Apple Watch Series 12 · September 2026

Siri Recap remembers the room. Your vault should remember you.

Announced with Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, Siri Recap listens through the day and writes short summaries of the conversations you were part of, while Live Rewind shows the last 15 seconds as text. Both arrive later in 2026 as a beta, in English first. Here is what they keep, what they throw away, and where a Markdown vault fits.

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What Siri Recap actually saves

From Apple's own description of the feature. Read it before you plan a workflow around it.

Summaries, not transcripts

Recap produces short highlights of a conversation — Apple compares it to the notes you would jot down afterwards. It does not produce a verbatim transcript, and Live Rewind only ever shows the most recent 15 seconds.

Gone in 7 days unless you save it

Summaries you do not save or export are deleted automatically after seven days. Live Rewind snippets disappear about 30 seconds after the watch screen dims unless you store them.

Exports to Notes and Journal

Saved recaps live in the Siri app and can be exported to other apps, including Apple Notes and Journal. Apple has not described an Obsidian or Markdown path.

What it requires

Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4, an iPhone 16 or later, Apple Intelligence and the new Siri. English only at launch, not offered to under-13s, and not available in the EU at first.

Where SpeakPen fits

Recap is for what others said. This is for what you think.

You decide when it listens

Nothing runs in the background. You open SpeakPen and tap record when an idea arrives — on a walk, in the car, after a meeting.
No new watch, and no Apple Intelligence requirement.

Transcript and summary, in your language

The full transcript is kept, not just highlights, with a title and summary on top.
Automatic language detection across 99 languages, not English only.

Kept in a vault you own

Notes sync into Obsidian as plain Markdown with YAML frontmatter, and stay until you delete them.
Because they are ordinary files in your vault, every tool you already point at that folder can read them.

FAQ

Siri Recap and Obsidian FAQ

Can Siri Recap send summaries to Obsidian?

Not directly, as far as Apple has said. Saved recaps can be exported from the Siri app to other apps, and Apple names Notes and Journal as examples. Whether the share sheet will offer Obsidian, and in what format, will only be clear once the beta ships later in 2026.

Does Siri Recap keep a full transcript?

No. Apple is explicit that Recap generates brief summaries rather than a detailed record, and that no audio is recorded or stored. If you need the exact wording of something you said, Recap is not designed for that.

Does SpeakPen record all day like Siri Recap?

No. SpeakPen records only between the moment you tap record and the moment you stop. It is a capture tool for your own thoughts, not an ambient memory of conversations.

Do I need an Apple Watch Series 12 to use SpeakPen?

No. SpeakPen is an iPhone app. It does not depend on a particular watch, on Apple Intelligence, or on the new Siri.

What happens to my SpeakPen recordings?

Each recording and its transcript stay in your account until you delete the note; deleting the note removes the audio as well. Notes synced to Obsidian are plain Markdown files in your vault, under your control.

Curious how a spoken idea becomes a Markdown note in your vault? See how voice notes reach Obsidian end to end. Or start with the smallest version of the habit: quick capture into Obsidian by voice.