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Devices

Herald on Apple Watch: your Hermes Agent bots at a glance

Herald’s Apple Watch app shows your whole Hermes Agent roster on your wrist: every bot and group room, who is awake, working or offline, the latest message and what each bot’s pet is doing. It is a glance, not a second phone. The watch never connects to Hermes itself; your iPhone relays everything, so you need watchOS 10 or later and a paired iPhone running Herald.

Last reviewed 20 October 2026 by lukethedev

Apple Watch

Glance. Know. Get on with your day.

Herald on Apple Watch shows every bot and room from your iPhone, live. Raise your wrist in a meeting and see that Rev is still working and Zed needs a yes.

  • Your whole roster on your wrist, bots and group rooms included
  • See who’s working, waiting for you or done at a glance
  • Read the latest message from any bot without reaching for your phone
  • Boba acts out what each bot is doing, right in the watch app

Needs watchOS 10 or later and a paired iPhone running Herald.

Requirements at a glance

Watch
Apple Watch with watchOS 10 or later
iPhone
Herald installed and paired with your Hermes. The watch app relays through it.
Install
From the Watch app on your iPhone
Price
Included in the one App Store purchase ($12.99)
Connects to Hermes itself
No. The iPhone sends it a snapshot.

What you see on the watch

The roster comes first: pinned rows at the top, then bots and group rooms in order of recent activity. Each row shows the bot’s emoji or photo, a coloured dot (green for awake, orange for working, grey when its computer can’t be reached), its handle, how long ago it was active, the latest message and an unread dot. While a bot is busy, its pet and its current activity, such as Coding, Searching or Waiting for you, replace the message preview. Anything that needs you is shown in orange.

Tap a bot for the detail view: a bigger avatar and pet, the name, the handle, which computer it runs on, its status and the full preview, plus “Unread on your iPhone” when you haven’t read it yet. While the bot works, its pet fills the screen; tap it to flip to the details and back. Group rooms show whether a turn is running and the last line said in the room.

A few notes tell you how fresh the roster is. “Hermes unreachable” means your iPhone has lost its connection to Hermes. The footer says when the roster was last updated and adds “iPhone not reachable” when the watch can’t talk to the phone. If Herald needs you to confirm a new address for a computer, its bots read “Confirm on your phone”.

What runs where

Where each part of Herald on Apple Watch runs
PartRuns onNotes
Connections and passwordsiPhoneThe watch never holds your Hermes address or credentials
Roster snapshotiPhone, sent to the watchSent over WatchConnectivity when something on the roster changes
Presence dotsWatchRe-checked every few seconds on the watch’s own clock, so a dot turns green without phone traffic
Pet animationWatchCut from the bot’s pet on the iPhone; it animates while the watch app is open
Last rosterWatchKept on the watch, so opening the app is never empty
LanguageWatchFollows the watch’s own language setting

Set it up

  1. Connect Herald on your iPhone

    Run npx herald-setup on the computer with Hermes and scan the QR code. The setup guides cover every kind of computer.

  2. Install the watch app

    Open the Watch app on your iPhone and install Herald. There is nothing to buy or sign in to.

  3. Check the status in Herald

    On the iPhone, Settings › General › Apple Watch should read “Installed · roster relays from this iPhone”. “No Apple Watch paired” or “Install Herald from the Watch app on this iPhone” tell you what is missing.

  4. Raise your wrist

    Opening Herald on the watch asks the iPhone for a fresh copy of the roster, so raising your wrist doubles as pull to refresh.

What you can do

  • See every bot and group room from every computer you have connected, in one list
  • Tell at a glance who is working, who is waiting for you and who is offline
  • Read the latest message from any bot or room without taking out your phone
  • Watch each bot’s Hermes Pet act out what it is doing

What you can’t do

  • Reply, dictate or start a conversation. The watch app only displays.
  • Approve or deny a command. Do that on your iPhone or iPad.
  • Use it without your iPhone. The watch shows the last roster it received until the two can talk again.
  • Add a complication or a watch face. The watch app doesn’t offer one.

Privacy

Your iPhone holds every connection and password. The watch only receives the roster snapshot, small copies of bot photos and the pet artwork, and it keeps the last snapshot so it can start instantly. Nothing goes through a Herald server, because there isn’t one, and the watch app has no analytics. The privacy policy covers the rest of the app.

Questions

Do I have to buy the Apple Watch app separately?

No. One App Store purchase covers iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay.

Why does my watch say “Open Herald on your iPhone”?

The watch has not received a roster yet. Open Herald on the iPhone and let it load your bots; the watch fills in a moment later.

Does the watch show group chats?

Yes. Group rooms appear in the roster with their last line, and the detail view says whether a turn is running.

Which pet does my watch show?

Each bot’s own pet from its Hermes, if it has one. Otherwise Herald uses Boba, the default pet, so every bot has a face.

Can I see bots from more than one computer?

Yes. The watch shows the same combined roster as the iPhone, with the computer’s name in each bot’s detail view. See several computers in one roster.

Get Herald for Hermes Agent

iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, CarPlay and Android. $12.99 once, no subscription, no account and no Herald server.

Herald is an independent, unofficial app. It is not made, endorsed or supported by Nous Research.