Wear OS YouTube Music app released but only for Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
Wear OS has now received the much anticipated Google Youtube Music app. The software is compatible with version 3.0 of the operating system so only works on Samsung Galaxy 4 watches for now.
To remind, the Apple Watch received the same functionality back in October 2020. But this comes only with basic playback control.
Wear OS smartwatch owners lost access to Google Play Music about a year ago. The service was abandoned in favour of Youtube Music. This platform offers a better user experience as it has some 60 million songs which a person can stream.
However it is only now that we are seeing a fully fledged Wear OS app that allows Youtube Music download/playback without a phone. Some were expecting the integration to be quicker considering Google is the outfit behind both Wear OS and Youtube.
Wear OS YouTube Music app
The YouTube Music app download is 11.25 MB in size. If you’re holding on to a Wear OS 2.0 watch don’t waste any time looking for it. The software is reserved for Wear OS 3.0 devices which means the only watch it currently runs on is the Samsung Galaxy 4 range.
Owners of the Samsung device have started noticing the app in the list of apps on their phones a few hours ago. So the update is very fresh and probably not available in all countries right now.
Unlike the Apple Watch app which is basically a remote control for your phone, the Wear OS software allows for downloading content to your smartwatch. This supports 256aac for high quality sound.
There’s also a library screen with access to Playlists, Albums, Songs, Artists, your Likes and more. You control playback by tapping on the display. For example you can start and pause a song, go forward or back, like songs and control sound volume.
The settings section allows you to set the number of songs on the watch and it estimates space that will be necessary. There’s also the option to download music over WiFi only or both LTE/WiFi. If your watch is low on battery life, you will be asked to place the timepiece on a charger when downloading content.
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This update comes on the heels of the Spotify rollout of its Wear OS app download feature. It works on all Wear OS 2 or newer devices. It’s a shame the Youtube Music app is not coming to owners of Wear OS 2.0, as well.
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