Music on Watch - New Discovery for me

[JPGR_Fan]

Initially I had much trouble putting music on my Apple Watch Sport. Once I got it to work, with only one album in the playlist, I left it alone. In iTunes on my Mac I added two piano only versions from the Deluxe or Extended version of the same album to the playlist. I only listen to music on my watch while jogging, and didn't notice this Discovery right away. Those two songs had been uploaded to the watch without my doing anything! (Except putting it on the charger overnight). Now I've added another complete album to the playlist and as soon as I placed the Watch on the charger it started to update.

BONUS TIP
The bonus of all this is that all the new songs were from the "Add To My Music" selection in free trial of Apple Music. Thus, as long as I am a member of Apple Music these songs will remain on all my devices, and especially Apple Watch, with no outlay of cash or credits, beyond what will become $9.99 per month.

 

[nathanalf]

My recent discovery was that I can connect my watch to my car via bluetooth and play music over the car's speakers. Already had Apple Pay come in handy when I forgot my wallet, and I can see this being very useful if I ever take a drive somewhere and forget my phone!

 

[Minarets]

So let me understand (I am a potential AW buyer, but haven't pulled the trigger yet) I run and want the AW for the text and email and fitness tacking. I listen to music when running but is the music actually on the watch? So I don't have to have my phone on me to listen to music thru the watch? I thought the AW basically just controlled the songs and volume and the like?


Is their hard drive space on the watch? How much music can it hold?


Thanks

 

[nathanalf]

So let me understand (I am a potential AW buyer, but haven't pulled the trigger yet) I run and want the AW for the text and email and fitness tacking. I listen to music when running but is the music actually on the watch? So I don't have to have my phone on me to listen to music thru the watch? I thought the AW basically just controlled the songs and volume and the like?


Is their hard drive space on the watch? How much music can it hold?


Thanks

I believe there's 8GB total storage on the watch, but you can only have a playlist of up to 2GB stored locally on the watch. But correct, you can choose a single playlist which will sync locally to the watch while it is charging.

You'll need a bluetooth device (bluetooth speakers, headphones, car, etc) to actually hear the songs, as the music does not play from the speaker on the watch itself. I got some ~$20 bluetooth running headphones from amazon, and all I need is my watch and headphones and it tracks my run while serving up music. Pretty dang sweet if you ask me.

 

[friedmud]

I believe there's 8GB total storage on the watch, but you can only have a playlist of up to 2GB stored locally on the watch. But correct, you can choose a single playlist which will sync locally to the watch while it is charging.

You'll need a bluetooth device (bluetooth speakers, headphones, car, etc) to actually hear the songs, as the music does not play from the speaker on the watch itself. I got some ~$20 bluetooth running headphones from amazon, and all I need is my watch and headphones and it tracks my run while serving up music. Pretty dang sweet if you ask me.

This will only get better over time too.

I fully expect that with Watch OS2 we'll be able to have Apple Music and Spotify directly on the watch with songs stored for off-line play just like on a phone.

 

[testcard]

I was listening to a Spotify playlist on my iPhone on my Bose Bluetooth headphones and was pleasanly surprised to discover that the Music glance would let me control playback and volume. Thought this would only work for the Music app.

 

[Minarets]

Thanks guys. Neat.

 

[dhlizard]

The only issue I have had with using bluetooth headphones and my  Watch as the source for the bluetooth music is cutouts on some cheaper headphones. I bought a pair of Powerbeats2 wireless and it solved the cutout problems.

I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[JPGR_Fan]

The only issue I have had with using bluetooth headphones and my  Watch as the source for the bluetooth music is cutouts on some cheaper headphones. I bought a pair of Powerbeats2 wireless and it solved the cutout problems.

I guess you get what you pay for.

I have a fairly cheap DACOM BT headset. I am now in the habit of switching the AW to my right hand when I run. Otherwise, given that the "guts" of the DACOM are in the right ear-phone, I experienced the cutting out factor. I don't know, but I blamed the low price I paid for the headset and not AW.

 

[papbot]

I have a fairly cheap DACOM BT headset. I am now in the habit of switching the AW to my right hand when I run. Otherwise, given that the "guts" of the DACOM are in the right ear-phone, I experienced the cutting out factor. I don't know, but I blamed the low price I paid for the headset and not AW.

Even more expensive ones will cut out when you're outdoors. It depends on the local environment and some people will have no problem with a particular set and some will have nothing but problems. The switching the watch to the right wrist will frequently work because most headsets have the radio ont the right ear piece or side. After spending a fair amount of money experimenting I've found just pairing my expensive set with my phone was the simplest solution.

Indoors even the cheap ones should be fine with the watch.