Granola launches an Apple Watch app

AI note-taking app Granola has launched an app for the Apple Watch, hoping its users will record meetings and take notes without reaching for their smartphones. Users can set the Granola app as one of their watch faces to start transcribing at any time, and the app can also surface reminders about upcoming meetings. It works alongside Granola’s iOS app, which launched last year.

Co-founder Chris Pedregal told TechCrunch the Apple Watch app is meant to capture in-person meetings without having to take a phone out of a pocket — for example, during a walking one-on-one meeting. When Granola tested the app with employees who had Apple Watches, a big chunk of their mobile usage switched from iOS to the Watch, the company said.

In the past year, companies have released auxiliary devices that pair with smartphones to record and transcribe meetings. Granola said it found it easier to develop an app for Apple Watches than to integrate with another hardware product at this point. Dictation app Monologue earlier this year also added support for meeting note-taking, for both online and offline modalities, along with Apple Watch support. Granola became a unicorn earlier this year with a $125 million Series C round led by Index Ventures.

Why it matters

The internal test’s usage shift from iOS to the Watch suggests wearables could become a genuine transcription surface in their own right, sharpening competition between AI note-taking apps and the auxiliary hardware recorders that have launched over the past year.