YouTube Music was one of the first major apps introduced alongside Google Wear OS 3 (coming soon to some of the best smartwatches), but it had one major problem: it couldn’t stream music. Now that has finally been fixed.
Before now, YouTube Music on Wear OS could only play music you previously downloaded to the watch. Since the Music app is mostly intended for streaming music away from your phone (for example, if you’re running outside with just your watch), that wasn’t a problem for many people, but it was still a silly limitation. Spotify on Wear OS had the same problem until August 2021, which was fixed just in time (heh) for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 launch.
YouTube Music is now rolling out an update to the Wear OS app that introduces the ability to stream music, if your watch is connected to a Wi-Fi network. The feature also works over LTE, if your watch has its own cellular connection. That means you can now browse for any music and start playing it immediately from the watch.
The new feature might not seem too important, but it is another step towards Google improving smaller problems with Wear OS. YouTube Music is one of the most popular music services with a Wear OS app, alongside Spotify. Samsung’s watches also have a unique music player that can open MP3 files copied to the watch through the Galaxy Wearable app.
The changes are also arriving as Google prepares for Wear OS 3 to roll out on non-Samsung watches later this year (the update is currently still exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 4). Google is planning to release its own wearable this year, the Pixel Watch, which will come with Wear OS 3 out of the box.
Source: 9to5Google
