A year ago this month, I posed the question: “Will the Siri watch face survive watchOS 10 and Apple Watch widgets?”
As far as I know, Apple has never done away with watch faces. Some are hardware specific, some are redesigned, but watch faces never go away from the Apple Watch. I guess that’s why the Siri watch face is still around for now, but it needs some love to stay relevant.
As of watchOS 10, the Siri watch face is six versions old. It came out with great potential and was on its way to fulfilling that potential, but then stalled. Now, Apple Watch has a new widget system, and the Siri watch face has become antique. It still has some uniqueness to it, but who knows if it will be like that by this time next year.
Well, now it’s “this time next year” and the Siri watch face will be Apple Watch I couldn’t survive.
In its place comes the smarter Smart Stack.
- Widgets are displayed based on time, location, etc.
- Live Activity, a feature once missing from the Apple Watch, is now available in the Smart Stack.
- The Smart Stack can display a Shazam widget when nearby music is detected.
- Added Distance, Training Load, Photo and Weather Alert widgets.
The real Siri face killer? The double tap. The finger gesture that brings up the Smart Stack from the watch face didn’t work with the Siri face. Seeing two vertical scrolling interfaces competing is a good sign that the new is coming into fashion and the old, less used way is falling into obscurity.
Even better is the way watchOS 11 auto-launches apps for live activity and media playback. The new default is that Smart Stacks will automatically launch when a live activity or media playback is active, no double-tap gesture required.
As I concluded a year ago:
I think that eventually each data source from the Siri face should become a widget. The Siri face may live on as a dedicated widget watch face. The Smart Stack already looks like a redesigned Siri face.
This is all Apple Watch This is something that can wait until watchOS 11 or 12, but I think it’s more necessary than the other option of abandoning the Siri face and leaving it alone.
watchOS 11, indeed. Siri Face: 2017-2024. You’ve dealt with some people well at times. Well, the countdown Apple Intelligence Faces are starting to appear… or at least, an Apple Watch or watchOS version that speaks Apple Intelligence language.
To be honest, I just want Siri with ChatGPT Apple WatchBut that’s a story for another time. For now, Siri + ChatGPT on iPhone (possibly via AirPods) is exciting enough.
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