As a Wear OS fan, I can’t wait for this watchOS 26 feature

I rely on lists to keep my life running: grocery lists, packing lists, home improvement checklists, birthday gift ideas for my 19 nieces and nephews, and ongoing logs of thank-you notes for gifts for my own kid.

My note-keeping apps aren’t just productivity tools; they’re the backbone of my sanity. So, when Apple announced that the Notes app is coming to Apple smartwatches via watchOS 26, my ears perked up.

Part of this job means bouncing between ecosystems to test devices and their competitors. When I’m using Apple’s platform, I stockpile thoughts in the Notes app. It lets me access and update information from my iPad, MacBook, and iPhone interchangeably, and passively-aggressively share chore lists with my partner so he can see everything I’ve crossed off. The idea of extending that convenience to my Apple Watch is genuinely appealing and, honestly, overdue. When I read that the watchOS version would support checklists, plus Siri voice commands, I was even more intrigued.

The ability to add a note or update a list by speaking, without reaching for a phone or fumbling with a touchscreen, is the kind of thoughtful feature that makes wearable tech feel meaningfully useful. The next time I’m juggling a grocery basket in one hand and a gallon of milk in the other (because I’ll never learn to just grab a cart), being able to check off “chili powder” via Siri might save me from dropping both.

What’s surprising is that this functionality isn’t already available elsewhere. Google Keep has long supported checklists and remains a staple on my Wear OS smartwatches. Like Notes, I use it to maintain some semblance of organization. But voice interaction is still limited, which is a puzzling omission, especially considering Keep and Assistant are both core Google services. At this point, that integration should be seamless.

Wear OS has come a long way in recent years and now offers a genuinely strong experience. But this is a reminder that polish often shows up in the smallest features. Apple’s incoming update may seem minor, but for list-driven users, it’s a meaningful one.

This isn’t about platform loyalty. It’s about smart features that make a smartwatch feel smarter. And in this case, Apple got it right. Here’s hoping Google is paying attention.