Apple has begun closing a persistent gap in the Apple Watch’s Siri timer controls. The latest watchOS 27 beta 3 now lets users extend an active timer with a straightforward voice command, eliminating a workflow that required reciting a completely new duration.
A Long-Awaited Timer Tweak
For years, Apple Watch owners could ask Siri to start or cancel a timer, but there was no built-in way to add extra minutes while it was running. If a user instructed Siri to add two minutes, the assistant would instead request a fresh total time. That meant pausing to read the remaining countdown, doing the mental math, and stating the updated figure aloud.
How the Fix Works
That friction disappears in the current developer build. When a timer shows, for example, 4 minutes and 42 seconds remaining and wearers tell Siri to add 2 minutes, the watch now recalculates the end point to 6 minutes and 42 seconds and carries on counting down without interruption. The improvement turns a multi-step problem into a single spoken adjustment.
Siri AI Arrives on the Wrist
The update also marks the debut of Apple’s revamped Siri AI experience on the watch, which was originally unveiled at WWDC in June but was absent from the first two watchOS 27 developer betas. A dedicated Siri app now occupies the centre of the Dynamic App Grid. Because the enhanced Siri on Apple Watch relies on a nearby iPhone with Apple Intelligence to handle requests, response speeds remain less consistent than they are directly on the phone. The beta also shows a minor display glitch affecting the timer’s formatting on certain watch faces.
Availability and Model Support
watchOS 27 and its associated Siri features are exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch SE 3, and newer hardware. The developer beta is currently available to registered developers using a supported watch paired with an Apple Intelligence-compatible iPhone. Apple plans to open a public beta later in the month, and the finished version of watchOS 27 is scheduled to ship alongside iOS 27 later this year.
Source: www.macworld.com