A few weeks ago, while cursing NJ Transit<\/a> under my breath, I decided to screw it and call an Uber. I\u2019m the sort of anxious where, once hailed, I stare at the Uber app on my phone until my driver arrives. Except this time, I didn\u2019t have to. I pinchy pinched<\/a>, and I could see a live Uber widget in the Smart Stack on my Apple Watch. It was a small moment \u2014 the kind where you quirk your head and go, \u201cWell, would you look at that?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I\u2019ve had a few of those moments while testing watchOS 11 these past few months, both in the beta and while reviewing the new Series 10<\/a>. This year\u2019s software update adds Live Activities to the wrist as well as suggested widgets to the Smart Stack. The latter pop up based on time, date, location \u2014 context clues, essentially. When it\u2019s about to rain and you happen to look at your wrist, you might notice the weather widget pops up first. On a plane, I look down and can see how much time is left until landing from the United app. Other times, usually in bustling cafes, I see the Shazam widget. It\u2019s never when I actually don\u2019t know the song, but I see it enough times to take note. If you travel abroad, the new Translate app will automatically pop up in the stack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In practice, you might never notice it. For one, you have to be looking at your wrist. Live Activities \u2014 think directions from Citymapper or Google Maps, Uber, etc. \u2014 are a bit more eye-catching simply because they\u2019re live<\/em>. But everything else? It just sort of happens. Outside of fitness, most people tell me they use their smartwatches to triage notifications. This feels like an evolved version of that. When it works, it sort of fades into the background. I dig Live Activities on my phone, but I love it on the wrist.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n watchOS 11 is full of neat little things you stumble upon. For instance, double tap has been improved so that you can actually use it to scroll through apps. Last year, it was mostly limited to selecting actions. It feels less gimmicky this way, and I find myself using it much more often. You can also now hold down the Ultra\u2019s Action Button to change what it does. It\u2019s infinitely easier to switch things up compared to rifling through the settings menu. You can now use the digital crown to adjust volume on the Apple TV<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Apple Intelligence may not be coming to the Apple Watch, but these are the sort of updates that actually feel smart. The most AI-like update is in the revamped Photos watchface. There\u2019s now \u201cintelligent photo discovery\u201d where a machine learning algorithm identifies the best photos, composition, and facial expressions for a watchface. It\u2019s impressive in both good and bad ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The bad: when I initially added the watchface a few months ago, I didn\u2019t think much about including people, pets, nature, or city images. I just let it do its thing. An artfully composed watchface of my mother\u2019s funeral popped up. I laughed about it. After all, I\u2019m<\/em> the sentimental biddy who had to document everything and can\u2019t bring myself to delete painful photos. Hard to blame a non-sentient algorithm. If not a dead mom, it could\u2019ve easily been an ex-lover or friend. The moral is algorithms are smart and photos are emotional, but AI is not emotionally smart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The good: when you\u2019re intentional about which photos are allowed, this watchface is a delight. I turned off the people, nature, and city images and zeroed in on my pets. Now, every time I look down at my wrist, I\u2019m filled with instant serotonin. In black and white, my goober cats are stunning panthers. Sometimes, I just sit there tapping away staring at their beautiful, derpy faces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s funny. Back when watchOS 11 was first announced in June, I thought the fitness updates would be my favorite. Things like Training Load, Vitals, and the ability to pause your Activity Rings were long overdue. (I\u2019ve already written<\/a> about them<\/a>, and my opinion remains that they are stellar additions.) But on the whole, I\u2019ve more or less been more enamored with all the little tidbits that add up to a smarter, more personalized experience. Now, if you\u2019ll excuse me, I\u2019m about to order food on Grubhub and see if I can track my dinner from the wrist.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n