Apple begins beta testing AI features for conversation summaries on Apple Watch — TechCrunch
Apple has begun beta testing Audio Intelligence technology for developers as part of the iOS 27.3 update. The set of AI features, introduced by the company in September, is intended for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. As TechCrunch reports, the capabilities include recognizing important sounds, identifying music, reviewing what an interlocutor recently said, and creating concise notes summarizing conversations.
A fragment of the last 15 seconds
The Live Rewind feature allows users to double-press the Digital Crown to view on the watch screen a text fragment of what was said during the previous 15 seconds. This may be useful, for example, for reviewing spoken instructions or a list of information. The user can save the fragment in the Siri app or choose not to do so, in which case it will be automatically deleted after 30 seconds.
When Live Rewind is activated, the watch plays an audio signal and displays an animation. Apple explains that the combination of the gesture, sound, and visual indicator is intended to notify those present that what was said is being captured. Beneath the text fragment, users can also tap the Ask Siri option and ask a question about the information they heard.
Concise conversation summaries
Another feature, Siri Recaps, creates a short summary of a conversation with one sentence and key points, including dates, deadlines, prices, or payment details. Apple states that the feature does not identify interlocutors, does not store raw audio recordings, and does not produce a verbatim transcript. The company suggests using it during work meetings, conversations between teachers and parents, or workouts.
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Summaries can be enabled manually or on a schedule, for example only during working hours; they can also be disabled through Control Center. At the end of the day and after the first morning unlock of the watch, it will offer to review the notes created. They can be saved in Notes or exported to Journal, while unsaved summaries will be deleted after seven days. Siri Recaps will not work while listening to music with headphones or using noise cancellation.
Data processing
Apple said that Audio Intelligence uses the S11 chip, the built-in microphone, Apple Intelligence models on the iPhone, and Private Cloud Compute infrastructure. The watch detects a conversation involving its owner, after which the audio is transmitted to the paired iPhone through a secure connection. On the smartphone, the sound is converted into shortened text without filler words, and the encrypted text is sent to Private Cloud Compute to generate a summary. According to Apple, summaries and the data used to create them are immediately deleted from the cloud, while synchronization with the user's other devices takes place in encrypted form.
The company also stated that Siri Recaps was designed not to include government identifiers, financial and authentication data, certain personal information, or wording that encourages self-harm. The features are expected to reach a public beta before a broader launch.
