Smartwatches That Can Play Apple Music? Let’s Find Out!

Apple Music is the music streaming service that comes with millions of songs.

If you are an Apple Music user and wonder if it can work with your Smartwatch or not, this guide is for you.

In this comprehensive guide, I will share the Smartwatches that Can Play Apple Music. Let’s dive right into it.

Related: Apple Music Replay Not Working | 5 Easy Ways To Fix It!

What Is Apple Music?

Apple Music is the premium Music streaming service by Apple that comes with more than 70 million songs.

Like other streaming services, Apple Music also comes with tons of exclusive playlists, which you will only find on the Apple Music Platform. Also, it comes with an ad-free experience so you can enjoy the music without any interruption.

Apple Music comes with 3 different Music Plans: Student, Individual, and Family. Student Plan comes with basic features, and it will cost you $4.99 per month. The individual plan comes with standard features, and it will cost you $9.99 per month.

The family plan allows you to share the service with up to 6 users, and it will cost you $14.99 per month. Now that you know how much it will cost you to use Apple Music let’s take a look at the smartwatches that can play Apple Music.

Smartwatches That Can Play Apple Music

only Apple Watches support the Apple Music app directly. This exclusivity stems from Apple’s ecosystem, designed to offer a cohesive experience across its devices, including the seamless playback of Apple Music.

Other prominent brands in the smartwatch industry, such as Samsung, Garmin, and Fitbit, offer their own unique sets of features and integrations with various apps and services. However, when it comes to Apple Music, They will not be able to support it and you will not be able to download the app to your non-Apple watch.

For instance, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series, known for its integration with the Android ecosystem and its own Tizen OS, cannot directly play Apple Music. Similarly, fitness-focused brands like Garmin and Fitbit excel in health tracking and have their music solutions, but neither can host the Apple Music app within their systems.

This is due to Apple’s strategy of creating an interconnected ecosystem where its services, including Apple Music, are optimized for its devices, thereby enhancing user experience but also limiting cross-brand compatibility

Can Apple Watch Play Apple Music?

Yes, Apple Watch comes with support for Apple Music, and you can enjoy the music collection of Apple Music on your Apple Watch. App Store comes with a dedicated Apple Music App, which you can install on your Apple Watch and enjoy the music.

Apple Music App is available for all popular Apple Watches such as Series 8,7,6, Series 5, SE, Series 4, etc. Here’s how you can enjoy Apple Music on your Apple Watch.

• Open the App Store on your Apple Watch
• Search for “Apple Music” and download it.
• Once it’s downloaded, open it and enter your credentials.
• Once you are entered into the app, you will see the music collection. Use the Digital Crown to browse the music and tap the playlist, song, or album to play the music.

You can enjoy Apple Music on your Apple watch without any restriction provided that you have a valid subscription.

Can Apple Watch Play Music Without A Phone?

Yes, the Apple Watch can play music without an iPhone nearby, but the functionality varies based on the watch model:

For GPS-only models:

• You need to sync/download playlists or albums from your iPhone to the watch’s limited storage (around 2GB for music) beforehand when connected.
• Once synced, you can play that locally stored music on the watch using Bluetooth headphones without your iPhone present.4

For Cellular models:

• You can stream music directly from Apple Music, Spotify, or other streaming services over the cellular data connection without needing your iPhone.
• Or you can sync/download music from your iPhone to the watch’s storage like the GPS models.

So in essence, GPS-only watches require pre-loading music from your iPhone, while Cellular models can stream music over cellular data independently of the iPhone. But both models allow you to play music on just the watch using Bluetooth headphones once set up accordingly.

Check out our review on The 12 Best Bluetooth Headphones for Apple Watch.

How Can I Sync Music To My Apple Watch Without Using My iPhone?

You cannot directly sync music to an Apple Watch without using an iPhone. The Apple Watch does not have any built-in capability to transfer or load music files on its own.

The process of getting music onto an Apple Watch requires using the Watch app on a paired iPhone to select playlists, albums, or podcasts to sync from your iPhone’s music library.

The steps are:

1. On your iPhone, make sure the music/playlists you want are downloaded to your iPhone’s Music app library.
2. Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to the Music section.
3. Tap on “Add Music” and select the specific playlists, albums, or podcasts you want to sync to your Apple Watch.
4. Make sure your Apple Watch is connected to its charger and in the Bluetooth range of your iPhone. The selected music will then sync over to your watch’s limited storage.
5. Once synced, you can play that music on your Apple Watch using Bluetooth headphones, even when away from your iPhone.

So in summary, while you can play synced music on just your Apple Watch without an iPhone nearby, the actual process of loading that music onto the watch requires using a paired iPhone initially to transfer it over.

There is no way to bypass this iPhone requirement for syncing local music to an Apple Watch.

Can I Sync Music To My Apple Watch Using Wi-Fi

Yes, you can sync music to your Apple Watch using Wi-Fi without needing your iPhone nearby, but there are some requirements:

1. Your Apple Watch must be running watchOS 5 or later.
2. Your Apple Watch needs to be connected to a known Wi-Fi network that your paired iPhone has previously connected to. It cannot connect to captive Wi-Fi networks that require logins or subscriptions.
3. The Wi-Fi network must be 2.4GHz (Apple Watch Series 6 and later can also connect to 5GHz networks).

Once connected to a compatible Wi-Fi network, you can sync music from your iPhone’s library to your Apple Watch by following these steps:

1. Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
2. Go to the My Watch tab > Music.
3. Tap “Add Music” and select the playlists, albums or podcasts you want to sync.
4. Make sure your Apple Watch is on its charger and in range of the Wi-Fi network.
5. The selected music will then sync over to your Apple Watch’s storage over Wi-Fi.

After syncing, you can play that music on your Apple Watch using Bluetooth headphones even when your iPhone is not present or connected.

So in summary, by connecting your Apple Watch to a known Wi-Fi network, you can wirelessly sync music from your iPhone’s library to the watch for playback without needing your iPhone nearby, as long as you meet the OS, network, and initial setup requirements.

Can Garmin Play Apple Music?

At the time of writing this guide, Garmin smartwatches don’t support Apple Music. I also checked the Garmin forums, and there’s no official word on this topic.

However, there is a demand by Garmin users for Apple Music, and it’s possible that Garmin adds support for Apple Music as Garmin has recently added support for Amazon Music. So, keep following WearToTrack, and I’ll let you know if Garmin adds support for Apple Music.

Can Fitbit Play Apple Music?

Fitbit is known for its smartwatches, and the company also has a great track record of adding features to its products on customers’ demand.

The company has recently added support for streaming services such as Deezer and Spotify for its users, but Fitbit doesn’t support Apple Music.

This means that you cannot play the Apple Music on your Fitbit Devices. However, it’s possible that Fitbit might add support for Apple Music in the future, and if it happens, I will let you know.

Can Samsung Play Apple Music?

Samsung smartwatches are some of the most popular smartwatches out there, and they come with support for popular music streaming services such as Spotify.

However, Samsung doesn’t support the Apple Music for its smartwatches, and you can’t enjoy the Apple Music on your Smartwatch.

Interestingly, Samsung Supports Apple Music for Samsung Smart TV, and it has a dedicated Apple Music for Samsung Smart TV platform. So, it would be safe to assume that Samsung might add the support for Apple Music for its smartwatches.

It’s also possible that Samsung smartwatches might be the first smartwatches other than Apple Watches to get Apple Music Support, and if it happens, I’ll update this guide.

How Do I Get to Use Apple Music On My Samsung Smartwatch Anyway?

Samsung Smartwatch doesn’t support Apple Music, and there’s no way you can get Apple Music on your Samsung Smartwatch.

However, you can install the Apple Music app on your smartphone and then connect your Smartwatch to your smartphone to control the music from your watch. It’s the only way you can enjoy Apple Music on your Samsung smartwatch.

What Is The Best Smartwatch For Music?

The majority of Modern Smartwatches come with tons of great features, and they also have support for music streaming services and offline storage to store the music.

So, if you want the best Smartwatch for music, you can consider any modern smartwatch, but if you want the best, then you can check our guide on “Best Activity Trackers with Music Storage.”

In the guide, I have shared some of the most popular smartwatches that come with music storage, where you can store hundreds of songs. Many of them also support music streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music, where you will access millions of songs. Check the guide for complete details.

Conclusion

Now you know the smartwatches that can play Apple Music. For now, Apple Music only works with Apple Watches, but I’m very hopeful that it will change very soon. I’ll keep an eye on all the developments and will let you know if anything changes.

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to visit WearToTrack for more useful guides.