You Can’t Use Apple Watch’s Live Rewind Secretly, Apple Says

With the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, Apple is adding Live Rewind, which relies on an S11 processor and new continual listening features.

Live Rewind listens to what’s happening around the wearer, and when activated with a double press on the Digital Crown, offers a transcript of what was said in the last 15 seconds. Apple says the feature will let users catch something they missed or are less familiar with. Snippets can be referred to Siri for further evaluation or saved to the ‌Siri‌ app.

Apple users are already expressing privacy concerns about Live Rewind, and likening it to Meta‘s much-maligned smart glasses, but no Apple Watch user will be able to activate it surreptitiously.

When the Digital Crown is pressed for Live Rewind, the Apple Watch will sound an audible chime from the speaker. The chime will sound even if the Apple Watch is on silent or if headphones are connected. At the same time, a full-display animation and microphone indicator will appear, with the combination meant to alert those nearby that the feature has been activated.

Apple says Live Rewind only activates with a deliberate press on the Digital Crown and all processing is done on-device. It shows the last 15 seconds of speech as a text snippet on the display, and does not continue to transcribe in the background. It can be turned on or off through the Watch app on the iPhone.

The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 have an S11 chip equipped with a Secure Exclave. Apple describes the Secure Exclave as a hardware-isolated compartment that processes sensor data separately from the rest of the system. Data processed and analyzed in the Secure Exclave is not accessible by the operating system, apps, the user, or Apple.

Live Rewind and other Audio Intelligence features do not generate audio recordings. Audio flows into the Secure Exclave, is processed, and then deleted.

According to Apple, Live Rewind text snippets « disappear permanently » from the Apple Watch approximately 30 seconds after the Apple Watch display dims, unless the info is saved to the ‌Siri‌ app.

Live Rewind requires an Apple Watch Series 12 or Apple Watch Ultra 4 paired with an iPhone 16 or later, though the iPhone 16e is not compatible. Apple Intelligence and ‌Siri‌ AI are required, and the feature is not available for users under 13. The feature will launch later this year and won’t be in the initial versions of watchOS 27 and iOS 27.

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