Apple released watchOS 27 on September 14, introducing a new Audio Intelligence feature set to latest Apple Watch models, but resulting in feature loss for previous generation owners. Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 models later this year will gain Live Rewind, providing a transcript of spoken audio picked up in the last 15 seconds via a Digital Crown double-click. Unfortunately, this action replaces the watchOS 26 function that switches between current and previous apps or watch faces.

Owners upgrading to new models will lose this multitasking capability. More frustratingly, existing Apple Watch users updating to watchOS 27 also lose the ability to jump between apps using the Digital Crown double-click; the action now only brings up the dynamic app grid. Despite Live Rewind being hardware-bound to Series 12 and Ultra 4, older models lose the function entirely.

The change leaves new Series 12 and Ultra 4 owners without an opt-out option for Live Rewind, as Apple does not allow the double-click to revert to app switching. With no current setting to resolve the conflict for either user group, feedback to Apple is the only recourse. Pre-orders for Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are available ahead of the September 18 launch.