Apple Is Bringing Back an Apple Watch Feature It Took Away With watchOS 27
Typically, software updates introduce new features rather than taking them away. So, when you install watchOS 27 on your compatible Apple Watch, you probably aren't surprised to see updates like Siri AI or a step counter on the watch face. But you might be taken aback by what's missing—a multitasking feature that your Apple Watch has had for years. watchOS 27 removed the app switcher on Apple Watch As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple quietly removed the app switcher from Apple Watches with watchOS 27.
- ▪Typically, software updates introduce new features rather than taking them away.
- ▪So, when you install watchOS 27 on your compatible Apple Watch, you probably aren't surprised to see updates like Siri AI or a step counter on the watch face.
- ▪But you might be taken aback by what's missing—a multitasking feature that your Apple Watch has had for years. watchOS 27 removed the app switcher on Apple Watch As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple quietly removed the app switcher from Apple Watc
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| Original publisher | Lifehacker |
| Canonical URL | https://lifehacker.com/tech/apple-bringing-this-apple-watch-feature?utm_medium=RSS |
| Publication time | Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-22T15:33:51.028Z |
| Last seen | 2026-09-22T15:33:51.028Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | 9Z9ZYX3dYjIR · 1 stories |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Typically, software updates introduce new features rather than taking them away. So, when you install watchOS 27 on your compatible Apple Watch, you probably aren't surprised to see updates like Siri AI or a step counter on the watch face. But you might be taken aback by what's missing—a multitasking feature that your Apple Watch has had for years. watchOS 27 removed the app switcher on Apple Watch As reported by 9to5Mac, Apple quietly removed the app switcher from Apple Watches with watchOS 27. As a result, users running the beta over the summer, or those who updated in September, were likely confused when double-clicking the Digital Crown: On watchOS 26 and earlier, that gesture pulls up a menu with all open apps, similar to the app switcher on iPhone.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Lifehacker.
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