Apple's first watchOS 27.3 beta, released on November 3, adds two audio-based features to the Apple Watch: Live Rewind and Siri Recap. MacRumors, which tried the beta, reports that both are opt-in and rely on the Apple Intelligence tools tied to Siri AI.
Live Rewind
Live Rewind is designed for moments when you miss something someone just said. According to MacRumors, a double press of the Digital Crown shows a transcript of the previous 15 seconds of conversation. Transcription stops after that short snippet, and the text is kept only if the wearer asks Siri about it or saves it to the Siri app. To keep the feature visible to others, the watch plays a chime even in silent mode, shows a full-display animation and displays a microphone indicator.
Siri Recap
Siri Recap works in the background. When switched on, it listens through the day and produces a high-level summary with a title and key points rather than a full transcript. MacRumors says summaries are deleted after seven days unless the user saves them. Recap can be scheduled by time, by location or both, for example only at work or not at night, and can be toggled from Control Center. Summaries can be viewed or deleted in the Siri app, and the system is said to filter potentially harmful content and sensitive information.
Privacy and processing
As MacRumors describes Apple's approach, raw audio is processed in the Secure Exclave on the S11 chip, and Apple says audio is not created or stored in a way that apps, the operating system or Apple can access. Live Rewind runs on-device unless a snippet is sent to Siri or saved, while Siri Recap summaries are generated through Private Cloud Compute. The features do not identify or label individual speakers.
Requirements
The features need an Apple Watch Series 12 or Apple Watch Ultra 4, paired with an iPhone 16 or later that has Apple Intelligence and Siri AI enabled. They are available in English only at launch and are not offered to users under 13; child accounts under 18 require parental approval.
When to expect it
Live Rewind and Siri Recap are part of the first developer beta of watchOS 27.3, so details may change before release. MacRumors expects the final watchOS 27.3 to arrive in December alongside iOS 27.3. Sound Recognition and Shazam music recognition are already on the watch and are not new in this beta.
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