watchOS 27 introduces a solid set of upgrades to your wrist—assuming your Apple Watch supports it. While the newest update isn't Apple's most feature-filled, it does include a number of changes that improve the way you exercise, track your health, and locate missing items. That's especially true for anyone with the latest Series 12 or Ultra 4. If your Apple Watch supports watchOS 27, you should know about these 10 hacks: Use this hidden gesture to find the app switcherWith watchOS 27, Apple changed what double-pressing the Digital Crown does. Instead of opening the app switcher, it now triggers Audio Intelligence—if you have an Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4. If you don't have access to those features, the gesture now does nothing. It seems Apple realized the mistake, however, as evidenced by watchOS 27.2. When you're using an app while running this latest update, press and hold the bottom part of the watch's screen, and you'll trigger the app switcher. You can now jump to a different app, or close an app that isn't working. Sadly, this only works when you're already in an app, and not when you're on the Home Screen, but it's certainly better than nothing. Add suggested widgets to the Home Screen using the Siri Modular Watch Face Credit: Khamosh Pathak While you can load up multiple complications on your Apple Watch, they aren't exactly dynamic. That's why I'm a big fan of the Smart Stack widgets on the Apple Watch, which update dynamically to show contextual information. Now, with the new Siri Modular Face, you can access dynamic widgets on the Home Screen. If you've just parked your car, for example, you'll see a widget showing its location; likewise, if you have an upcoming calendar appointment, it will be front and center. To use the Siri Modular watch face, tap and hold on the screen, go to the end of the list, tap the Plus button, and find and add the Siri Modular watch face. Once you do, you'll start seeing dynamic widgets when you wake up your watch. Don't expect much personalization from this watch face, however. You can customize the colors and add three small complications, but that's it. Use the new single-tap gesture to open apps and perform actionsThe double-tap gesture is one of my favorite Apple Watch features. By tapping your thumb and index finger together twice, you can do things like answer a call or reply to a message. In watchOS 27, Apple took the gesture one step forward. You can now use the double-tap gesture to scroll through your widgets; if you perform a single tap, it then opens the highlighted widget or the shortcut. This means you can open and browse the weather app, or start a workout, without ever touching your Apple Watch's screen. Use Shazam to identify songs even when you're offline Credit: Khamosh Pathak Your Apple Watch's new Music Recognition app has native Shazam integration. What's more, Shazam will record your request even when you're offline and away from your iPhone. The moment you reconnect, the service will identify the songs, which you can see in the Shazam app on your iPhone or Apple Watch.It seems like Apple has a library of songs it uses for offline recognition, because in my testing, it was able to recognize a Coldplay song instantly, even when in Airplane mode. To use it, you can either open the Music Recognition app, or you can add the widget for faster access. Scroll up on the Home Screen, go to the bottom of the screen, tap the Edit button, then the Plus button, and add the Music Recognition widget. Use the Step Count widget to get live step count monitoringApple Watches have traditionally lacked a live step count widget or complication. To find your step count, you had to go to the bottom of the Activity app, or rely on third-party apps. But even still, these apps never showed live data. You’d always have to wait a couple of seconds to see the updated stats.Now, if you own the latest Apple Watch Series 12 or the Ultra 4, you can add a live step count widget or complication to the Apple Watch face or the Smart Stack. This will show you your precise step count at all times. To use it, go to the bottom of the Smart Stack, tap the Edit button, then tap the Plus button. Here, find and add the new Step count widget. Continue Siri AI conversations from your iPhone to your Apple Watch Credit: Apple Siri is no longer a voice assistant that you use for one-off tasks. With Siri AI, you can now carry on multiple conversations with context and memory. It's not as robust as ChatGPT or Claude, but you can use Siri AI for brainstorming, researching, and jotting down ideas for later. The Siri AI app on the iPhone shows all your conversations, and so does the Apple Watch. This means you can continue your Siri AI conversations and view past chats on your Apple Watch. To use it, press the Digital Crown once, then tap the Siri app icon in the center. This will open up all your conversations instead of calling upon Siri. Tap a conversation to continue your chat on the Apple Watch. Of course, anything you do here will be reflected in the Siri app on your iPhone.Find people and items from the Watch in the new Find My app Credit: Apple The new Find My app on the Apple Watch shows a single map for finding people, devices, and items. This means you can now locate your family members who are sharing their location with you, as well as AirTags or other Find My items from the watchOS app. After opening the app, you can use the Digital Crown to zoom in or out of the map. Use touch to pan around. The map doesn't show all items and people at once, though. Tap the Menu button at the bottom-right corner, and then switch between People, Items, or Devices. If you have multiple items, you can scroll through them using the Digital Crown.Use the Readiness Score to figure out how much to push yourself Credit: Apple While it's not a Whoop-level feature, the Apple Watch now includes a Readiness score. Instead of individually looking at your training load, sleep score, and vitals, you now have one number that gives you the whole picture. The Readiness score ranges from 0 to 10 and is based on your recent fitness activity, sleep data, and background health monitoring. If you have a score of 8 to 10, your Apple Watch thinks you can push yourself, or "go for it," as it says; if it's below 5, the watch thinks you should consider lighter activity. This feature, though, is only available on Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. You can use the new Readiness app on your Apple Watch to see this data, but you can also access it on your iPhone in the Fitness app's new Readiness section. Use Max Extended Workout mode to boost your Apple Watch's battery life Credit: Khamosh Pathak Low Power Mode isn't your only option when it comes to extending the battery life for your Apple Watch. watchOS 27 offers a special Max Extended Workout mode just for long workouts. With it, your Apple Watch disables some features, like splits and alerts, and reduces the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings, in the hopes of extending your battery throughout your entire exercise. To use it, go to the Workout app and select the workout you want. Tap the Goals button in the top-right corner, and choose the Extended option. Then, switch to the Max Extended option and start your workout. Use Sound Recognition to get notified about sirens, alarms, and other noises Credit: Apple The Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 come with a set of Audio Intelligence features that use the microphones on the Apple Watch, paired with AI models (both local and cloud-based), to identify sounds, music, and record conversation. Thanks to this new feature, one of the iPhone's accessibility features also makes its way to the Apple Watch.Sound Recognition can alert you when it hears sirens, alarms, doorbells, and more, even when your iPhone isn’t around. To set this up, go to the Settings app on your iPhone and navigate to Accessibility > Sound & Name Recognition > Sound Recognition. Here, enable the sounds you want to monitor, and make sure to turn on the Detect using Apple Watch toggle.