notification, and more
New Siri Watch Face Features
The Siri Modular watch face now includes a rectangular complication that mirrors the top widget in the Smart Stack.
Siri Modular face features a rectangular complication that mirrors the top widget of the Smart Stack, which dynamically updates to show the most relevant widget, as well as a Siri complication to quickly invoke Siri
The Smart Stack can dynamically update the information shown in the complication, while a separate Siri complication provides quick access to the assistant.
Cycle Tracking Adds Perimenopause Alerts
Cycle Tracking in watchOS 27 adds cycle deviation notifications that can suggest possible signs of perimenopause for users aged 40 and over.
Cycle deviation notifications that are suggestive of perimenopause can be received by those age 40 and over
The addition gives eligible users another way to identify changes in their cycle through Apple Watch’s existing health tracking features.
Apple Watch Gets Several System Improvements
watchOS 27 includes a range of smaller changes across the Apple Watch experience.
- The dynamic app grid now highlights popular and recently used apps.
- Find My is consolidated into one app covering People, Devices, and Items with a map-centric interface.
- Media playback starts faster.
- Treadmill distance calculations are more accurate from the first step of a walk or run.
- Fitness provides more accurate route maps after workouts.
- Battery extension notifications can suggest disabling certain features to increase battery life.
- Shazam and Music Recognition can identify songs while offline and deliver the results when the Apple Watch reconnects.
- Liquid Glass receives refinements that improve readability through more uniform refraction and improved contrast.
Dynamic app grid highlights your most popular and recently used apps
Find My app is now consolidated into one app to show People, Devices, and Items with a map-centric interface
Workout app makes distance calculations during treadmill workouts even more accurate from the first step of every walk or run
Shazam in the Smart Stack and Music Recognition app identifies songs offline without an internet connection and delivers results automatically when you’re back online
Liquid Glass refinements improve readability with more uniform refraction and improved contrast
watchOS 27 also includes battery management changes that can proactively recommend disabling certain features when additional battery life is needed.
Battery extension notifications may be proactively offered to disable certain features to increase battery life, including gestures, Start Workout reminders, and Raise to Speak method of invoking Siri
watchOS 27 Arrives September 14
Apple will release watchOS 27 on September 14 alongside its other major software updates. The Release Candidate is now available ahead of the public rollout, giving developers and beta testers access to the final version before it reaches everyone next week.
