How to Try 'Audio Intelligence' on Your Apple Watch Early
· Lifehacker
It has been a big year for Apple. There's a new CEO, prices have increased across the board, and there's been a seemingly endless rollout of new devices, including two new Apple Watches: the Series 12 and the Ultra 4. All things considered, these watches offer only minor upgrades over the previous models, shipping with new heart rate monitors and the latest S11 processor. But one of the biggest new watch features, "Audio Intelligence," is also the most controversial—and it's rolling out in beta today.
What is Audio Intelligence?
Audio Intelligence is Apple's branding for a new set of features exclusive to the Series 12 and Ultra 4. These features use the new Apple Watches' hardware, along with on-device and cloud-based AI, for tasks like sound and music identification as well as dictation. "Sound Recognition" can alert you to important sounds, like alarms and doorbells, while "Music Recognition" can automatically display songs playing around you—but these aren't the features you'll hear talked about in discussions of Audio Intelligence.
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Rather, everyone is up in arms about "Live Rewind" and "Siri Recap." These Audio Intelligence features passively "listen" to your conversations throughout the day, and, using AI, deliver summaries of what was said. When you double-click your Apple Watch's crown to use Live Rewind, you'll get a loose transcript of the last 15 seconds of conversation it overheard, while Siri Recap can show summaries of all your in-person chats throughout the day. You can even configure a schedule for when your watch is "listening" for recaps—e.g., only run during work hours. Apple suggests each is intended to help jog your memory; maybe you use Siri Recap to remember important discussions you had that morning, while Live Rewind is meant for moments where you forget what someone just said. (As opposed to asking them to repeat themselves, I suppose.)
These features sparked some controversy following their announcement, since the idea of Apple Watches quietly recording everything said throughout the day doesn't sit well with many people. Apple is adamant, however, that Audio Intelligence preserves your privacy. The company emphasizes that the Apple Watch never actually records anything; instead, it processes an audio stream through the Secure Enclave, a part of the S11 chip that even watchOS itself can't access, before sending it to your iPhone's Secure Enclave for further processing. This lets your Apple Watch produce both transcripts (Live Rewind) and summaries (Siri Recap) without ever actually recording or storing audio. Apple says speakers are never identified in this process, and both Siri Recap and Live Rewind data are automatically deleted, unless you wish to save any of these text results to the Siri app.
How to try Audio Intelligence early
Apple's claims may or may not assuage your fears, but it seems the company is pushing on ahead regardless. Apple is releasing Audio Intelligence as part of iOS 27.3, which launches in beta on Tuesday. If you have an Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4, you can try it out today, assuming you enroll in Apple's latest beta version.
To do so, you'll need to sign up for the Apple Developer program, since iOS 27.3 is rolling out first for devs. This program used to require a $99 fee, but you can skip it now if you opt for the free account. Once you enroll your Apple Account in this program, you can open your iPhone, head to Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates, and choose "iOS 27 Developer Beta." Go back one page, then follow the on-screen instructions to download and install iOS 27.3 when it's available.