How to Stream Spotify Directly From Apple Watch
If you’ve dreamed of a Dick Tracy-like setup for using Spotify on your Apple Watch, you won’t have to wait long. A new app update will now only let you work with your smartwatch – no need for a nearby phone if your smartwatch has decent Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity.
Problem? This is the only way to play music exclusively from your smartwatch. Spotify has yet to provide its users with the Holy Grail of smartphone streaming – a way to download music to Apple Watch and play it offline. There is no indication that this option will ever appear, but I really hope it will. After all, not everyone has a cellular Apple Watch (or a great Wi-Fi connection when, say, you’re hiking).
Before we start, I must point out that this new Spotify feature is rolling out to users. Please update the app before checking if it is there; it may be, or you may have to wait. I argue that feature deployment is one of the most annoying technical practices, but it’s just the reality we live in.
Plus, if you’ve never installed Spotify on your Apple Watch, you’ll need to grab your iPhone, launch the Watch app, and scroll down until you see Spotify in your big list of apps. Click “Install” to start the process.
When you’re ready, launch the Spotify app on your Apple Watch. You should immediately see a new prompt about streaming music on Apple Watch:
Tap this icon and you can now choose your Apple Watch as your streaming source. And you can use the same menu to resume playing music on connected devices in your home, on your iPhone, or on any other device.
One quirk, however, is that music doesn’t just start playing on the Apple Watch itself – likely because your Apple Watch’s speaker isn’t very good. This is useful as a last resort if you need someone a walkie-talkie, of course, but I wouldn’t rely on it for music. Instead, you will need to connect your Bluetooth headphones to your Apple Watch and your Spotify streaming will play from there.
While there may be a slight lag when playing / pausing music or skipping to new tracks, I believe this is technically still a “beta feature”. Otherwise, you can easily navigate through the music by swiping left and right on the watch and adjusting the volume with the digital crown.