Pulling out your phone during a walking one-on-one is awkward. Granola thinks your Apple Watch should handle it instead. The AI note-taking app has just launched a native Apple Watch app, and the pitch is simple: start transcribing a meeting right from your wrist, no iPhone required.
The app can live on your watch face for instant access, surfaces reminders about upcoming meetings, and syncs with the existing iOS app that launched last year. So if you’re mid-stride in a hallway meeting or grabbing coffee with a colleague, you tap your watch and you’re recording. That’s it.
What’s interesting here isn’t just the convenience factor. When Granola tested the Watch app with its own employees, a significant chunk of their mobile app usage shifted from iPhone to Apple Watch. That’s a real signal. It suggests people don’t actually want to use their phones for this, they just haven’t had a better option until now.
Co-founder Chris Pedregal told TechCrunch the Watch app is specifically designed for in-person meetings where pulling out your phone feels intrusive or just plain awkward. And honestly, that’s a use case that most note-taking apps have completely ignored. Most of this space is still built around sitting at a desk, laptop open, joining a Zoom call.
The broader context matters here too. Over the past year, a wave of companies have released dedicated hardware, little clip-on recorders and AI pendants, to solve exactly this problem. Granola decided building for the Apple Watch was a smarter move than partnering with yet another gadget. Given that millions of people already wear one, that’s probably the right call. Dictation app Monlogue made a similar bet earlier this year, adding Apple Watch support alongside meeting note-taking features.
Granola isn’t a scrappy startup taking a punt on this, either. The company hit unicorn status earlier this year after closing a $125 million Series C led by Index Ventures. There’s serious money behind this product.
- Set the app as a watch face complication for one-tap recording
- Get reminders about upcoming meetings directly on your wrist
- Works alongside the existing Granola iOS app
- Designed for in-person and walking meetings
And look, wrist-based AI is still early. But Granola is making a smart bet that the best AI tool is the one you’re already wearing.