Can you download music on Wear OS?
Wear OS is Google’s smartwatch operating system that runs on watches from various manufacturers like Fossil, Mobvoi, and Samsung. It allows you to access many of the same apps and services from your phone right on your wrist. One of the most common uses for smartwatches is listening to music while on the go without needing your phone. But can you actually download music directly onto a Wear OS smartwatch?
Wear OS has capabilities for both streaming music from apps and downloading songs for offline playback. Streaming services like YouTube Music, Spotify, and Pandora allow you to listen to music over WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity. Downloading songs to your watch allows you to listen without being connected to your phone. However, there are certain limitations to consider with storage space.
Downloading vs. Streaming
When it comes to listening to music on Wear OS watches, users have two main options – downloading music directly to the watch or streaming music over Wi-Fi or mobile data. There are some key differences between these two approaches:
Downloading music: This allows you to listen to music on your Wear OS watch even when you don’t have an active internet connection. Songs are stored directly on the watch, so you can go for a run or workout while listening to music without needing Wi-Fi or mobile data. The downside is you have limited storage space on the watch, usually around 8GB on newer models, so you can only store a subset of your music library.
Streaming music: This plays music stored in the cloud or on your phone directly to your Wear OS watch over the internet. It provides access to your full music library without storage limitations. However, it requires an active Wi-Fi or mobile data connection. If you lose connectivity, the music will stop playing. Streaming does not require any local storage on the watch.
In summary, downloading is best for offline listening while streaming provides access to more music. Many users opt to use a combination, downloading their most-listened playlists and albums for offline use while streaming less frequent tracks.
Methods for Downloading
There are a few different methods to download music onto Wear OS smartwatches:
Via Bluetooth
You can download music from your phone to your Wear OS watch using Bluetooth. Simply open the music app on your phone (e.g. Spotify, YouTube Music) and look for the option to “Download to Watch.” This will transfer the songs via Bluetooth. Note that downloading lots of songs this way can be slow and drain your watch battery [1].
Via Wi-Fi
If your watch is Wi-Fi enabled, you also directly download songs using Wi-Fi, without needing to go through your phone. This is faster than Bluetooth. Open the music app on your watch (e.g. Spotify), browse to the song or playlist you want, and select download.
Via Cellular
For Wear OS watches with LTE support, you can also download music directly over the cellular network, without needing to connect to Wi-Fi or your phone. This gives you maximum flexibility to listen to your music on the go. Simply use the music app on your watch to find the content you want and tap download.
Storage Limitations
Wear OS watches typically have around 4GB of onboard storage, but only a portion of that is actually available for apps, media, and data. According to sources like How-To Geek, around 2GB is reserved for the system software, leaving only 1-2GB of free space.
This available storage needs to hold everything stored locally on the watch, including downloaded music files. Considering many audio files for songs are 3-5MB per file or larger, storage can quickly fill up. Users on Reddit have reported only having 1.37GB actually free on a supposedly 4GB watch.
So while it is possible to download some music directly to newer Wear OS watches, the limited storage capacity puts strict limits on how much media can actually be stored before reaching capacity. Careful file management is necessary.
Managing Downloaded Music
When you download music to your Wear OS smartwatch, you need apps to effectively manage your music library and listen to your songs. Some popular options for handling downloaded music include WearMedia, NavMusic, and Wear Spotify. These apps allow you to view, organize, play, and delete downloaded music files stored locally on your Wear OS device.
WearMedia provides an intuitive music player designed specifically for Wear OS that gives you full control over your downloaded music collection. You can browse by playlists, artists, albums, songs, genres, and more. It also includes handy tools for managing storage space and deleting unwanted downloads when your smartwatch storage starts getting full.
In contrast, NavMusic focuses more on offline playback, giving you the ability to download playlists and podcasts from streaming services to listen to without an internet connection. The app makes it easy to find and save music for offline listening. Meanwhile Wear Spotify delivers the familiar Spotify experience optimized for Wear OS, enabling you to access and play music you have downloaded for offline listening.
Downloading from Streaming Services
You can download music for offline listening from popular streaming services like Spotify and YouTube Music on Wear OS smartwatches. This allows you to listen to music without needing an internet connection or relying on your phone’s mobile data.
To download from Spotify specifically, open the Spotify app on your Wear OS watch and find the song, album, or playlist you want to save for offline listening. Tap the three dot menu next to the content and select “Download”. The songs will now be available offline via the Spotify app on your watch whenever you have connectivity issues.
YouTube Music also lets you download audio content for offline playback. Simply tap the download icon next to a track, playlist or album to save it. The downloaded music will only be accessible on the watch itself via the YouTube Music app.
Downloading for offline listening is useful for activities like running or working out without your phone. Just make sure you have enough storage space on your Wear OS watch.
Alternatives to Downloading Music
Although downloading music directly to your Wear OS device allows you to listen offline, there are other options for streaming music that may be more convenient for most users depending on your connectivity and use case.
Music Streaming Services
Many popular music streaming services like YouTube Music and Spotify offer apps and compatibility with Wear OS smartwatches. These allow you to stream music over Wi-Fi or mobile data connection to your device without having to store songs locally. An advantage is access to vast catalogs of music and playlists. A major limitation is needing an internet connection.
Playlists and Radios
Both streaming apps and built-in music functions on Wear OS devices allow you to access curated playlists optimized for streaming. These can provide a more seamless listening experience compared to individually downloading many songs. Additionally, some apps offer radio stations and genre-based streaming stations. These can provide passive listening without manually looking for new songs to download while still allowing you to skip tracks as needed.
Optimizing for Battery Life
Downloading and listening to music on Wear OS can quickly drain your smartwatch’s battery. However, there are some steps you can take to limit or optimize the amount of battery life music uses.
Latest Improvements
Recent updates to Wear OS and smartwatch hardware have brought welcome enhancements for downloading and listening to music.
The latest Wear OS 3 update includes optimizations allowing for faster music downloads directly to your watch. This helps save phone storage space and enables listening even when you don’t have your phone with you.
Additionally, new smartwatches powered by the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, offer significantly more internal storage than previous models. With 16GB capacity, there is ample room for downloading playlists and podcasts for offline listening.
These improvements in both software and hardware make enjoying music downloads on the go much more seamless with modern Wear OS smartwatches.
The Future of Wear OS Music
With the latest releases of Wear OS including improvements to memory and battery life, downloading music to smartwatches could become more viable in the future. According to the Wear OS update in 2023, upcoming updates will focus on performance and reliability.
As the hardware of Wear OS devices improves, there will likely be advancements in storage capacity, allowing users to download more music locally rather than relying solely on streaming. Some predictions for the future include:
- Larger onboard storage for music files
- Faster downloading and syncing from streaming libraries
- Support for lossless quality music downloads
- Better optimization for battery usage when playing downloaded music
While downloading music currently has limitations, future Wear OS devices may make it a more seamless experience. With hardware and software innovations, managing an offline music library could one day be a key feature of smartwatches.
