Why watchOS 27 removes the useful multitasking feature on Apple Watch

watchOS 27 removes a useful multitasking shortcut from Apple Watch. While we don’t know if it will make a return, we at least now know why the gesture was removed. Live Rewind replaces switching between apps, but only on Series 12 and Ultra 4 Prior to updating to watchOS 27, Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3 support a shortcut for jumping between apps. You can double-click the Digital Crown to instantly switch between the current app and the previously used app. It also works for jumping between the watch face and the last viewed app. It’s great for quickly switching contexts with just muscle memory and not tapping the display. But, as we’ve flagged a few times, the double-click gesture is gone from watchOS 27. The reason in part is a hardware-specific feature that’s coming to Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 later this year. Apple announced last week that Live Rewind, a feature that provides a 15-second transcript of spoken audio, is coming to the new watches. It’s part of the Audio Intelligence feature set that includes Siri Recap as well. The way to invoke Live Rewind is by double-clicking the Digital Crown. Series 11, Ultra 3, SE 3, and earlier Apple Watches will not support Live Rewind That explains why the gesture was freed up for watchOS 27. However, it’s not an especially satisfying explanation for a few reasons. First, what about Apple Watches without Live Rewind? The gesture just opens the new dynamic app grid — same as a single click. Second, not everyone will want to use the Live Rewind feature. That’s fine. You can control when and how Audio Intelligence features are used. However, we shouldn’t expect Apple to give us back the missing gesture. At any rate, it seems like an opportunity for a nice settings option. Maybe watchOS 27.1 or 27.2 can do something with the feedback. For now, it’s a bit of an awkward situation with the feature not shipping yet and only on new hardware. The answer may just be to trust the dynamic app grid, hoping that one of the five suggested apps around Siri includes what you need. Apple Watch Series 12 is currently available for pre-order from $399. Apple Watch Ultra 4 is available for pre-order from $799. Both models launch in one week on September 18. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.