If you ’re thinking about buying a smartwatch , you might also be think about how well it ’ll serve you when it comes to music playback — will it just act as a remote control for whatever ’s on your phone , or will it actually stream and sync songs so you may listen to them anywhere ( and leave your earphone at home ) ? The resolution is more complicated than you might have realise .
With so many different medicine apps and different smartwatch program currently available , draw your choice of euphony divine service run with your pick of hardware might not be possible . In fact , the full offline euphony playback financial backing is n’t even from smartwatches developed by Apple and Google , as we ’ll excuse below .
If you want to know how equal to each smartwatch platform is at playing music from your headphone and play euphony severally , here ’s what you need to know .

Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
Apple watchOS
medicine can be rain buckets directly to an Apple Watch over Wi - Fi or LTE ( if the watch supports it ) . If you ’re going to be by from a connectedness and want to leave your sound at home , you may synchronise songs to your Apple Watch in advance — to do this , go to My Watch in the Apple Watch app on your headphone , then tap Music and Add Music . Syncing will only work while the Apple Watch is buck .
Spotify has a consecrated app for the Apple Watch , and like the nonpayment Apple Music player , you’re able to practice it to stream call straight to your wrist(to listen to over Bluetooth earpiece ) or to control playback on another equipment , such as your phone . Thanks to a late update , this now make for over cellular connection as well as wireless local area connection , so you could finally direct out without your telephone set . A warm data connection from your watch is still necessitate though — as yet you ca n’t sync playlists to the vigil for listen to offline .
https://gizmodo.com/looks-like-spotify-is-expanding-its-streaming-beta-on-t-1845563183

The Series 6 (left) and Apple Watch SE (right).Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo
There ’s an prescribed YouTube Music app for Apple Watch , but it ’s only for browsing your collection and controlling playback on your other devices ( still , more than Wear OS has receive from YouTube Music at this point)—a outback control on your wrist , fundamentally . You ’ll find the same degree of functionality from the Deezer app for Apple Watch . If you want to really leave your phone behind , it has to be Apple Music or Spotify .
Google Wear OS
Google ’s smartwatch political program has yet to roll out full syncing keep forYouTube Music , and there ’s been no word on when it ’ll encounter — which is very strange study Google Play Music has now been killed off . However , you’re able to expend Wear OS to control YouTube Music ( caper , pause , skip and so on ) on your phone .
It ’s the same story for almost every medicine service out there : No dedicated Wear OS app , so no playlist synchronize . Playback controls will pop up on your carpus whenever your Android phone is roleplay media ( whether it ’s through Apple Music or your podcast player ) , but you ca n’t do much beyond start and block off playback , and you ’re still move to have to take your sound out with you .
The only major medicine service to have a consecrate Wear OS app is Spotify , but it does n’t declare oneself much in the way of functionality besides what you would get through Android ’s standard integration with Wear OS anyway . you may add together birdsong to your program library from your wrist , and tack between playback devices , but you ca n’t stream medicine verbatim to the watch and you ca n’t sync tracks for offline hearing .

Photo: Sam Rutherford/Gizmodo
If you want to be able to play songs on a Wear osmium smartwatch without carrying your phone around with you as well , then the good choice we ’ve observe isNavMusic($1 after a 30 - day trial ) . It ’s a competent small app , but it does swear on transferring local files to your watch , so you ’ll need to have the euphony you want in digital form .
Fitbit, Samsung, and Garmin
Every Fitbit smartwatch bar the Versa Lite can control euphony as it playact on your connected phone , through whatever app you choose to use . On watches except for the Versa Lite and the raw Sense and Versa 3 — which seem to be shifting more towards cloud services — you’re able to sync digital track you ’ve purchased to your wearable through the Fitbit Connect app ( full step - by - step instructions arehere ) .
There is a consecrate Spotify app for Fitbit smartwatches , but again it only controls playback on other twist — you ca n’t sync playlists to the watch . The apps you could do that with , on every equipment except the Versa Lite , areDeezerandPandora , so if you need to listen to your tunes on your Fitbit and leave your telephone at home you take to apply one of those pelt table service ( or copy your digital medicine files over , as explained above ) .
When it come to the Samsung Galaxy Watch series , open up up the Music app and you ’ll see you’re able to switch between control music playback on your phone and on the lookout man itself ( tap the twist icon to switch ) . For offline medicine listen , you could sync digital track across from your phone ( seeherefor details ) , or send away up the dedicated Spotify app : Unlike the Apple Watch and Wear OS devices , Samsung smartwatchessupport offline playbackon the wearables themselves for Spotify Premium endorser , no phone required .

The Fitbit Sense.Photo:Victoria Song/Gizmodo
Finally , Garmin ’s encompassing range of smartwatches come with similar euphony playback choice as the Samsung ones . you may utilise these watches to control playback from most music apps on your earpiece , or to play digital tracks you ’ve sync over from a data processor ( viaGarmin Connect ) , which will allow you impart your phone behind . The only music overhaul indorse with a native app on the wearable themselves is Spotify , and as on Samsung devices , Spotify Premium ratifier can sync playlists to a Garmin machine for listen anywhere ( just do n’t block your Bluetooth headphones ) .
orchard apple tree WatchFitbitGarminSmartwatcheswearables
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