watchOS 4 introduces a new Siri watch face on Apple Watch that intelligently updates to show you relevant content throughout the day. The Siri watch face pulls data from 14 different sources by default, but customizing these sources can help remove information from the timeline that you don’t need and make the watch face more useful.
The Siri watch face includes a digital clock with a flashing second indicator (but no option for seconds), two customizable complications including a new Siri complication, and two dynamic tiles of information. These tiles will update depending on time of day, date, current events, activity progress, and more.
Like other watch faces, swiping down from the top reveals Notification Center and swiping up from the bottom opens Control Center. Spin the Digital Crown on Siri face, however, and the timeline becomes a vertical carousel of information.
Rotating the Digital Crown downward shows Recent and All-Day tiles like temperature highs and lows and Now Playing cards. The tap minimizes to the top right corner with a light background indicating that it’s a button you can tap to return to the main view. You can also click the Digital Crown to leave the timeline and go back to the starting point.
Rotating the Digital Crown upward shows you tiles for Up Next and Tomorrow. Siri face previews the first Up Next tiles by default, and scrolling here reveals more. Rolling the Digital Crown lets you move around the timeline too.
While these tiles change dynamically, Siri face features two complications that you set. My default, the new Siri complication is located in the top left (this is the only face with this complication) and the date is located above the digital clock.
Tapping the Siri complication invokes the voice assistant just like holding the Digital Crown or saying ‘Hey Siri’ when the display is on. It’s a visually satisfying complication, but you may get more use out of Siri face if you put something else here since you can invoke Siri with voice or a click.
Press the Siri face firmly, then select Customize to choose between Activity, Alarm, Battery, Breathe, Calendar, Date, Find My Friends, Heart Rate, Home, Mail, Maps, Messages, Moon Phase, Music, News, Phone, Reminders, Remote, Siri, Stocks, Stopwatch, Sunrise/Sunset, Timer, Weather, Weather Conditions, Workout, World Clock, and third-party complications.
The top right complication is a bit smaller and can be set to Alarm, Battery, Calendar, Date, Heart Rate, News, Stocks, Stopwatch, Sunrise/Sunset, Timer, Weather, World Clock, and third-party complications.
After you personalize the two complications, consider customizing which data sources Siri face uses. You can’t do this from the Apple Watch, however, so you’ll need your iPhone. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, look for the Siri face in the My Faces section (or add it from the Face Gallery tab at the bottom), then tap the Siri face to reveal customization options.
From here you can set both complications just like on the Apple Watch, and a Data Sources list lets you toggle apps that appear on Siri face on and off. watchOS 4.0 includes 14 data sources: Alarms, Breathe, Calendar, Home, News, Now Playing, Photos, Reminders, Stocks, Stopwatch, Timer, Wallet, Weather, and Workout.
You can’t use third-party apps as data sources (yet), but you can disable data sources that aren’t useful for you and declutter the Siri face timeline. For example, I toggle off Photos, News, and Stocks to avoid seeing poorly chosen snapshots, the latest Trump headline, and stock market changes on my Siri face.
This cleans up the experience for me and only surfaces useful tiles like HomeKit scene triggers, exercise recommendations, and upcoming Wallet passes.
My ‘Good morning’ scene is displayed when I wake up, and the ‘Good night’ scene is shown in the evening. Tapping these launches the Home app and shows the specific scene in the list, then tapping the scene activates it (which turns my lights off, locks the front door, etc.).
Siri face is a great exercise coach, too, as it will recommend the exact amount of walking you should do to complete your Move goal at the end of the day. Siri face also shows the Now Playing card for music and podcasts played on the iPhone (or music on the watch), upcoming alarms and reminders appear in the timeline as well as calendar events, and Wallet passes are surfaced to the top when needed just like the lock screen on the iPhone.
You’ll also see currently active Timers appear dynamically, sunrise and sunset times, and Breathe app reminders.
I wish there was a version with analog watch hands (and second hands on the digital clock) and third-party apps as data sources would be appreciated. It also feels unnecessary to open Notification Center to view a missed alert when the Siri face timeline could optionally display alerts as well, but perhaps future updates will bring these changes.
Siri face is a neat way to change how your Apple Watch works and how you interact with apps without changing watchOS for everyone. I don’t use it 24/7, but I have kept it in my watch face lineup since I started testing it with watchOS 4 beta earlier this year.
Siri face is available on all Apple Watches running watchOS 4 or later.
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