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Apple made some big announcements during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday (June 8), and not all have been received well. One in particular is the ditching of the niche yet iconic 'walkie talkie' feature from the latest watchOS.
This includes the unveiling of its new operating system update, iOS 27, which is expected to be released in September, with the public beta version becoming available next year.
There are plenty of new features being added to Apple products thanks to the latest iOS, notably Siri AI, which is operated by Apple Intelligence.
However, with new additions unfortunately there will always be things being taken away and it seems that Apple has decided to remove a classic feature from the Apple Watch.
It appears that the tech giant has quietly removed its classic Walkie-Talkie feature with the introduction of watchOS 27.
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This comes after fans noticed that the feature is no longer in the app list or in the Control Center.
Many people took to social media to share their own reactions to the news, with one user writing on Reddit: “Well that sucks. My son and I use it all the time.”
Another said: “I use it with my daughter all the time. Super bummed about this.”
A third person commented: “They should fix it, instead of removing it. That it is unreliable is a bad excuse. It would likely be a popular feature if it worked reliably. I’ve occasionally used it despite its quirks.”
And a fourth added: “Ah man, we love walkie talkie.”
This isn’t the only change anticipated for Apple Watch users as it seems the company will be waving goodbye to its support for a whopping five Apple Watch models, effectively making them ‘obsolete’.
Just six watches will be compatible with the new operating system update, with these including the likes of the Apple Watch Ultra 3, Apple Watch Ultra 2, Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch SE 3.
So, which devices are getting the boot? It turns out that support for Apple’s wearable tech will no longer be available for the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation), Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch Series 7, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch Ultra.
As part of WWDC, Apple also unveiled Siri AI, which is a new version of its well known virtual assistant Siri.
This time, the feature will be powered by Apple Intelligence, with the company saying it will be ‘more capable and conversational’.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said: “We’re excited to introduce Siri AI, a dramatically more capable and conversational assistant designed to help users find information and get things done throughout the day.
“With access to broad world knowledge for up-to-date answers on virtually any topic, along with onscreen awareness and personal context understanding, Siri AI can help users take action across apps more naturally than ever.”
