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What you need to know
- Google begins rolling out the YouTueb Music app on its older Wear OS 2 platform.
- The app will arrive first on select smartwatches from Fossil and Mobvoi, with more coming later.
- YouTube Music was released as a Wear OS 3 exclusive on the Galaxy Watch 4.
- Users will be able to stream music offline, and the app will update playlists when connected to Wi-Fi.
Google is bringing its new YouTube Music smartwatch app to devices running Wear OS 2, the company announced Monday in a blog post.
The announcement comes just a month after the company released the YouTube Music app for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, which is currently the only Wear OS 3 smartwatch.
With the app, YouTube Premium subscribers will be able to listen to ad-free, offline tracks and playlists, allowing users to leave their smartwatches at home while going out on a jog. The app also has a Smart Downloads feature that automatically updates playlists with tracks that you've downloaded whenever the watch is connected to Wi-Fi and placed on a charger.
Bringing the app to Wear OS watches outside the Galaxy Watch 4 should satisfy those that have waited for Google to replace the Play Music app that was killed at the end of 2020. Since then, users have had to look to Spotify or Pandora for their music needs on any of the best Android smartwatches. Fortunately, Pandora has already had offline listening, and Spotify recently gained the feature too, bringing it to all Wear OS devices.
There was a roundabout way to bring the full YouTube Music experience to Wear OS 2, but the app was clunky and poorly optimized.
The rollout also follows a series of app updates that have arrived on Wear OS 2 devices which aim to make the experience more like Wear OS 3 since some devices won't be updated until next year. Unfortunately, these updates haven't included the updated Google Maps experience.
The new YouTube Music app will be available to download from the Play Store this week from select Wear OS smartwatches, notably those running the Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform. That includes the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 GPS, TicWatch E3, and the new Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches.
Google says that other Wear OS smartwatches will have access to the app later this year.
Wear OS with style
Fossil Gen 6
$299 at Best Buy $299 at Amazon
A great alternative to the Galaxy Watch 4
As the first smartwatch powered by the Snapdragon 4100+, the Fossil Gen 6 brings plenty of speed to the Wear OS platform, with plenty of health tracking features and many different styles to choose from. The best part is that the watch will eventually get Wear OS 3 for an even better experience.
