"It does not record or save audio or video at any point during the call," Granola's help docs say. Granola is an AI notepad for iPhone and Mac that turns a meeting or a phone call into decisions and action items without keeping the audio. The same docs say no bot joins the call, and with no audio kept, a transcript that fails to upload has nothing behind it.
A note starts with one tap from the Lock Screen or a Home Screen widget, and Granola transcribes the outbound calls you place from inside it. Afterward you can edit the summary and send it to attendees, or ask the chat panel about what was said and who said it.
The Apple Watch app arrived on July 28, 2026 and needs watchOS 11 or later. Tapping the app or a watch face complication starts a note, and the screen turns Granola green with a sound so you know it's listening. Granola aimed it at in-person meetings where you'd rather not pull out a phone, a walking one-on-one for example, TechCrunch reports.
Losing a meeting is the real risk. The harshest App Store reviews describe exactly that: two reviewers lost an important call when the upload failed, and one team lost a full day of transcripts to spotty internet. That matters most to iPhoners who treat the notes as the only record of a call.
What works
- Transcripts App Store reviewers trust with a molecular genetics seminar and a speaker's thick accent
- Speaker recognition in face-to-face meetings, per Granola's docs
What to know
- The Watch app stops recording if you open anything else, one App Store reviewer reports, and another couldn't silence its start chime
- Sign-in runs through Google, Microsoft, or SSO, with no Sign in with Apple
9to5Mac read the Granola launch as the Apple Watch becoming an AI device.
