Question re watch 4.1 and apple music

[paulsburley]

Hi I am considering purchasing a watch 3 but dont want an extra carrier cost.

My question is, with the GPS only version and the new 4.1 release can I access all my playlists, albums and artists set up in my apple music subscription on the watch IF close to the phone. Ie can it use my Iphone 4g signal to access the cloud and play. I realise I can do this from the phone but when out running its easier to use the phone to change play list of song. Also (finally) can I use Siri to do this if I buy air pods too. I guess in summary can the watch do everything the GPS+Cell version can do if you have phone with you. Appreciate any help I cant find answers on the internet.

 

[daijholt]

In answer to your question, No.

Only the cellular model gets full Apple Music access. let me try and explain in detail;

The S3 4G watch has a few ways of accessing data;

1. Direct LTE access from the watch when your phone isn’t nearby.
2. Direct WiFi access when near a trusted network, and your phone isn’t nearby.
3. Indirectly using your phone’s WiFi/LTE connection, when your phone is nearby and connected to your watch (e.g. in your pocket)

2 out of those 3, every Apple Watch can do, but for some reason, Apple have decided to only put full library access on the 4g models, even though the others COULD do it, with the exception of when you’re nowhere near your phone or a WiFi network.

It’s a real shame, as even with my 4G watch, 80% of the time I’m either near my phone or a trusted WiFi, and the other 20% on 4G (while running for example).

This means that really, my S2 watch could do the same thing 80% of the time, but not the other 20%, and I could download a playlist to the watch storage for that other 20% of usage anyway.

I hope they change this in a future update, as it seems like a waste of a great feature.

 

[paulsburley]

In answer to your question, No.

Only the cellular model gets full Apple Music access. let me try and explain in detail;

The S3 4G watch has a few ways of accessing data;

1. Direct LTE access from the watch when your phone isn’t nearby.
2. Direct WiFi access when near a trusted network, and your phone isn’t nearby.
3. Indirectly using your phone’s WiFi/LTE connection, when your phone is nearby and connected to your watch (e.g. in your pocket)

2 out of those 3, every Apple Watch can do, but for some reason, Apple have decided to only put full library access on the 4g models, even though the others COULD do it, with the exception of when you’re nowhere near your phone or a WiFi network.

It’s a real shame, as even with my 4G watch, 80% of the time I’m either near my phone or a trusted WiFi, and the other 20% on 4G (while running for example).

This means that really, my S2 watch could do the same thing 80% of the time, but not the other 20%, and I could download a playlist to the watch storage for that other 20% of usage anyway.

I hope they change this in a future update, as it seems like a waste of a great feature.

[doublepost=1512210853][/doublepost]THank you for your very detailed answer much appreciated what if I bought the cellular version but didn’t activate the cellular element ie pay the extra and just used it with wifi/Bluetooth would that give me all 3 functionality if phone is close by in my pocket?

 

[daijholt]

[doublepost=1512210853][/doublepost]THank you for your very detailed answer much appreciated what if I bought the cellular version but didn’t activate the cellular element ie pay the extra and just used it with wifi/Bluetooth would that give me all 3 functionality if phone is close by in my pocket?

Yes you’d still get the functionality even if you didn’t activate LTE, it would just only work over WiFi or via your phone’s connection. This is why it baffles me that the feature isn’t on the non-LTE watches, because we’ve already proven it would work..

 

[paulsburley]

Yes you’d still get the functionality even if you didn’t activate LTE, it would just only work over WiFi or via your phone’s connection. This is why it baffles me that the feature isn’t on the non-LTE watches, because we’ve already proven it would work..

Thats Crazy I have read some conflicting info that you can get full access to your Apple music library from a GPS ONLY version when your phone is local saying it will access music via phones 4g or wifi ? this is in conflict with what you are saying . Its all very confusing. Is your answer based on release 4.1?

 

[paulsburley]

ALSO see this link it suggests the apple watch 3 does have full access to AM library makes no differentiation for GPS/LTS just refers to apple watch - see this wording:-
from the link below
Listen to Apple Music
Before you start listening, pair your watch with Bluetooth headphones.

If you're an Apple Music subscriber, your Apple Watch Series 3 can automatically access your music library. Open the Music app on your Apple Watch and scroll up, then tap Library. You can also use Siri to play any song in the Apple Music catalog and listen to custom stations in the Radio app.

If you're not an Apple Music subscriber, you can enjoy some music on your Apple Watch. Learn how to add albums and playlists to your watch.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht204691

 

[daijholt]

ALSO see this link it suggests the apple watch 3 does have full access to AM library makes no differentiation for GPS/LTS just refers to apple watch - see this wording:-
from the link below
Listen to Apple Music
Before you start listening, pair your watch with Bluetooth headphones.

If you're an Apple Music subscriber, your Apple Watch Series 3 can automatically access your music library. Open the Music app on your Apple Watch and scroll up, then tap Library. You can also use Siri to play any song in the Apple Music catalog and listen to custom stations in the Radio app.

If you're not an Apple Music subscriber, you can enjoy some music on your Apple Watch. Learn how to add albums and playlists to your watch.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht204691

I’d love some confirmation this too, as I have the LTE model and not the GPS only. I also have a Series 2 and can confirm it’s definitely not on there, but the S3 GPS is another matter.

It is crazy though that the S2 doesn’t have the feature either.

 

[gtjeta]

With non LTE S3 you can access your full library via streaming and your synced albums while offline. The synced albums appear in a carousel view, the albums to be streamed need to be accessed by entering first Library, and then either selecting albums, songs or authors you may have access to your full Apple Music Library without the need to use the iPhone.

 

[daijholt]

With non LTE S3 you can access your full library via streaming and your synced albums while offline. The synced albums appear in a carousel view, the albums to be streamed need to be accessed by entering first Library, and then either selecting albums, songs or authors you may have access to your full Apple Music Library without the need to use the iPhone.

So essentially you get the exact same feature on the GPS model, but need to be in WiFi or connected to the phone for it to work?

 

[paulsburley]

So essentially you get the exact same feature on the GPS model, but need to be in WiFi or connected to the phone for it to work?

My understanding from all of this is that both version of the watch s3 are identical in functionality with respect to apple music with the cellular one just offering a connection when the watch is not near the phone...so if I have the phone in pocket I would get all the A music library functionality from the watch providing the watch has wifi and or 4g...correct??

 

[daijholt]

My understanding from all of this is that both version of the watch s3 are identical in functionality with respect to apple music with the cellular one just offering a connection when the watch is not near the phone...so if I have the phone in pocket I would get all the A music library functionality from the watch providing the watch has wifi and or 4g...correct??

All I can say for certain is that Apple Music streaming, as advertised by Apple, where you can access you entire library on the watch, IS present on Series 3 with LTE, but IS NOT present on Series 2 (only playlists synced from your phone show up). This is why I made the assumption hat it wouldn’t be on Series 3 without LTE too, but some are saying differently.

Gonna need to find someone who has the non LTE model I think to nail it down for once and for all.

 

[gtjeta]

All I can say for certain is that Apple Music streaming, as advertised by Apple, where you can access you entire library on the watch, IS present on Series 3 with LTE, but IS NOT present on Series 2 (only playlists synced from your phone show up). This is why I made the assumption hat it wouldn’t be on Series 3 without LTE too, but some are saying differently.

Gonna need to find someone who has the non LTE model I think to nail it down for once and for all.

Nailed down for once and for all in my previous answer

 

[daijholt]

Nailed down for once and for all in my previous answer

Missed that one. Good shout. In that case, it baffles me why Series 2 didn’t get the same feature? S3 GPS and S2 are essentially the same watch, minus the upgraded internals.

 

[3rdiguy]

I have a series 3 non-LTE and it has the radio app on it. I thought was only for LTE model?