watchOS 27 changes several things you’ve probably been doing the same way on your Apple Watch for years.
Apple has redesigned how you get to apps, changed what happens when you double-click the Digital Crown, added another one-handed gesture, and removed Walkie-Talkie entirely.
The update arrived September 14 for compatible Apple Watches, including older models as well as the new Series 12 and Ultra 4.
Here are the watchOS 27 features and changes worth knowing after you update.
Double-clicking the Crown no longer opens the App Switcher
You’ll probably discover this through muscle memory. Double-clicking the Digital Crown used to open the App Switcher, where you could quickly return to a recent app or force-quit one that wasn’t behaving. In watchOS 27, the same gesture takes you to the new dynamic app grid instead.
Apple is reserving double-click for Live Rewind, an upcoming Series 12 and Ultra 4 feature that can transcribe the previous 15 seconds of speech around you.
Live Rewind isn’t available yet, which means the familiar App Switcher shortcut is simply gone for now, including on older watches that won’t support Live Rewind.
Apple is giving the App Switcher a new gesture in watchOS 27.2. In the current beta, long-pressing the bottom edge of an open app brings it up.
The Digital Crown opens a different app grid
Press the Digital Crown once, and watchOS 27 now opens a dynamic grid that surfaces suggested, frequently used, and recently opened apps.
Siri sits in the center, while the apps around it can change based on what watchOS thinks you’ll want to open.
The alphabetical app list hasn’t disappeared. Turn the Digital Crown, and you can still scroll through all your installed apps by name.
Walkie-Talkie is gone
Apple hasn’t simply moved Walkie-Talkie somewhere else. The app has been removed from watchOS 27 and can’t be reinstalled.
You can keep it by staying on watchOS 26, but there’s a catch: Walkie-Talkie won’t work with a contact who has already updated to watchOS 27.
If you regularly used the Apple Watch as a quick push-to-talk device with family or friends, updating effectively ends that option.
Find My is finally one app
Tracking people, devices, and AirTags previously required three separate Apple Watch apps: Find People, Find Devices, and Find Items.
watchOS 27 combines them into a single Find My app with a map-based interface.
You can now find an AirTag, check where your iPhone is, or locate someone who shares their location with you without first figuring out which Find app you need.
There’s another one-handed gesture
Double Tap and Wrist Flick are joined by a third gesture called Tap.
Touch your index finger and thumb together once, and you can open whichever Smart Stack widget is currently highlighted.
Double Tap can still move through the Smart Stack, while Wrist Flick lets you dismiss notifications and other onscreen elements.
It gives you another way to interact with the watch without reaching over with your other hand.
The Smart Stack surfaces more useful information
The Smart Stack can now surface more contextual suggestions based on what’s happening throughout your day.
That can include where you parked your car, an upcoming birthday, a change to your transit card balance, the Noise app after a loud-sound alert, pinned Messages, or a reminder that Theater Mode is still turned on.
The new Tap gesture also makes those suggestions easier to open when they appear.
Workout Buddy no longer needs your iPhone nearby
Workout Buddy previously depended on having your iPhone within range.
With watchOS 27, it can run independently as long as your Apple Watch has a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
Apple has also expanded the information it can pull from your training history, allowing it to surface changes in your pace, distance, and workout duration over time. Spanish is now supported alongside English.
Indoor walks and runs should be more accurate
Apple has updated its motion algorithms to improve distance estimates during indoor walks and runs.
The improvement starts from the first step rather than requiring an initial calibration period before settling into a more accurate estimate.
Apple has also addressed an annoying inconsistency elsewhere: your step count should now stay in sync between the Fitness and Health apps.
Siri now has its own Apple Watch app
Siri now has a standalone app that keeps your conversations together instead of making each interaction disappear when you’re finished.
Conversations sync privately through iCloud, so you can start one on your iPhone and continue it from your Apple Watch.
You can also pin conversations you want to return to or start a new one directly from your wrist.
There’s a new Siri watch face
watchOS 27 adds a Siri watch face built around information from the Smart Stack.
Its rectangular complication mirrors whichever widget is currently sitting at the top of your Smart Stack and can change throughout the day based on factors such as time and location.
Instead of choosing one piece of information to permanently occupy that complication, you’re effectively giving watchOS control over what appears there.
Cycle Tracking can flag signs of perimenopause
Cycle Tracking can now notify you when patterns in your logged cycle history are consistent with perimenopause.
The feature is available to people aged 40 and older and relies on personal cycle history rather than requiring new Apple Watch sensors.
Apple says the notifications are informational and aren’t intended as a diagnosis or method of birth control.
Series 12 and Ultra 4 get better step tracking
Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 get two additional step-tracking improvements that aren’t available on older models.
The S11 chip enables a redesigned pedometer model for more accurate step counting, while a new Steps complication puts your current step count directly on the watch face.
Older Apple Watches still benefit from the broader step-count consistency improvements in watchOS 27, but the new pedometer model and Steps complication require Apple’s latest hardware.
