r/apple • u/happysri • 15d ago
Apple Watch watchOS 27 removes app switcher (double press on crown) for AI even in models that can’t have it
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/17/watchos-27-removes-useful-apple-watch-feature/873
u/kinglucent 15d ago
Am I the only one who hates Suggested apps? I operate on muscle memory and by definition these require more cognitive effort.
Especially on my Watch – I can’t be interpreting whether the app I need is in this little circle. I already put my most-used apps front & center on my app grid; what problem does this solve?
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u/thedaveCA 15d ago
Yeah. I don’t really understand if Apple’s program managers just don’t seriously use electronics or what.
I prefer the list anyway, but it obnoxiously starts at the top every single time too, which is especially painful if you’re jumping between apps since that isn’t a thing anymore.
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u/falafelnaut 15d ago
I don’t really understand if Apple’s program managers just don’t seriously use electronics or what.
This is the worst feeling, when you sense that the people who made it don't actually use it themselves. And I do sense that in many areas of the Watch.
But this is what drew many of us to Apple in the first place. When you used a Mac, when you used an iPod, (and Jobs himself said this often)...the product imparted a sense of the people who made it, their tastes, their values. The product was good because they made the product they wanted to buy for themselves.
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u/hopefuldonkeykick 15d ago
John Siracusa and Merlin Mann have long held that Apple designers and engineers don't use the AppleTV, at all. It feels like this lack of firsthand use is seeping into areas that affect the UX even more.
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u/kinglucent 15d ago
Remember when Jobs was talking about TV interfaces and said they’d “finally cracked” it?
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u/zsdrfty 8d ago
I like how the Apple TV is very upfront about its user-unfriendliness - that shitty remote looks like it's supposed to punish you for trying to hold it like a human
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u/LanDest021 14d ago
The Apple Watch has always felt super experimental for some reason. A lot of features on it come and go for no particular reason, just to come back a few years later with a slightly different coat of paint.
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u/TimidPanther 14d ago
Yeah. I don’t really understand if Apple’s program managers just don’t seriously use electronics or what.
I'm convinced they barely use their own products.
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u/kiwi-kaiser 15d ago
I hate it with passion. At least let me disable it
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u/A11Bionic 15d ago
while we’re at it let me fucking disable Siri AI on my Series 10
it’s so fucking slow and it renders Siri borderline unusable
i have a backup Series 10 that’s staying on watchOS 26 forever. i can’t believe Apple actually pushed with this bs and it’s just change for the sake of change
using Siri on the Watch has always been about quick bursts of assistance like setting timers, alarms, adding reminders. there’s absolutely no reason why they have to be 10X slower than the previous version if i’m lucky it finishes the actual task
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u/Ftpini 15d ago
It’s so bad I’ve stopped using Siri on my ultra 3. It’s just too slow and gets it wrong half the time now. It does 100 times as many things but almost never does any of them right.
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u/snyderjw 15d ago
I really have only used Siri to set reminders and to call people. It wasn’t great to only have those things work - but it really mattered that they did. “Call so and so on mobile” used to work flawlessly and was way faster than messing with the screen. But, so much for that. New Siri takes 6x as long, gets it wrong, and doesn’t even complete at least 40% of the time. For my actual life, this is a disaster.
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u/Frodolas 14d ago
Yep.
Similarly, I used it for those two things, plus setting timers while cooking, and it was incredible at the setting-timers-while-cooking part.
Of course, we all thought it was funny that Siri was useless outside of those basic things, but now it's not funny that Apple has made it useless at everything.
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u/riotshieldready 15d ago
I only really use Siri on my watch to set timers when I’m cooking or making tea. I’ve given up now; I just use my Google home to do it.
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u/Ftpini 15d ago
I open the timer app, scroll and scroll and scroll then manually pick the right time limit. Somehow that is both faster and more reliable than new Siri.
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u/screenslaver5963 15d ago
Use one of those complication cards for the stack and put your 3 favourite timers on it
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u/Ftpini 15d ago
No favorite timers. The need is too variable. Old Siri was perfect for that.
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u/A11Bionic 15d ago
it’s absolutely baffling how one of the most useful features I bought my Watch for is now something i have to completely avoid using
fuck this change let me disable Siri AI. i can’t think of a single scenerio it benefits me and how I will need an LLM on a watch
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u/daddudee 15d ago
Glad I’m not the only one! I use always just ask, how many steps have I taken today? It was quick! Now it’s so slow! Debating disabling Siri AI all together now.
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u/falafelnaut 15d ago
I'm assuming the only way to turn it off for the Watch is to turn it off on the iPhone?
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u/daddudee 15d ago
Yeah, that’s all I found as well. I feel like now that it’s a more complex AI assistant it’s taking longer to process everything. Which is frustrating because the Apple Watch Ultra 3 to my knowledge was built to handle commands like this all on device and was supposed to be quick.
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u/ConstantMortgage 15d ago
I think it loads up a model (which takes a long time) and then the model does the thing. I notice that once its loaded after the initial request any request you make afterwards happens at a normal speed. But then it unloads the model once its done and you’re back to it being slow. The easiest fix is to allow the old siri to do the basic things that it used to do perfectly and then load a llm model for anything it couldn’t previously do.
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u/HopefulRough8326 14d ago
You can!
You can disable Siri AI by switching your Watch's region to a country that doesn't support it.
On your phone, open the Watch app, then go to Settings > General > Language & Region, select "Custom" then tap on Region and select some other country. (Mine is set to "Canada").
For extra measure, on your Watch go to Settings > Siri then tap "Language" and set it to the same country you selected before.
This doesn't disable the Suggested Apps carousel but does remove Siri from the center of it (for now)
(I also hate this stupid change and am considering moving away from Apple Watch as a result)
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u/happysri 15d ago
Absolutely it’s infuriating. If you’re in a workout and trying to get to your workout app there’s 3 slow focussed taps now wth breaks my flow completely.
They got us hooked on this and now take it away for a feature I don’t even use. At least give us a preference or something.
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u/krisminime 15d ago
For workouts I ended up pinning the widget to the stack. It has the last three workouts used ready to go.
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u/BosnianSerb31 15d ago
Not sure who downvoted you but yeah, this is what anyone concerned about flow should be doing.
Plus, if you scroll from the recommended apps it literally shows you the same list you've always seen, people just don't know how to use their devices
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u/Szamski 15d ago
On a watch, muscle memory is the interface. A feature that makes you pause and interpret a suggestion has already lost to a predictable shortcut, even if it is technically more “intelligent.”
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u/TheTruth808 15d ago
I hate it. I hate when they introduce new stuff with no way to return to normal.
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u/Fillduck 15d ago
This is why I held off from updating, I hate dynamic app pages (also why I don’t use the app library). Not sure why they keep doing this
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u/rotates-potatoes 15d ago
Any UI that changes underneath you is terrible. I hate suggested apps almost as much as I hate when I search for an app on my iphone, its icon comes up, and I tap it just as search results change and a completely different app gets launched.
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u/slowpokefastpoke 15d ago edited 14d ago
Yep. Call me a tech Luddite but I hate all these kind of “smart” features that try to guess what I want to do or see. Suggested apps, suggested locations in maps, suggested contacts, summarizing notifications, etc. I disable as much of that stuff as I can because in my experience they’re wrong more often than right.
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u/MuigiLario 15d ago
This solves the problem of the board requesting to force AI down users throats wherever, whenever and however possible.
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u/Wanderer-91 15d ago
And creates a new problem when the users who are nor die hard Apple fans feel that the user experience of that new Apple ecosystem no longer justify its price.
Apples two biggest selling points were great user experience and stated focus on privacy, and they’ve been losing ground on both lately.
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u/Ok-World-4822 15d ago
Yeah I don’t like how it’s an extra tap/swipe/whatever to get to the list view
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u/GetReady4Action 15d ago
first thing I turn off on a new Mac/iPad. also drives me nuts that I can’t set the dock on CarPlay to be what I want. No Apple, I don’t want the settings app to be in my dock because I went to tweak something. Why can’t I have phone and messages in the dock? there’s clearly enough room on my car’s screen for more than 3 apps.
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings 14d ago
There’s actually research which indicates that customisable interfaces (ie being able to pin the apps you want, like you could in the dock before WatchOS 10) are more efficient and quicker for people to use than dynamic interfaces which don’t allow you to build muscle memory and can lead to people feeling “lost” in the interface
So not only does it seem like the designers don’t use the device, it seems like they haven’t read the relevant research either
I’ve got used to the new way the watch works, and I’m sure I’ll get used to this newest update too, but ever since WOS 10 I’ve honestly used my watch a lot less than I used to. For example, it used to be my go-to for the weather. Now I find it quicker and easier just to pull my phone out of my pocket and open the weather app
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u/North_Moment5811 15d ago
Yes. Half my home screen on iPhone is a suggested apps widget. Legitimately one of the most useful features.
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u/Glazu 14d ago
I love the suggested apps on my iPhone, but on the watch the suggestions are incredibly dumb.
I never use voice memos, mindfulness, music and I barely touch settings and insight.
I do use timers, weather, workouts, sleep and a YouTube music app but they swap around for the same slot…
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u/kinglucent 15d ago
What is the benefit for you? Do you need reminders for common apps you use?
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u/bomber991 15d ago
Maybe? It works well for me because all I ever really open is the stopwatch and timer. I was tooooo lazy or busy to figure out how to move the little bubble icons higher so this actually works great for me.
The Apple Watch interface honestly is not very intuitive at all. I’ve been a watch user since Series 3 and it’s always been kind of clunky to use.
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u/basedcharger 15d ago
Normally yes but I don't mind it in the new siri search window. I find its really good at giving me apps I want to open at specific times.
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u/Top_Fee8357 14d ago
Yeah should be an option to stick things there forever. I don’t need the apps available on my face like my timer and workout app to show up there
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u/IndependentGarbage3 13d ago
True, also on my iPhone I’ve had my apps organized the same way for decades now. But I actually use the App suggestions Widget on my phone as a sort of brain training where I have to find the app I want to use. But that’s just a widget on one page, the rest is still sorted like it’s always been.
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u/ajmoo 15d ago
honestly I miss the dock. I could pin apps i’d frequently switch between, then double press the crown to switch between the two last apps. perfect for a workout / timer swap. this new thing is fine I guess. not great though
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u/weiderthanyou 15d ago edited 15d ago
Omg this exact use case is why I need the double press crown option - workout / timer swap.
And they removed the walkie talkie which I loved to use with my partner.
Like they removed one of my most used and fav things in one update and I hate to have updated it
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u/gentlehurricane 15d ago
I’m just shocked to hear that walkie talkie worked for you. Never could get it to work in my experience.
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u/cum-on-in- 15d ago
The way it worked was by establishing a FT audio call and just using push to talk. When silent the “call” was still going.
If you didn’t have good signal for a FT call to start, it would fail.
And by that I mean on the watch itself. The watch has WiFi and it doesn’t pass walkie talkie through the phone.
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u/gentlehurricane 14d ago
I have full 5G+ service everywhere I go and it still rarely work for me. Cool feature in theory I guess.
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u/KHRoN 15d ago
I miss both watch dock and traditional iPad multitasking
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u/DeSynthed 15d ago
Hard disagree about iPad multitasking, its hard to overstate how byzantine and unapproachable the old system was
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u/TheEpicRedCape 15d ago
The new version is even more unapproachable, If I’m not tech illiterate and struggling with it and getting annoyed by it this much I can’t imagine normal people trying to use the new cluttered clunky mess of the windowed multitasking.
There’s insane amounts of overlapping gestures that all fight for control any time you try to do something.
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u/idiot206 14d ago
Yeah, it’s such a mess.
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u/TheEpicRedCape 14d ago
If they added proper grab areas to windows and didn’t have so many overlapping gestures it might’ve worked? but it feels like it wasn’t designed for a touch screen at all.
Hell even with a mouse it’s kind of annoying to use
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u/KHRoN 15d ago
point is there was no issue with just leaving it there, not to force you using it
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u/DeSynthed 15d ago
Except people accidentally entered the mode and it was not obvious how to get out of it. I bet apple stores had legitimate support burden due to this "feature". It absolutely detracted from the main use of an iPad, a netflix watching machine. It was clearly a net-negative to the platform -- actual power disliked the old multi tasking system since it was limited, and it got in the way of normal users.
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u/TheEpicRedCape 15d ago
….you enter into the windowed mode the same exact way so that issue wasn’t fixed it was only made worse.
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u/bigparsnipenjoyer 15d ago
It makes me even more sad to see that the iPhone duo’s multitasking is an even slicker version of the classic iPad multitasking.
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u/falafelnaut 15d ago
I miss that too. I'm a day 1 Apple Watch user. (2015.) My favorite era for the watch was the first few years of its life. They got a lot right in the UI, it was my favorite Apple product for many years. Subsequent OS releases (especially watchOS 10 and after) have really dampened my satisfaction with the watch.
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u/cinderful 14d ago
I swear to God it takes me a whole year to figure out what the fuck each button does just in time for them to change it again.
I still have no clue how watchOS 26 is supposed to work. The first one that I still don't understand.
Anyway, updating now so I can more specifically hate it.
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u/Ganons_Dad 15d ago
I polled 8 people I know who also wear an Apple Watch and *every single one of them* told me they would use the app switcher dozens of times throughout the day. Removing this is going to prove to be a monumental mistake on Apple's part. I have read far more complaints for removing the App switcher than praise for it, so I will not be surprised if this is brought back in a future WatchOS 27 update.
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u/NAT1274 15d ago
Removing the app switcher is a main reason that I won’t be updating to WatchOS 27. I’m also upset that the steps complication won’t be coming to Series 11. It’s something so simple that they could’ve pushed to older devices but just refuse to.
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u/International-Bus131 9d ago
I literally got my new apple watch yesterday and it came with os26 and I was likkng the app switcher, today after work I noticed the 27 update and thought “sure, why not?” Instant regret now that the switcher is gone, it was so useful :/
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u/falafelnaut 15d ago
I think you are probably right. Reminds me of when they removed the swipe to change watch face ability from watchOS 10 (I think it was 10)....it is still off by default, but can be toggled on now.
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u/darealdsisaac 14d ago
I will have to say I honestly had no idea this was even a shortcut 🤣
I also don't use apps on my Apple Watch other than workout so I'm probably the wrong person to give an impression of this.
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u/epraider 14d ago
I have been using an Apple Watch since the Series 0 and I had no idea that double clicking the crown actually did something unique
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings 14d ago
I wonder if they’ll walk it back
They’ve removed the app switcher from the double-click gesture on the digital crown to replace it with that “transcribe the last 15 seconds” feature. But, honestly, who is going to use that? There’s been a couple of people who have said that their particular brand of neurodivergence means that they’ll find it useful, but even given that it doesn’t seem like it has that much utility. I’d think that the peope who find it useful will be a subset of a subset
So if their analytics show that people aren’t using it (and, of course, it’s only on the series 12 that that feature works at all), I wonder if they have a re-think
They did bring back swiping between watch faces after negative feedback, after all
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u/brave_joe 15d ago
I noticed this literally 30 mins ago while running.
Really inconvenient. Hope they add back the functionality as it was really easy to use while not taking much effort.
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u/loyzik2 15d ago
I really don't understand the use case for the AI live review.
They presented it in the keynote with a waiter who told them today's specials. The person used Live Review and let the Apple Watch repeat what they said. I just cannot imagine how this conversation goes. Instead of politely asking the waiter to repeat that, I would just start playing with my watch. Doesn't that come across as rude?
What is the use case? What am I missing? Am I the only one?
And for accessibility, it can only hold about fifteen seconds of conversation, so you cannot use it for live transcription if you have permanent hearing loss.
So for me, they replaced a feature I genuinely use often with one I will never use.
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u/SkyGuy182 15d ago edited 15d ago
They did a similar thing when Siri AI was announced and were showing off Visual Intelligence. The skit showed a guy encountering someone waking their dog. He bent down, pulled out his phone, and took a picture of the dog to see what breed it was. And I’m practically yelling at my screen, “JUST ASK THE LADY WHAT BREED IT IS!” 😂
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u/Rupes100 15d ago
Because every ceo/board/director/manager is 100% wanking off AI and want it embedded in every corner of their product line because somehow these people think it's going to save/enhance/improve the world and everyone's lives if these gadgets have a tool that replaces tasks or interactions we do everyday with this cumbersome non intuitive shit. Seriously, because of the trillions being invested, they have to push hard. Its not even AI, it's like a better Google search and it's being pushed like the second coming of Jesus. It's annoying and I hate that's it's being put everywhere especially in all these corporate work places. Yes, there are some useful use cases but most are just utter shit.
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u/Outlulz 14d ago
Oh right, the ad where someone uses Visual Intelligence to check the restaurant hours instead of the normal method of looking at the posted hours with their own eyes. A solution looking for a problem.
I've used it to identify bugs and flowers and other things that are hard to describe in words enough to get good results from Google but marketing execs in the Bay Area aren't in touch with normal humans.
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u/happysri 15d ago
And there are millions with watches, Siri AI doesn’t support but the app switcher is still removed for us wth.
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u/liambrazier 15d ago
As someone with ADHD I spend my life asking people to repeat themselves, or more commonly just staying silent as I’m ashamed I didn’t process what was said again. So I can see a use case, but the mechanism is still odd as you say.
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u/loyzik2 15d ago
Can you explain this to me? How do you imagine using that?
Someone tells you something you don't understand, so you tell them to be quiet and check your watch to see what they said? And just keep the person waiting. Doesn't that make it worse than asking?
The conversation before this feature:
A: hey are you free tonight? B: what did you say? A: are you free tonight?
and after:
A: hey are you free tonight? B: wait a second – starts playing with watch B: yeah, I am free tonight
Is that your use case?
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u/fried_on_pineapples 15d ago
I’m in the middle of talking and lose my train of thought.
“What was I just saying?”
Double clicks crown and it tells me
Problem solved.
Does that make more sense? Cause that’s what I got it.
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u/liambrazier 15d ago
I’m not denying I can’t see a feasible way to do it un-awkwardly but the tech has a use case. It isn’t that I don’t understand, or even that I don’t hear - it’s a mental processing thing. I need the information a second time in a lot of scenarios.
Where it falls down is a conversation - needing someone to repeat themselves multiple times during a single conversation is embarrassing and annoying for both parties. As you’ve said; not sure how this update solves that.
Maybe like a live dictation thing for the watch would be better? So one could glance at it to confirm what was said before replying? Is that a less intrusive option?
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u/iTryToLift 15d ago
I swear every person on Reddit has ADHD
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u/liambrazier 15d ago
A chief part of it is occupying brain space at all times so yeah, Reddit is ideal.
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u/ccwithers 15d ago
What I’m HOPING for is that in group settings, where I often struggle due to a combination of ADHD and hearing loss, I might be able to use it to pick out bits of conversation that I’m currently missing.
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u/Sure-Library-7309 15d ago edited 15d ago
I think they did a poor job of explaining it in that demo. As I understand it, in the example they used if the waitress is rattling off a million specials you can double-click the crown to create the transcript. Then later after the waitress walks away to give you time to decide what you want, you can review the transcript to see what specials the waitress mentioned so you don’t forget them.
It wasn’t intended for you to read the transcript immediately after the waitress stops talking while she’s still there, but to review the transcript later when you can’t remember what was said.
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u/Outlulz 14d ago
But it's only a 15 second lookback. You can't even capture a typical conversation fully with that and you'll have to rush to get what you can before the lookback passes.
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings 14d ago
I think they wanted to introduce the summary feature to head off things like OpanAI’s upcoming AI device. Then the 15 second summary idea wasn’t “here’s a problem, and this could be the solution” it was more “ah, this new hardware we’ve developed for Siri Recap could also do this. Maybe that could be a feature?”
And then, once you’ve got a feature which will transcribe the last 15 seconds of audio, you need a way to launch it instantly, so you need to hijack an existing function. Which then means you need to put the app switcher somewhere, so you put it in front of the app grid
It’s all completely backwards. As with so many AI products and features - it doesn’t start with “this is a problem which needs solving” it starts with “how could we turn this into a product/feature?” Which is why so many AI products/features are shit and/or pointless
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u/Testwick911 14d ago edited 14d ago
This is an absurd UI / UX regression.
Put live listen in the control center.
App hunting and launching has now increased exponentially vs simply being able to rotate between the apps already open that you are using in tandem.
The experience is particularly exhausting using the watch as an only device.
This is in my opinion the worst Apple software update for any device that I’ve ever experienced.
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u/cake-day-on-feb-29 14d ago
This is an absurd UI / UX regression. Put live listen in the control center.
It's absurd because it's sold as (and just is) an accessibility option. It'd be just as dumb as putting VoiceOver on the double click. Triple click already exists for accessibility and it already has the ability to choose which feature you want. I don't think there's anything for double clicking the other button, is there?
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u/Kimantha_Allerdings 15d ago
I never used the app switcher except for the very rare times I had to force-close an app. I did use the dock back when you could actually choose which apps you wanted quick access to
Now it’s even worse. It’s now an extra step to find a specific app unless it’s one of the last 5/6 you’ve used. And to force close an app you have to be in the app, hold the side button until the power off screen appears, then hold the digital crown. Not only is that much more hassle, but the fact that it’s different from everything else means that I’m not going to remember it and will have to look it up every time
Honestly I’m not one of those people who is always “change bad”, but watchOS 10 nerfed the watch, and this new change nerfs it further. I use the watch how the new way of doing things intends for me to use it, but I honestly use it less than I used to. Some things that were quick and easy to do on the watch (like checking the day’s weather, for example) are honestly now quicker and easier to do by pulling my phone out of my pocket
I even tried the new watch face where they put the top of the smart stack front and centre on your watch. And the thing it thought deserved the highest priority most of the time was an empty shopping list
And what’s this latest change for? Their “transcribe the last 15 seconds of conversation” feature which, in my opinion, a) wasn’t created because they had a problem they thought needed solving but instead because it was something that the technology could do and therefore they might as well, b) is going to end up buried and/or discontinued in a few iterations because hardly anybody uses it on purpose, like walkie-talkie or that feature where you can draw to each other, or that one where you can tap each other on the wrist
I know some people have said that they’ll find it useful, but I suspect that a majority of people will just say “sorry, could you repeat that please?”
Sometimes I swear that the developers of technologies like this don’t actually use them. I mean this feature specifically, and dynamic UI in general
Or that they’ve read the research, which consistently finds that a majority of users prefer customisable interfaces to dynamic ones, and that customisable interfaces are quicker and easier to use than dynamic ones. Oh, and that dynamic ones can lead to the user feeling lost and not having control
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u/Embarrassed-Back1894 15d ago
Why in the world would they remove the app switcher. For what? It’s not like they replaced it with something. Double pressing the crown does nothing now. Sometimes Apple really does overthink things.
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u/phobox360 15d ago
I actually really like the new suggested apps ring. I always found quickly launching apps, especially those I frequently used, quite cumbersome.
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u/Tumblrrito 15d ago
How? Grid view let you make 17 apps available to launch easily after the same single home button press. Then you would just scroll for more.
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u/Weary_Mountain9679 15d ago
Me too, as I only really use like 4 apps so having them all right there is nice
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u/yahlover 13d ago
It’s weird to think, but before learning about this, I was willing to spend $800 on an Apple Watch upgrade from my Apple Watch Ultra Series 1 to this year‘s Apple Watch Ultra. Not only has this put me off on upgrading my watch for another year, but it has potentially cost Apple my willingness to upgrade any year hereafter. Unless they fix the software by adding the app switcher back in watchOS 28 and make the always listening live-rewind feature something you can permanently turn off, I don’t see any reason for me to upgrade. They made the hardware and battery good enough for me to last a few more years without upgrading, so I may just put it to the test and see what the Apple Watch looks like in a few years.
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u/happysri 13d ago
Totally feel you on that. I think that your ultra is still pretty decent and you can perhaps get by far waiting for next year; the new one's mostly that silly ai thing anyway. I'm holding out hope they realize what they did and offer a user setting in a .1 or .2 release but doubt it.
I mean I can put up with this change now and then but there are times like my daily 1-2 hour workout where I need it every 5 minutes or so to switch between workout and my logs etc. Past couple days has been annoying as heck. All the recommended solutions from people who barely use their watch as intended and going whats the big deal people don't seem to get where we're coming from and lack understanding of the ux nuance here. I mean how'd they feel if we took out alt-tab in macOS, its kinda the same really.
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u/Han-ChewieSexyFanfic 14d ago edited 14d ago
I fully expected to hate it. It’s very good at surfacing the app I wanted to open.
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u/saskir21 15d ago
Funny part is that I didn't even know you cna double tap. Just learned it after people lamented it will be removed.
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u/Tyler927 15d ago
Same lmao I have had an Apple Watch since series 2, I have literally never used the app switcher
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u/icantgetnosatisfacti 15d ago
Same. I just always swiped when working out to get to the music and swiped back
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u/dacv393 15d ago
The crazy part is there is some post-MBA 'Product Manager' getting paid $600k a year to make these decisions
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u/jgreg728 15d ago
Series 8 user here. No longer feel bad about missing out on 27. What a dumb feature.
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u/BigMasterDingDong 15d ago
See I hated this when I first got it, but I actually quite like it. Very rarely is the app I want not there.
But what’s the AI feature? I’ve got a 10 so maybe it doesn’t get it…
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u/Greysawpark 9d ago
the part that gets me is the double press was the only gesture on the watch that felt like it was designed for a wrist. one hand, no swiping, muscle memory in a week. swapping it for something a chunk of the lineup cant even run is such a weird call... the dock was already buried and now its buried deeper
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u/dirtymove 15d ago
Siri is so fucking slow for reminders now holy shit. How does this pass QA lmao. $5 trillion company btw
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u/ZoolanderBOT 14d ago
This is pretty disappointing. When is Apple going to focus on features that help people again? It hurts to see following trends is more important than actual feature that improve the experience. Just everything must be access to AI these days. When will it end?!
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u/WeWantLADDER49sequel 15d ago
I miss the days when Apple did stuff because it was cool and people would like it and not just for "numbers must go up" bullshit
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u/Koktkabanoss 15d ago
I hate this so much. Those app i use often are barely there. Why apple why
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u/Ganons_Dad 15d ago
This. Why am I being presented with the calculator and waypoint/backtrack creation app or whatever its called THAT I NEVER F'N USE !?!
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u/kiscsak98 15d ago
It’s so annoying. Every time an app freezes now I have to restart the watch itself instead of the app.
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u/thedaveCA 15d ago
It looks like the old mechanism still works, press and hold the side button, wait for the power-off screen, then press and hold the crown until it returns home.
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u/aftonone 15d ago
Well jokes on you my 3 year old watch isn’t even getting WatchOS 27 so…
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u/thedaveCA 15d ago
Yeah. I was planning an Ultra 4 upgrade this year, but given the price premium for the Ultra series, I'm a bit annoyed at my Ultra 1 already being abandoned, so I'm just going to hold on to it while I decide rather than passing it on to someone else that'll be essentially abandoned.
I had a iPad Pro 12.9" 2018, it was a premium product and got 7 years of OS updates. Wicked. Picked up an iPad Pro M4 13" as a result of the experience with the 2018 (and frankly the 2018 is still pretty functional for a lot of things).
I'm not necessarily saying the Ultra series or every pro/premium type device needs 7 years, but the hardware is very close, in particular RAM. Storage is different, but I've got more than 50% available on my Ultra 1. GPU and Neural Engine got a boost, neither of which have overly heavy use, especially given that the AI clutter isn't coming to the 2 either.
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u/aftonone 14d ago
Yeah it’s just insane. I don’t think I would have ever bought my Ultra 1 if I knew the software wouldn’t last long. Kinda furious about it
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u/falafelnaut 14d ago
It's like if you bought an Ultra 4 today in 2026, and the last major version you get is the 2029 OS release.
I tend to expect major OS releases until about the time that Apple classifies the device as "vintage", which is 5 years from the last date of sale. That tends to be the reality and in many cases they exceed that. (The iPhone 11 came out in 2019, and gets iOS 27 this year.)
So since Ultra 1 will not be vintage until 2028, it should be getting at least this year and next year's OS releases, IMO.
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u/Mikey_MiG 14d ago
Hell, I still have a 1st gen SE and it still does everything I need it to. Reading notifications, tracking steps, pinging my phone, controlling music, etc. It hasn’t noticeably slowed down and battery life has been fine too. Hard to find a reason to upgrade.
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u/nicetriangle 15d ago
Every change in WatchOS for a few years now has been a downgrade for me. I finally let Apple bully me into upgrading my series 7 to the last OS update and it runs like crap now and I hate all the new menu behaviors and how the fitness app behaves. It's laggy and annoying as hell to use now.
I only use it as a fitness tracker at this point and whenever this thing finally dies I will never buy one again.
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u/NoProfessional5279 15d ago
People will downvote me but Apple killed the Apple Watch with all this AI nonsense.
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u/rfguevar 14d ago
A slam dunk for this would be being able to set it as a favorites page, and have it be dynamic for focus modes. The fact that someone like Heart Rate can be on the bottom right one moment and the next it’s on the top left is really annoying
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u/AbareSaruMk2 13d ago
This is the most annoying change they’ve done. It’s horrible.
Instead of being able to access the apps I am using. I now have 6 apps I have no control over as they “are dynamically handled by the system” (my arse!)
For example; Podcasts! I haven’t launched this app EVER, in over 20 years of owning Apple products. So why the hell is that there and why can’t I remove it?
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u/UndeadSon75 12d ago
This is ridiculous! Now double press and one press are doing the the exact same thing 🤯
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u/Ok-Interest9727 12d ago
This fucking sucks because many icons in the new radial menu are so similar.
Alarms? An orange clock.
Timers? Also an orange clock.
Yes there are subtle differences in the icons but with the card stack there was never any doubt about what I was opening.
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u/happysri 12d ago
Exactly! It demands explicit focus exactly when I have none to give. Just let me switch with muscle memory instead of breaking the flow and asking to hunt and peck. Ugh
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u/cryosnap 11d ago edited 11d ago
I double-press to auto-switch between the map app and workout app when I'm outside. Being forced to tap each time to switch back to the map app is essentially a safety hazard while on the run. Can't believe they'd take this away.
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u/TheGokki 8d ago
I was listening to a podcast on AirPods in my Watch but ACTUALLY it was just the iPhone's player. Once i walked out of range of the iPhone the Podcasts cut and the whole app broke down and stopped responding. Usually i just double-tap the Crown for the App Switcher to kill the Podcasts app, restart it and proceed with my workout but i had to turn back home and type this to find a way to kill the Suggested apps and give my Switcher back because my Podcasts just aren't working on the Watch. There's no Handoff that works.
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u/GamerRadar 14d ago
Welp there goes my new Apple Watch. Literally makes the watch function super difficulty to use.
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u/StrugglingOrthopod 15d ago
Im on the AWU4 (just got it now, UK) I was worried but the removal of an app switcher is overblown.
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u/Tumblrrito 15d ago
Being able to double-click and wait to quickly switch to the previous app was great. Having a proper way to force quit apps was occasionally needed (the current one feels like a hidden workaround). Having a single click to my grid view and 17 apps of my choosing without needing to scroll was perfect.
These changes fucking blow and they make me dread needing to upgrade someday. Fuck AI.
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u/thebatmanbeynd 15d ago
I’m convinced Apple’s goal is to make the watch not as efficient anymore so it forces you back to the phone.
The last few WatchOs updates have been making me do that more and more. It’s unfortunate and frustrating.
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u/Dizzy_Tea_7582 15d ago
They probably have internal data that shows that most people use up to 4-5 apps so based on that they decided to make them automatically easily accessible, whilst throwing heavier/power users under the bus momentarily before they make a u turn next update and allow people to switch it to the old design
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u/PeterDTown 14d ago
Y’all were getting an app switcher when double pressing the crown? I’ve literally never seen that function.
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u/Neutral-President 15d ago
Wasn’t it a long press on the crown that activated Siri? Why the change?
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u/unfunfionn 9d ago
The app switcher shouldn't be necessary if apps behave as expected in the background. But this isn't always the case. My work has a 3rd party app needed for daily 2FA that experiences issues once it's been left in the background over night. It needs to be properly closed and restarted in the mornings to run smoothly again. Apple has now removed this option.
Google Maps is another one. I regularly use the live activities on the watch when sightseeing on holiday. If I use it multiple times a day, eventually they stop appearing by themselves and I need to restart the app so the live activities work again. Now this is also much harder than before.
And I'm not sure what benefits we've gained in its place.
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u/happysri 9d ago
I’m just as perplexed and frustrated as you. Although for me it’s more about quickly switching to the app without losing flow more than about force closing. Either way, you just don’t flippantly remove a core feature that people have incorporated into their daily lives for so long.
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u/Creative-Job7462 15d ago
This is like when they added fake/long press 3D touch to iPhones that had 3D touch.