Apple has introduced Audio Intelligence features for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4.
Audio Intelligence includes four features:
- Sound Recognition
- Music Recognition
- Live Rewind
- Siri Recap
Sound Recognition detects important sounds such as sirens, alarms, and doorbells, then sends notifications to the watch even when the paired iPhone is not nearby. This feature is also designed to help users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Music Recognition uses Shazam to automatically identify songs playing nearby. The detected song title and artist appear in the Apple Watch Smart Stack without requiring users to open the app.
Meanwhile, Live Rewind lets users recall the last 15 seconds of a conversation. Double-pressing the Digital Crown displays a text snippet of what was recently said. Users can also ask Siri about the snippet or save it for later.
Siri Recap uses Apple Intelligence to create short summaries of conversations throughout the day. Users can review these summaries later through the Siri app. Recaps can also be set to automatically delete after up to seven days.
Apple says Audio Intelligence does not create or store audio recordings. Audio is processed through a protected hardware environment called Secure Exclave, which is part of the S11 chip.
Sound Recognition and Live Rewind are processed on-device, while Siri Recap uses Apple’s Private Cloud Compute to generate summaries. Apple says the processed data is not stored or accessible to the company.
Users also have control over when these features are active. All four features are opt-in, while Live Rewind and Siri Recap can be manually enabled or scheduled based on time or location.
Siri Recap does not create full conversation transcripts or identify individual speakers. Apple also says summaries may omit certain sensitive information, although users should still check important details for accuracy.
Apple Audio Intelligence Availability
Sound Recognition and automatic Music Recognition with Shazam require an Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 paired with an iPhone 11 or later, or iPhone SE (2nd generation or later) running iOS 27.
Live Rewind and Siri Recap will arrive in beta later this year with watchOS 27.3.2. These features require a supported iPhone 16 or newer model, Apple Intelligence, and Siri AI (Beta).
Live Rewind and Siri Recap will initially support English and will not be available in the European Union or China. Both features are also unavailable to users under 18.