# I Tested the New Siri AI in watchOS 27 Beta. It Had Me Feeling Like a Secret Agent > Source: > Published: 2026-07-15 18:24:11+00:00 Despite lacking a yellow coat and hat, I felt a bit like Dick Tracy on a late Friday afternoon after having an extended conversation with my [Apple Watch Ultra 3](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/160142/apple-watch-ultra-3). I wasn’t trying to track down mobsters; I was planning my weekend with [Siri](/macos/165450/siri-gets-long-awaited-ai-overhaul-not-if-you-live-in-2-regions-wwdc-2026). The new AI-powered version of Apple’s famous digital assistant lives in its own dedicated app in [watchOS 27](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/165501/watchos-27-everything-we-know-about-the-apple-watch-from-wwdc-2026) and can use context from past questions to sustain a back-and-forth dialogue. I’ve spent roughly a week testing the beta of Apple’s latest watch software, and while Siri AI is the headliner, Apple made a lot of existing features more convenient and informative. The Smart Stack offers more contextual suggestions and has added convenient gesture controls. [Workout Buddy](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/158538/can-the-apple-watch-workout-buddy-really-replace-my-personal-trainer-only-if-it-does-these-3-things) has gotten better and can now work without your [iPhone](/mobile-phones/136035/whats-the-best-iphone-to-buy) nearby. Apple also updated Cycle Tracking and Child Accounts. First announced at [WWDC in June](/ai/165474/wwdc-2026-apples-7-biggest-ai-upgrades-ranked), the watchOS 27 public beta is available to download and try now ahead of its general release, expected this fall. If you’re interested in trying out the software on your own [Apple Watch](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/143057/the-best-apple-watch), read on for instructions on how to get the public beta up and running. If you don’t want to take the risk, wait for the stable version to arrive later this year. Meanwhile, check out my first impressions of watchOS 27 beta below. For this first look, I tested the latest watchOS 27 developer beta, which arrived one week before the public beta release. ## How to Get the watchOS 27 Beta Grabbing the watchOS 27 beta is free and easy, as long as you have a current [Apple Watch](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/143057/the-best-apple-watch) and some time to download. Specifically, you need an [iPhone 11](/apple-iphone-2/122866/apple-iphone-11) or later and an [Apple Watch 9](/apple-serie/148729/apple-watch-series-9) or later (the [Apple Watch SE 3](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/160097/apple-watch-se-3) and the [Apple Watch Ultra 2](/apple-serie/148976/apple-watch-ultra-2) and [Ultra 3](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/160142/apple-watch-ultra-3) are eligible). To get started, you need to sign up for Apple’s [beta software program](https://beta.apple.com/welcome) using your Apple ID. Next, download the [iOS 27](/operating-systems/165456/siri-voice-spicier-how-to-get-apple-ios-27-developer-beta-3-right-now) beta to your phone, which is also public. Go to **Settings > General > Software Update > Beta Updates** to get it. After you update your phone to iOS 27, you must go through a similar process in the Watch app. Open the app, switch to the My Watch tab, and navigate to **General > Software Update > Beta Updates**. While the software is downloading, Apple recommends keeping your phone and watch close together, with the watch on the charger. The files for the iOS 27 and the watchOS 27 updates are pretty big, so expect each step to take 30 minutes or more, depending on your internet speed. They also need additional time to install after the download. You might want to budget an hour for the process. If possible, keep both devices plugged in to avoid any potential battery issues. Note that this is still **beta software**, and **you can’t go back once you install it**. I haven’t encountered any major issues thus far, but it's possible you will encounter bugs that you wouldn't find in a general release. ## Siri AI Siri got an AI makeover across Apple’s platforms. Siri itself is more conversational and can answer a broad range of questions about most topics searchable on the internet, as well as questions that include personal context, as it can quickly pull info from your Apple devices to find the relevant data. The makeover is similar to Alexa’s transformation into [Alexa+](/ai/162987/i-tested-alexa-for-months-these-7-features-changed-how-i-use-my-echo) and Google switching from Google Assistant to [Gemini](/smart-home/160376/rip-google-assistant-gemini-gives-the-smart-home-an-extreme-ai-makeover). Indeed, the change to Siri AI comes after [Apple partnered with Google on AI](/ai/162543/apple-google-sign-deal-to-use-gemini-ai-to-help-build-the-future-of-siri), so Gemini is part of Siri’s new smarts. In addition to its enhanced smarts, Siri now lives in an app called Siri AI. You can still talk to Siri using the “Hey Siri” voice commands and other shortcuts, but you can now see your past conversations in a central place and start a new query through the app. This app has a specific wrist version that mirrors the phone version in iOS 27. On the watch, you can quickly access the app by pressing the crown. On [watchOS 26](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/159287/i-tested-apple-watchos-26-beta-and-liquid-glass-won-me-over) and before, this button opened your app drawer. Now, it pulls up a grid of apps with Siri AI in the center with suggested apps around it. The suggested apps are populated dynamically based on which ones you’ve used recently and which you use most often. From here, you can swipe up to return to the app drawer. I often found this grid was smart enough to surface the app I was looking for, so I didn’t often have to go to the app drawer during my week of testing. As for Siri AI, I enjoyed chatting with it. When planning my weekend, it let me know about upcoming festivals in my home city of Chicago and provided extra details when I had follow-up questions about music acts and food at the Taste of Chicago. It stumbled a bit when I asked for an outdoor patio where I could drink with my friends and play Cornhole. It did recommend a spot with a patio, but no yard games. After enabling access to my health data, I was able to ask Siri how I slept, but it didn’t respond to my follow-up inquiry about the amount of deep sleep I got. Instead, it referred me to the [Health app](/health-fitness/142390/apples-health-app-9-tips-for-storing-and-tracking-medical-data-on-your-iphone) on my iPhone. Siri on the watch also didn’t show my past conversations like the phone version. For general information inquiries, Siri drew on past questions, and I was able to have a back-and-forth about the offerings at nearby breweries. While the software still seems to need some polish (as expected for a beta version), Siri AI feels more conversational and helpful than past versions of Apple’s digital helper. ## Health Features Workout Buddy gets smarter with watchOS 27. The cheerful AI motivator still chimes in during certain exercises with encouragement and stat updates. With Apple’s latest software, you can use it without your phone as long as your watch has a cellular connection. It’s aware of more metrics for more detailed insights as it talks, and it’s now available in Spanish. This is particularly noticeable in its opening and closing greetings, where Workout Buddy adds extra context. It talked about my exercise rings with specific detail about how much progress I still needed to make. It went over all of my stats after the run in a helpful overview, and complemented my durability after my longer session. Apple has avoided making Workout Buddy prescriptive. It’s designed to provide encouragement and updates on the stats you want to track, but it won’t offer unprompted critiques or advice. After my run, it could have easily noted my particularly slow pace on my sluggish day, but it kept things positive by focusing on duration. Siri AI is not yet integrated with Workout Buddy for extra in-depth analysis. For indoor workouts, Apple has improved distance tracking on treadmills. And within the Cycle Tracking feature in the Health app, Apple has added support for monitoring symptoms related to perimenopause and menopause, as well as options to find support and educational resources. ## A Smarter Smart Stack You can now control Apple’s Smart Stack with additional gestures. The Smart Stack is a customizable list of widgets that Apple dynamically updates based on your personal context. It surfaces the Exercise app if you’re near the gym, for instance, or the Camera app if you have your phone’s cam open. With a new single-tap gesture, you can now select one of these widgets to open the related app. You can also double-tap to scroll through the widgets. I found both gestures worked reliably and made it easier to navigate my watch with a single hand. Apple also added more widgets to the Smart Stack. You can pull up ID cards quickly at an airport or see your transit card account after hopping on the subway. A noise widget will warn you of an overly loud environment, and you can even quickly find your parked car on Apple Maps. ## Child Safety, Call Context, and More A few other new watchOS 27 features are designed to make your wearable experience safer and smoother. Parents can set [intuitive screen time limits](/ios/165534/ios-27-gives-parents-more-control-i-predict-more-agonizing-screen-time-negotiations) with the revamped Apple Watch for Your Kids setup. If you're on a call with a business, your watch can find and surface relevant context, like confirmation numbers, so you don't have to search your phone. The [Liquid Glass](/ios/165478/new-liquid-glass-customizations-ios-27-tone-down-while-you-wait-wwdc-2026) look, central to watchOS 26, is refined with improved contrast. Music playback should start faster, and Apple will proactively disable unused features to extend battery life. The Find My app has also been refined with a map-centric design. Apple tucked a lot of subtle changes into this update, and after a few days of testing, I’m just scratching the surface of what's new in watchOS 27. I’m excited to keep exploring the rest and see what else Apple has in store as the summer progresses. The full release will undoubtedly be timed with Apple’s next smartwatch debut in the fall (hopefully in early September). In the meantime, be sure to check out all of our [current favorite smartwatches](/migrated-99802-smartwatches/9504/the-best-smartwatches).