Google has added the option to directly stream music from the YouTube app to Wear OS, greatly expanding its capabilities. This feature, which was only recently made available to Wear OS users, was previously exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 4 wearables. Here are all of the pertinent details.
Wear OS Watches can stream YouTube music
Users will be able to play music on Wear OS via the YouTube Music app, whether on LTE or Wi-Fi, according to a new Community post from Google. People will be able to browse their playlists on their Wear OS smartwatches without having to carry their phones around.
Another benefit is that users may now add the YouTube app as a widget to access their playlists directly from the app. However, there are two requirements. To begin, the compatible smartphone must be Android, as iOS does not enable cellular streaming, and a YouTube Premium subscription is required.
Once these requirements are met, you can quickly access music on your smartwatch, even while it is turned off. When the YouTube app is connected to Wi-Fi, the Smart Downloads function will instantly refresh the list of downloaded songs on the Wear OS smartwatch. Offline streaming will be more convenient this way. The software will also create bespoke playlists for users based on their streaming history.
This new feature is a great addition for Wear OS users, as there was previously no direct support for YouTube Music streaming since Google Play Music was discontinued in 2020. This functionality originally appeared in Wear OS 3 last year, and while it did appear in Wear OS 2 (thanks to a developer!), it was only for offline playback. A YouTube Music app is already available for Apple Watch.
It makes sense, given that Google is about to unveil its first smartwatch, the Pixel Watch, and providing direct access to one of its services is only natural. The Pixel Watch, along with the Pixel 7 series, was recently previewed at the I/O 2022 event and will be official before the end of the year.
Before the launch of this YouTube Music App last year, Wear OS only had the Play Music app and no other genuine third-party music app other than the Spotify app. The Spotify app, on the other hand, was bare-bones and served no purpose except to serve as a repurposed remote. Google eventually made YouTube Music available on the Apple Watch—but not on Wear OS watches.
It stated that it will launch to selected Wear OS 2 smartwatches. It provided a list Wear OS 2 watch that will support the service or users have to wait a couple of weeks or months for those not on the list. According to Google, the app will be available on more devices later last year.
