Apple Watch’s latest models are getting new Audio Intelligence capabilities that can listen for information in the background and help users remember conversations. The features, including Siri Recap and Live Rewind, are part of the tech giant’s push to bring more AI-powered assistance to the wrist.
The new capabilities are arriving with the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. The company describes them as tools designed to help users ‘remember important moments and stay aware of relevant sounds.’ It has also emphasized privacy and security around the features. For users who do not want their watch using ambient listening features, Apple provides options to disable them.
Siri Recap is designed to capture useful information from conversations and turn it into a summary users can refer to later. This differs from the traditional Siri experience, where the assistant generally responds only after the user activates it.
Live Rewind is another related feature. It lets users retrieve a recent snippet of a conversation to revisit something that was just said. These capabilities have raised privacy questions because the watch can listen for conversational information in the background.
According to Apple, the Audio Intelligence features are designed with privacy in mind and do not simply function as a conventional always-on audio recorder.
Users who do not want Siri Recap active can disable it through the Apple Watch settings or the paired iPhone, depending on the available software controls. On the paired iPhone, open the Watch app, go to Siri, and look for the Siri Recap option. From there, users can switch the feature off.
Apple also provides controls for other Siri listening methods. On the Apple Watch, users can go to Settings > Siri and turn off options such as Listen for ‘Siri’ or ‘Hey Siri,’ Raise to Speak, or Press Digital Crown, depending on which activation methods they want to disable.
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The new listening-related feature is separate from Apple Watch’s long-running ‘Always On’ display setting. Always On keeps the watch face visible at a dimmed brightness when the wrist is down.
To disable this feature, open Settings > Display & Brightness > Always On, then switch it off.
However, if you're concerned specifically about background listening, changing the display setting won't affect Siri’s listening features. The relevant Siri or Audio Intelligence controls need to be changed separately.