Spotify confirmed today it has begun to roll out support for standalone streaming on its Apple Watch app. The feature had been spotted in testing back in September, and arrives roughly two years after Spotify first debuted its dedicated Apple Watch app.
Start to play music from the Spotify app on your iPhone and the Spotify app on your Apple Watch will be launched automatically. Step 3.You can now skip tracks and shuffle songs with ease on the watch. The following guide is just for your reference in case you don't have Spotify app on your iPhone and Apple Watch. After a month of beta testing, Spotify is globally rolling out a standalone app for the Apple Watch series, letting users stream their music without needing their iPhone. The new feature comes after Spotify first announced its app support on the Apple Watch nearly two years ago, which until now, could only be used to control the music playback.
Spotify is rolling out an update that lets you stream music directly from the Apple Watch — no need to have your iPhone nearby. Previously, the Spotify app on your Apple Watch had been incredibly limited, allowing you to play/pause, switch songs and adjust the volume of tracks playing on your iPhone.
With support for standalone streaming, users can listen to Spotify music or podcasts via a Wi-Fi connection or over cellular, without needing to be tethered to their iPhone.
The lack of support for standalone streaming has been a long time sore subjectfor a core group of Spotify's customers. It's even more of an issue for those who want to leave their iPhone behind when they're exercising -- like when they're out for a run, for example -- as well as any other time when carrying around an iPhone could be cumbersome.
With standalone streaming, however, Spotify users can stream from their wrist directly to their Bluetooth headphones or AirPods.
In the app, the option is still flagged with a beta label for some users, however.
© Provided by TechCrunchSpotify Apple Watch 2018
Image Credits: Spotify app, phone via TechCrunch
The update to the Spotify app was spotted in the U.S. by 9to5Mac, which noted more users had started seeing the feature show up for them even though they hadn't been a part of the September test group.
Spotify is not the first music service to offer a standalone streaming experience on the Apple Watch. In addition to Apple's own Apple Music service, Pandora rolled out support for standalone streaming back in February 2020.
However, it is ahead of YouTube Music on this front. Although YouTube just launched an Apple Watch version of its streaming music service in mid-October, it works more like a remote control from the YouTube Music app.
Spotify On Apple Watch 4
Spotify confirmed the launch in statement to TechCrunch, but it hasn't made a formal announcement about the update.
Apple Watch Music Spotify
'We’re focused on developing experiences that enable users to listen to Spotify wherever and whenever they want – regardless of the device or platform,' a Spotify spokesperson said. 'After an initial testing period, we are now rolling out streaming capabilities for Spotify on the Apple Watch,' they added.