Siri AI on Apple Watch arrived two cycles late for watchOS 27 beta this summer. I had high hopesfor how new Siri could transform Apple Watch into an AI wearable.
What actually happened in July and August is that Siri has been remarkably unusable in watchOS 27 beta. Like “hold off on updating” bad.
This week, I half-expected Apple to remove “Siri AI” from watchOS 27 beta 8 and revert to the previous version of Siri. Instead, I think Siri AI on Apple Watch actually got good?
Siri AI on Apple Watch has been a major regression this summer
The issues that plagued Siri AI on Apple Watch all summer were clear.
Siri has been slow and unresponsive. At times, Siri has been unable to do tasks like set alarms and create reminders.
Setting a timer while cooking? Go ahead and subtract at least 30 seconds from the timer to give Siri time to get it together.
Controlling HomeKit accessories with Siri on Apple Watch has also been terribly slow with watchOS 27 beta. Really, just any normal Siri task on Apple Watch: starting a workout, sending a text, you name it.
Based on two months of pre-release betas without signs of improvement, I thought Apple might need to delay Siri AI on Apple Watch. At least for existing hardware… or maybe they were just going to mess up Siri for everyone who updates?
watchOS 27 beta 8 appears to shape things up just in time
Well, it’s been a few days since watchOS 27 beta 8 arrived, and I think all of my summer beta issues with Siri AI are just fixed now.
I’m always cautious to declare something resolved that could still be an issue for others. But at least in my experience, it’s a night-and-day difference with Siri AI on Apple Watch this week. I hope that’s true for everyone.
I’ve really enjoyed Siri AI for easily getting answers to the kind of knowledge questions that my curious 8-year-old son asks me. It’s especially great to do this without needing my phone. AI on Apple Watch has been a pretty big gap for the last couple of years, and Siri AI solves it — as long as it actually works.
I’m optimistic for the first time since Siri AI arrived in beta that it actually does work now. Are you testing Siri AI on Apple Watch yet? How has your experience been this summer and this week?
(Now my one watchOS 27 complaint is that double-clicking the Digital Crown no longer jumps between recent apps… maybe watchOS 27.1 will do something with the double-click gesture. For a device so button-constrained that only the Ultra gets an Action button, it’s odd to see a double-click gesture replaced with … nothing.)
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